Just Neighbors

Abortion is not an easy topic to talk about. It can cause divisiveness among not just individuals, but entire churches as well. With all the strong emotions that are tied to this discussion, we often forget that while abortion is a hot-button political issue, it’s also a deeply personal issue.

In this episode, Portia Collins explains how we can be a just neighbor to those who have experienced an abortion by leading with compassion when we encounter women who are facing difficult situations.

Portia is the founder of She Shall Be Called, a nonprofit women’s ministry dedicated to promoting Bible literacy. She also serves as the Partner Development Specialist with Revive Our Hearts. Portia is passionate about helping women become biblically literate, viewing God’s Word as the foundation for all aspects of womanhood and identity.

Find resources mentioned and more in the show notes for this episode: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/portia-collins-s2e6/

We all have a heart for children in hard situations, but how often do we consider the circumstances that cause families to enter crises in the first place? In some cases, there are steps we can take to decrease the chance that children will be removed from their biological families, but before we can take these steps, we must start from a place of compassion. 

Joining us to explore this crucial conversation is Charlee Tchividjian. 

Charlee is the founder and CEO of Every Mother’s Advocate (EMA). She has over 10 years of experience working in the nonprofit sectors of foster care, maternal health, marginalized women, and crisis pregnancy centers both globally and domestically. Charlee is committed to seeing the effects of poverty on family separation eradicated in her lifetime by mobilizing others to act.

In this episode, Charlee challenges us to give our marginalized neighbors more grace, shift our mindset to prioritize not only saving children but strengthening entire families, remember that a person’s dignity and value do not change due to their life circumstances, and much more.

Find resources mentioned and more in the show notes for this episode: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/charlee-tchividjian-s2e5/

If you’ve listened to our other podcast, The Forgotten Podcast, you know our heart for children, families, and workers in foster care. Today, we get to learn from one of our TFI Advocates, Dorothy Mendoza, about how we can extend compassion and be a Just Neighbor to our neighbors in the foster care community.

Dorothy is a foster, adoptive, and special needs mom. She also serves with us at The Forgotten Initiative as a TFI Advocate in the Bangor, Maine area. Having gone through a turbulent childhood herself, Dorothy knows firsthand what a blessing it is to have a stable, healthy home life—and she’s committed to giving back to others using the gifts God has given her.

In this episode, you’ll hear about ways that we can serve our vulnerable neighbors instead of keeping them at a distance, why it’s crucial to support overwhelmed caseworkers so they can better serve children, how we can encourage churches to get engaged with foster care by making the outreach personal, and more.

If Dorothy’s stories of hands-on advocacy resonate with you, consider applying to become a TFI Advocate. Applications are open until the end of November!

Find resources mentioned and more in the show notes for this episode: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/dorothy-mendoza-s2e4/

Our country is in a season of intense political discourse as the upcoming election rapidly approaches. In this tumultuous time, many Christians are starting to wonder:

“How do we come together as the world is coming apart?”

Our guest, Joshua Butler, is here to bring us clarity on this question by exploring how we can be Just Neighbors through faithful political engagement.

Joshua is a pastor and author of several books, including his most recent, The Party Crasher. He’s passionate about shifting paradigms to help people wrestle with tough topics of the Christian faith and encounter Christ in a fresh way. 

In this episode, you’ll hear Joshua’s perspective on the different quadrants of political leaning, the dangers of building churches on the foundation of political ideologies, how we can follow the example of Jesus to love our neighbors despite differences of opinion, and so much more.

Find resources mentioned and more in the show notes for this episode: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/joshua-butler-s2e3/

2.3 million people in the U.S. are affected by incarceration each year, and less than 15% of inmates are serving life sentences (God Behind Bars). This means the majority of people in prison will be released back into society at some point. Yet, these individuals are some of the most unlikely to see and hear the love of Jesus. The truth is, people who live behind bars are often out of sight and out of mind in the day-to-day lives of Christians.

Here to change that reality is today's guest—Jake Bodine, the founder and CEO of God Behind Bars.

Jake is a passionate entrepreneur with a huge heart for seeing those who are lost find Jesus and know Him personally. He is also dedicated to using his gifts and talents to get the Church excited about prison ministry so we can uplift the forgotten society behind prison walls.

In this episode, you'll hear about our biblical call to serve the “least of these,” why it is important to bring the Gospel to people who are imprisoned, how serving others deepens your own spiritual journey, and so much more.

Find resources mentioned and our takeaways in the show notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/jake-bodine-s2e2/

Welcome back for another season of Just Neighbors! I’m your host, Jami Kaeb, and this season I’m joined by Jamin Goggin as my co-host. Jamin is a professor at Talbot School of Theology at Biola University. He is also the co-author of several books and holds a MA in Spiritual Formation & Soul Care, an MA in the New Testament, and a PhD in Systematic Theology. He lives with his wife and four children in San Diego, CA.

We are so happy to welcome you into our little neighborhood where we are learning to practice biblical justice and compassion together. To start off this season, we are joined by Jonathan Rocke for a discussion on the topic of poverty.

Jonathan has served as the Executive Director at Pathway Ministries since 2016 where their mission is to create pathways out of poverty through Jesus. Pathway Ministries, previously known as Peoria Rescue Ministries, has been serving those in need since 1955, extending support to the people of the Peoria area and beyond through Residential Ministries and Community Services.

In this episode, we learn how to take a whole-person approach to poverty alleviation, what it really means when we say that the whole world is broken, how each and every one of us experiences poverty, and much more.

Find resources mentioned and more in the show notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/jonathan-rocke-s2e1/

Just Neighbors is BACK next week!

Season 2 will bring you more of the podcast created for every believer who has been transformed by the Gospel and desires to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God and their neighbors in need. Join hosts Jami Kaeb and Jamin Goggin as they talk with leaders, pastors, and practitioners about how to live a life of biblical justice and compassion.

Stay tuned for new episodes next week, or catch up on last season right here: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/just-neighbors-podcast/

Can you believe it? This is the last episode of season one! We couldn’t have asked for a better guest to help us close out this season than Jedd Medefind.

Jedd serves as the President of the Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO), and previously led the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives under President George W. Bush. Jedd has also written several books, including Upended: How Following Jesus Remakes Your Words and World.

There are two extremes we can commonly fall into when seeking to serve the vulnerable. On one side, we can feel pressured to do so out of guilt or a sense of duty. In the other direction, we can seek to serve the vulnerable to make ourselves look good or even to receive accolades for our efforts. The key to avoiding either of these extremes is cultivating a healthy spiritual life where we go deep with the Father to receive just as much as we give.

In this conversation, Jedd shares what it was like to work in the White House, what led to his involvement and passion for the work of CAFO, how we can live a life of both pouring out and receiving deeply, and more.

Find links to resources mentioned and more in the show notes for this episode: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/jedd-medefind-10/

Hey, neighbors! We are honored to have you on this journey with us as we grow and practice biblical justice and compassion together.

This week on Just Neighbors, I have the opportunity to welcome Dr. Gabrielle Clowdus, the founder of Settled, which is an organization helping churches develop permanent supportive tiny home villages (called Sacred Settlements) designed to address long-term homelessness.

Gabrielle has taken the call to love your neighbor literally and devoted her life to walking alongside people in poverty, and I find the work she is doing both beautiful and inspiring.

In this episode, Gabrielle helps us understand the deep impact of homelessness on someone’s life, what people who are without a home most long for and need, a beautiful vision for how the Church can literally open their doors to help our neighbor, and so much more.

Find the resources mentioned and more in the show notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/gabrielle-clowdus-9/

Hey, neighbors! We are honored to have you on this journey with us as we grow and practice biblical justice and compassion together.

This week, we are joined by Jamie Finn, who is a dear friend of mine. Jamie is the best-selling author of Fostering the Family, founder and president of Foster the Family, host of the Real Mom Podcast, founder and owner of Goods & Better, a speaker, and TBRI practitioner.

In our conversation, you’ll hear how we can unite our lives with the heart of God, how Jamie learned to localize living out the Gospel, the perspective we should carry of experiencing trials, what our goal of parenting should be, and so much more.

This truly is a conversation you don’t want to miss.

Find resources mentioned and more in our show notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/jamie-finn-8/