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Bonnie St. John
Olympian Bonnie St. John is a beautiful woman who radiates joy into the lives of millions of people around the world.
Achievements
In 1984 St. John became the first African American to win Olympic medals in ski racing during the Paralympics in Innsbruck, Austria. She grew up in a region of the country without snow, San Diego, California, where she overcame all obstacles following her dream to victory, winning a silver and two bronze medals.
In addition to being an Olympic medalist, St. John has accomplished much throughout her life.
- Graduated from Harvard University with honors
- Won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford
- Featured in The New York Times
- Featured in People magazine
- Guest on CNN
- Guest on The Today Show
- Guest on Good Morning America
- Author
- Key note speaker
- Appointed to the White House National Economic Council
Spiritual transformation
Q: Please share the circumstances surrounding your spiritual transformation and how developing a personal relationship with God changed you life.
A: I went to Sunday school when I was little, like a lot of people do, and accepted Jesus into my heart. When I became a teenager, I became cynical and turned away from God.
“I could do this better on my own,” I thought. So for more than a decade, I ignored Christ.
Then, a lot of stress came into my life when my daughter reached the age I had been when I was sexually abused. I could not stuff down the memories of what had happen to me anymore. I remember being in so much emotional pain that I could not move. There was so much anxiety and stress that I thought I was going to lose my mind.
It was at this time that I turned to God to give me strength to heal from the sexual abuse in my childhood.
“Help me God,” I prayed, and the pain lifted.
In addition to prayer I had to go to therapy. I did everything I could to facilitate healing: hypnosis; yoga; personal journaling; long walks; and being in nature. But, prayer and God gave me the strength to do it and stick with it no matter how hard it got.
Ministry
Q: Do you consider your work as a motivational speaker a calling from the Lord?
A: I believe life is a “calling” from the Lord. All of us should fill ourselves with prayer and a close relationship with God. If we do this, it doesn’t matter whether we are a plumber, actress, or bus driver, we will fulfill our purpose with the Lord. We all touch and inspire those around us everyday.
As a speaker it is important to me that I walk closely with God, but it is not the only thing I can do for Him.
Voices of influence
Q: Was there a person in your life who ministered hope and encouragement to you, the way you now minister to so many?
A: So many people have ministered to me. One example is Barbara Warmath. She invited me to go on my first ski trip, with her family. Barbara and I met serving as altar girls.
It is remarkable that she invited me to go skiing with her because she was on the tennis team and I was exempted from PE because of my disability; she lived in the wealthy side of town and I lived neared the Mexican border; she is white and I am black. But despite all our differences, she looked at the one-legged black girl, from the wrong side of the tracks, and said, “Skiing.”
That ski trip changed the course of my life!
Barbara later served in the Peace Corps. Her and her family have a genuine heart to serve their fellowman. She is an example of what I would like people to think of as a good Christian.
Barbara and I are still friends today.
Prayer
Q: Bonnie, you are a remarkable women, gaining victory over an abusive childhood, divorce, the challenges of disability, and the struggles of race and gender. Many of our readers face these same challenges. How much did personal prayer contribute to your victory?
A: Prayer is the most important thing that I have learned in my life. Without prayer I wouldn’t still be standing up! It is this lesson that motivated me to write, How Strong Women Pray.
I was working as a motivational speaker inspiring people every year, but I wasn’t telling them how prayer inspired me.
Then one day as I was praying a thought came to me, “There are so many strong women out there who people look up to. We don’t know if they are praying or why.”
I wrote How Strong Women Pray because I wanted to learn from other strong women about their experiences with prayer, and the differences that prayer made in their lives.
I interviewed Barbara Bush, Maya Angelou, Kathie Lee Gifford, Edie Falco, Nadia Comaneci, as well as many women who are not famous. How Strong Women Pray also includes the stories of a soldier from Afghanistan, a television producer, a homemaker, and a woman who rescued over 100 disabled people from Hurricane Katrina.
For myself, and the people who read How Strong Women Pray the stories invigorate our prayer life, offer new ideas, and remind us of ways to renew our closeness with God.
Influence as a mother
Q: Do you believe your spiritual growth has an impact on your daughter, Darcy?
I definitely believe that is true. When I started writing How Strong Women Pray, my daughter said something that really struck me.
Darcy said, “I don’t understand prayer. I don’t hear any answer, and I don’t know what to say when I pray.”
No matter what I told her or read to her, she just didn’t feel comfortable. She listened to me interview other women about prayer and she cried because she wished she had that kind of relationship with God.
The best idea I received while writing this book was to pray out loud as a family. Finally, it got through to her. This enabled Darcy to see that my prayers are not perfect words, and the answers don’t come like a bolt out of the sky. Family prayer has helped my daughter become a lot more comfortable with praying.
Now, one of my greatest pleasures is when my daughter places her hands on my shoulder and prays for me. I hope that she will learn from my mistakes, and not do what I did, but stay close to God her whole life.
Disability
Q: Please share a little bit about your disability.
A: The growth was stunted in my right leg because of a birth defect. If the doctors had not amputated my foot it would have been sticking out where my knee should be. I went through numerous surgeries from the age of five through high school. Being able to go skiing -- for the disabled kid -- was like going to the moon!
My mother was amazing! She encouraged me to live a normal life. Once when she bought all three of us children bikes, she purchased a special bike for me. It was light weight and more expensive. At the time I didn’t realize how much effort and sacrifice she put into making me feel just as capable as everyone else, because she never mentioned it.
My school wanted to put me in a special class for disabled children. Most of these children actually had cognitive disabilities. My mother fought the school and secured my right to attend regular classes. The school was concerned because I fell down a lot. Mom responded, “But she always gets up!”
Olympian
Q: What inspired your dream to be an Olympian?
A: One day my mother brought home a picture of an amputee on a ski, and she gave it to me. It was amazing she gave this to me because we lived in San Diego where there is no snow, she was a single mother raising three children, and had no money. Also, we are black, not many black people skied back then. The point is that my mother believed in possibilities. She believed in, “Knock and the door will be answered.” (The Gospel of Matthew 7:7)
Her place in history
Q: What did it feel like to be the first African American to win the Olympic medals in ski racing?
A: Honestly, I was kind of in shock because I didn’t expect to win medals. My goal had been to make the US Team and compete. But proving to myself that if the one-legged black girl from San Diego with no money can go all the way to the top of the world in ski racing, taught me that truly anything is possible.
Future
Q: Where is God leading you today?
A: I am always praying for continual guidance. I feel that I am here to inspire others and let them know that they are more than the color of their skin, their disability, where they were born, or any other element of the natural. I am here to let people know that they are children of God, capable of great things. God has me out working in many places, not only churches but also Fortune 500 companies, schools, on television, and on websites like this one. I continue to listen to where God wants me to go next.
Bonnie St. John is an ensign of encouragement to all those wounded in spirit or body. Her optimism and hope in the face of serious adversity is a message that, through Jesus, all people can make their own way.
Click here to visit Bonnie St. John’s website for free resources on healing, and spiritual growth, plus radio and television shows featuring interviews with coaches, authors and pastors.
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