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That single hour in the White House provides a dramatic answer to two frequently asked questions. The first is the age-old challenge: how a loving God can allow such suffering. Certainly, there is sin and suffering in our fallen world—from our own making. But as Joni's life and witness prove, God redeems that suffering.

The second question is one I hear with increasing frequency in our post-Christian culture: What difference can one person make? The problems are so huge; we feel helpless, and so we do nothing.

That response is a cop-out. Nigel did not think that way, nor did Joni. They pressed on, confident that a sovereign God would use them, as indeed he has. They remind us that God sets each of us in a particular time and place for a precise purpose. We must strengthen our resolve, no matter the obstacles, to fulfill that purpose in a fallen world.

Copyright © 2002 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

For current news on stem-cell research and cloning, see Yahoo full coverage.

Christianity Today's Life Ethics archive and sister publication Books & Culture's Science Pages have more perspective on bioethics.

Nigel M. de S. Cameron is director of the Council for Biotechnology Policy at the Wilberforce Forum. In 1995, he wrote Christianity Today's "Doctors Under OathModern medicine has misplaced its moral compass. Can Hippocrates help?" He also interviewed Leon Kass, head of the President's Council on Bioethics for the June issue.

Joni Eareckson Tada is the founder and president of Joni and Friends, an organization accelerating Christian ministry in the disability community.

Previous Christianity Today coverage of bioethics includes:

Federal Funds Approved to Study Fetal Stem CellsLife ethics advocates troubled by the discrepancy that allows days-old embryos more protection than more mature fetuses. (July 10, 2002)

Defender of DignityLeon Kass, head of the President's Council on Bioethics, hopes to thwart the business-biomedical agenda. (June 7, 2002)

Goodbye, DollyWe need nothing less than a total ban on human cloning. (May 15, 2002)

Weblog: 'All Human Cloning Is Wrong,' Says BushPublic is 4-to-1 against all human cloning, but Senate is evenly split on comprehensive ban. (April 11, 2002)

Weblog: The Prolife PushIt's 2002, time to ban cloning. (January 15, 2002)

New Coalition Rallies Against Human CloningAfter Advanced Cell Technology announcement, sharp criticism comes from all sides. (December 20, 2001)

Books & Culture Corner: "Daddy, What Is the Soul?"Does the church have an answer? (December 10, 2001)

Books & Culture Corner: 'We Now Know'The boast of imperial science. (December 3, 2001)

Opinion Roundup: 'Only Cellular Life'?Christians, leaders, and bioethics watchdogs react to the announcement that human embryos have been cloned. (November 29, 2001)

Weblog: Human Cloning's 'Success'Human embryos cloned for 1st time. (November 26, 2001)

Books & Culture Corner: "24 Cow Clones, All Normal" … Oh yes, and a few cloned human embryos that died. (November 26, 2001)

The New TyrannyBiotechnology threatens to turn humanity into raw material. (Oct. 5, 2001)

Gen-Etiquette | Scientists may be mapping the genome, but it will be up to us to determine where the map will lead. (Oct. 4, 2001)

Manipulating the Linguistic CodeReligious language falling into the hands of scientists can be a fearful thing. (Oct. 4, 2001)

Times FiftyCan a clone be an individual? A short story. (Oct. 2, 2001)

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August 5 2002, Vol. 46, No. 9