AGOURA HILLS, CA (ANS) -- More new and larger international audiences than ever are able to watch the Joni and Friends television program (www.joniandfriends.org/television) as it is now being broadcast in Korea on the CGNTV network (www.cgntv.net), with carriage in both China and Japan. The Korean network will both dub and subtitle the program in the native languages of the countries where it is being broadcast.

Joni Eareckson Tada pictured during a broadcast

According to a news release from A. Larry Ross Communications (www.alarryross.com), simultaneous with the television program's launch in Korea, ministry founder Joni Eareckson Tada's most recent book, “A Place of Healing,” was translated into Korean and is now available for purchase in bookstores and online.

“The Joni and Friends television series is a vital tool providing encouragement and strength to those affected by disability,” said Joni and Friends President Doug Mazza. “It also delivers the Gospel message with a sense of hope and purpose for those who suffer.”

This 30-minute weekly program, hosted by Tada, highlights an unusually open and honest approach to tough questions about the goodness of God in a world shattered by pain and suffering. The TV series presents a dramatic and powerful look into the lives of real people who have endured, or are still living through, heart-wrenching trials. Tada and her guests put Scripture to the toughest of tests, showing why God is worth believing and how to trust Him in the worst of times.

Peter Wooding, Joni Eareckson Tada, Dan Wooding and Ken Tada, pictured at the recent NRB in Nashville after Dan had interviewed the couple for his radio program

The Korean television network CGNTV, carried via satellite to more than 170 countries, was first established on the Internet in 2000 as the Christian Missionary Educational Broadcasting Network, to provide instruction and encouragement for Korean missionaries serving in remote areas. Launched on satellite in 2005, the network now carries programming in Korean, Japanese, Chinese, English, Spanish and Portuguese, reaching most of Asia, Europe, Australia, Africa and the Americas. It hopes to launch Arabic broadcasts in the near future, and content has expanded to serve beyond Korean missionaries to Korean and other Christians around the world, and those interested in becoming Christians across the globe.

In addition to the Korean network, the Joni and Friends television series is carried on The Miracle Channel throughout Canada; on CNLTV Russian Network to Russian-speaking audiences throughout Europe and Asia; on ERF Medien to Germany and German-speaking countries in Europe; on the Australian Christian Channel to Australia, Indonesia and New Zealand; on United Christian Broadcasters, Ltd., to the United Kingdom; on Alfa Omega TV in Romania; Aradana Broadcasting to India; C-Channel to Korea; Family 7 TV to The Netherlands; Friends Forever TV to Jamaica and Guyana; Gospel Channel to Iceland; Patmos Foundation/Studio 24 to Finland; Shalom TV to India; and throughout Mexico and the Caribbean as well as the U.S. and Canada via Global Christian Network. Altogether, these international networks reach a nearly worldwide audience.

Other U.S. outlets currently airing the program include: National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) on DirecTV; Cornerstone Network, based in Pittsburgh, with 70 affiliates; Legacy TV based in Odessa, Fla.; Liberty Channel based in Lynchburg, Va.; KGEB/GEB (Oral Roberts University) in Tulsa, Okla.; KJEO 32.4 (Manavision3) in Sanger, Calif.; KGSC 47 in Cheyenne, Wyo.; KNXT TV (Catholic Television) based in Fresno, Calif.; Starfish Network based in Salt Lake City (carried on Dish Network); TCT Network with 45 affiliates throughout the U.S. and Canada; TLN (Total Living Network) based in Chicago, with 90 affiliates nationwide, including KTLN in San Francisco and KEEN in Las Vegas; The Dove TV in Medford, Ore.; WATC TV in Atlanta; WAZT TV in Woodstock, Va.; WLMB TV 40 in Toledo, Ohio; WVCY TV in Milwaukee; WTWV TV in Memphis, Tenn.; and WRXY TV, an affiliate of Christian Television Network, in Punta Gorda, Fla.

For more than 30 years, Joni and Friends International Disability Center (www.joniandfriends.org) has worked to accelerate ministry to the disability community, offering a wide array of life-affirming ministries to people with disabilities around the world. Joni and Friends does this through the Christian Institute on Disability (www.joniandfriends.org/christian-institute-on-disability); the International Disability Center; international radio and television programs filled with inspirational stories; Wheels for the World (www.joniandfriends.org/wheels-for-the-world), which every year sees thousands of individuals receive wheelchairs and the life-giving message of the Gospel, and Family Retreats (www.joniandfriends.org/family-retreats), where families affected by disability learn they are not alone.

Note to Editors: For more information about Joni and Friends, please visit www.joniandfriendsnews.com. To arrange an interview with Joni and Friends representatives, please contact Melany Ethridge at 972.267.1111 or via e-mail at melany@alarryross.com.

Dan Wooding, 71, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 48 years. They have two sons, Andrew and Peter, and six grandchildren who all live in the UK. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS) and was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. He hosts the weekly “Front Page Radio” show on the KWVE Radio Network in Southern California and which is also carried throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on Calvary Chapel Radio UK and also in Belize and South Africa. Besides this, Wooding is a host for His Channel Live, which is carried via the Internet to some 192 countries and also provides a regular commentary for Worship Life Radio on KWVE. You can follow Dan Wooding on Facebook under his name there or at ASSIST News Service. Dan has recently received two top media awards -- the "Passion for the Persecuted" award from Open Doors US, and one of the top "Newsmakers of 2011" from Plain Truth magazine. He is the author of some 44 books, the latest of which is "Caped Crusader: Rick Wakeman in the 1970s." To order a copy, go to: http://www.amazon.com/CAPED-CRUSADER-Rick-Wakeman-1970s/dp/1908728302/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335474883&sr=1-1 . Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, has also recently released his first novel “Red Dagger” which is available this link.