Joni Lamb, the co-founder and president of the Daystar Television Network, one of the largest Christian broadcasting operations in the world, died Thursday at age 65. The network said Lamb had been battling serious health issues that worsened after she sustained a back injury, though a specific cause of death was not released.

Her passing closes a chapter in Christian media that began more than three decades ago in the Dallas area, where Lamb and her late husband Marcus Lamb launched a single television station in 1993. What they built from that one outlet grew into a global network now reaching more than 200 countries and, by Daystar's own count, 2.3 billion homes worldwide.

The network's board of directors released a statement honoring Lamb's legacy and signaling that the ministry she helped build will carry on.

"Joni's love for the Lord and for the people we serve shaped this ministry from the beginning."

Daystar also said Lamb had ensured a leadership team was in place before her death so the network's work would continue, a detail that suggests she was aware her health was failing and planned accordingly.

From one station to a global Christian network

Joni and Marcus Lamb started broadcasting together in 1993. Five years later, Joni Lamb launched her signature daily women's program, "Joni Table Talk," which became a fixture on the network. The show tackled everyday issues through a faith-based lens and built a loyal audience over the years.

Daystar, headquartered in Bedford, Texas, expanded rapidly under the Lambs' leadership. It aired programming from some of the biggest names in American evangelism, including Joel Osteen and T.D. Jakes. The network's global footprint, broadcasting in more than 200 countries, placed it among the largest Christian television platforms on earth, as AP News confirmed.

That kind of reach doesn't happen by accident. It takes decades of sustained effort, and Joni Lamb was at the center of it from day one. For millions of Christian viewers who tuned in daily, she was the face of the network as much as any guest preacher or evangelist who appeared on its airwaves.

A public marriage tested on national television

The Lambs' ministry was not without public difficulty. In 2010, Marcus Lamb admitted on television to an affair with a woman years earlier. Joni Lamb stood beside her husband during the broadcast. Marcus Lamb also alleged at the time that three people had tried to extort money from him to keep the matter quiet.

Joni Lamb later addressed the ordeal directly, speaking about the pain it caused her. She said she was devastated when she learned of her husband's infidelity. But she chose to stay, telling viewers plainly:

"He's worth fighting for."

She also reflected on the experience in broader terms, offering counsel rooted in her own suffering. As the Washington Times reported, Lamb spoke openly about the episode over the years.

"All you can do is tell the truth and take your pain and use it to try to help someone else."

That willingness to address personal failure publicly, in a world where many leaders hide behind press releases, earned Lamb a measure of respect even from people who might have questioned the decision to stay. She didn't pretend the wound didn't exist. She walked through it in front of her audience, which is more than most public figures are willing to do.

The loss of prominent voices in the faith community is always felt deeply by those who relied on their ministry, as we recently covered in more detail regarding Lamb's private health struggle and its impact on the Daystar family.

Loss, remarriage, and the final years

Marcus Lamb died in 2021 at age 64. His death left Joni Lamb as the sole leader of the network the couple had built together over nearly three decades. She continued to serve as president and remained on the air.

Two years after Marcus Lamb's death, Joni married Doug Weiss. The couple went on to co-host "Ministry Now," continuing Daystar's tradition of daily faith programming.

Even as her health declined, Lamb stayed involved in the network's operations. The board's statement made clear she had taken steps to secure Daystar's future before she died, a sign of the organizational seriousness she brought to a ministry that many might have expected to falter after her husband's passing.

Stories of faith tested by tragedy and personal transformation continue to resonate with Christian audiences, as seen in the account of a BBC presenter who became a Christian after his daughter's transformation.

What remains unanswered

Several details about Lamb's death remain unclear. Daystar did not release a specific cause of death, saying only that she had suffered from serious health issues before a back injury accelerated her decline. The nature of that injury and the underlying conditions were not disclosed. The exact location of her death was also not made public.

Those gaps are not unusual in the immediate aftermath of a private death, but they leave open questions that the network may choose to address in the days ahead, or may not.

The broader Christian media landscape faces its own questions now. Daystar says it has leadership in place. Whether the network can maintain its reach and influence without the woman who helped build it from a single Dallas-area station into a global operation is something only time will answer.

Faith-based communities have faced difficult moments in recent years, including a tragic incident involving a Birmingham pastor that drew widespread attention to the responsibilities of religious leaders.

A life measured by what she built

Joni Lamb was not a politician or a celebrity in the conventional sense. She was a builder. She helped create one of the largest Christian television networks in the world, stayed on the air through personal crisis, and kept the operation running after the death of the man she built it with.

She spoke openly about pain, infidelity, and loss in an era when most public figures run from all three. And when her own health failed, she made sure the ministry wouldn't fail with her.

In a culture that rewards self-promotion and punishes vulnerability, Joni Lamb did it the other way around. The 2.3 billion homes Daystar says it reaches are her answer to anyone who doubted the approach.