Overcoming blindness: Philadelphia man fulfills vision for career in media
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- "Colors are still very vivid in my imagination," said Michael Jones, repeating an excerpt from one of his published books.
Born and raised in North Philadelphia, Jones had a slight visual impairment as a child. As he got older, it only worsened. And at 10 years old, a surgery planned to remove cataracts devastatingly resulted in complete blindness.
"I'm not trying to make a joke, it was very dark," he said. "Very dark, very bleak, it was horrible."
Jones' mother encouraged him to pursue whatever his passions might be. And after returning to Overbrook School for the Blind and being exposed to radio, he set his sights on multimedia.
"I didn't have natural eyesight, but I had vision," said Michael Jones. "I had a big vision of myself."
That vision sparked a diverse career for Jones, spanning radio, cable television, songwriting, authoring, and ministering. He founded the company, Restoration Multimedia Network, to include all of his creative endeavors under one umbrella.
"What I do today is I give other people a voice and opportunity to get the exposure that they deserve through Restoration Multimedia Network," said Jones.
One of those people is Amanda Welch from Reading, Pennsylvania. She became legally blind in 2013 and yet pursued writing the book, Deliverance in Crisis. Jones used his broadcasts to promote her book and even invited her to become a show co-host.
"We have dreams, you know, plans and visions," said Welch. "And we don't let blindness or any other crisis you know stop us from doing what God wants us to do."
To learn more about Restoration Multimedia Network and its broadcasts through the channel, Global Media Ministry, visit their website.
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