Nearly 1 in 2 people live with a chronic condition, oftentimes invisible. Hope Endures radio program, hosted by Lisa Copen, founder of Rest Ministries, Inc. broadcasts 2 1-hour shows a week to bring hope and encouragement, as well as practical advice, while living with illness.

San Diego, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 02/09/2009 -- Rest Ministries, Inc., the largest Christian organization that specifically serves the needs of those who live with chronic illness or pain, is launching an online radio program, Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 10 a.m. pacific time.

The program, titled “Hope Endures” will be hosted by Rest Ministries founder, Lisa Copen, who is eager to connect with the thousands of people who visit her web site daily or who may know the ministry through one of the 400 HopeKeepers groups that they attend in their church.

The two 1-hour weekly programs will air on Blog Talk Radio, every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 10 a.m. pacific.

Tuesdays will feature special guests who will be interviewed about a topic related to chronic illness, from a Christian perspective. Guests will share about their own ministries and how they began them, despite dealing with daily chronic pain. Topics will include everything from marriage and caregiving, financial planning to parenting, health and medical news, awareness about invisible illness in congregations, to living with illness as a child, teenager, young adult, and more.

Thursdays will consist of hearing from callers who lead HopeKeepers groups, volunteers of Rest Ministries, announcements about things happening at Rest Ministries social network (with over 1000 members) and thoughts from Lisa Copen.

Copen shares, “The internet has become an amazing tool for connecting with others who have the same challenges and passions. We hope through our radio program, we can increase these friendship and bonds so that our sense of family strengthens and that people find our program to be that “one stop” place for Christian support while coping with chronic illness.”

Copen herself has been a guest on radio programs such as Joni and Friends and Billy Graham’s Decision Minute.

February 10th will be the kick off program featuring special guest Naomi Kingery, 19, author of Sugar Free Me: An Inspirational Book for Diabetic Teens and Their Loved Ones. She will be talking about her journey from growing up in Bangalore, India as the child of missionary parents who worked with people with disabilities, to her diagnosis of diabetes at the age of twelve.

Listeners can participate in the live program at www.blogtalkradio.com/hopeendures or listen to the program any time, as it will be archived. The MP3 file can also be downloaded to one’s itunes. Fore more information see http://www.hopeenduresradio.com