Joy Forney is a mom of 6, with kids ranging in age from 18-6. She is a lifestyle vlogger and blogger on Instagram where she has nearly 10,000 followers and YouTube where she has 6,400 subscribers.
Joy never started her vlogs as a way to attract fame. Her and her husband Dave are missionaries. They have lived in the Arctic Circle where they evangelized to the native Inuit people in that region. They have lived in Indonesia and they currently live in Uganda. Dave is a Pilot with MAF so he flies relief aid into different countries as well as providing emergency medical transportation. Joy started her vlogs as a way to let friends and family know what they are doing.
Her social media accounts serve as a way to connect her followers not only with her life, but the lives of the Ugandan people. She is very open about the struggles she encounters. She frequently shares prayer requests for people in her community. Last year, while riding on his motorcycle, Dave was hit by a vehicle, and then run over by another vehicle before
he was found. Doctors honestly were not sure if he would survive the ordeal. A little over a year later and Dave is able to fly again and is still recovering, but is doing amazingly well.
Joy also suffers from some health problems, in spite of them she continues to share her love for the Lord with others
I think people are curious about what living in a 3rd world country is like, that’s what is initially engaging about them. Other unique things about them that people are also interested in are things like, the fact that they are such a large family, the fact that their missionaries, they live a very minimalist life, and just how genuinely kind they are.
They recently adopted a little girl from Uganda.
Joy has been able to connect with many families about how difficult the adoption process can be,
especially in countries like Uganda where the government has made it extremely difficult to adopt because of problems with sex trafficking and kidnapping.
It’s incredible to see how technology is being used to connect the world of missions.
What a cool story! This seems like a great ministry to remind Americans to not get swept up into consumerism, but rather to focus on the poor and needy around the world and those who have not heard the Gospel.
That’s cool! I’ve always wondered how technology and missions of this sort could go together, so it’s cool to see them intersect. Hopefully it can be harnessed to share more information and get others involved in the future!
I love seeing positive ways that social media can be used because I feel like it is so often used negatively. It is so available to everyone though and it is such a huge way to connect people with the Gospel.
I think the vlog idea for missions is awesome! People who support missions love to be involved in the work they are donating to and vlogs provide a good level of connection. They can see parts of the missions field the may otherwise have never known about.