Think Global, Do Justice

In this Conversation episode, we're joined by four child welfare leaders to dive into the nuances, challenges and triumphs of pioneering foster care throughout the world. On the show is Ian Forber-Pratt from Children's Emergency Relief International, Tara Garcia from Identity Mission, Sebilu Bodja from Bethany Christian Services, and Martus Greyvenstein from Kin Culture. We'll dive into all the nitty-gritty of foster care including questions like "Is foster-to-adopt bad?" "How do you promote something that is completely foreign in many contexts?" and "What role does foster care play in getting kids out of orphanages?"

In addition to the audio podcast, you can check out the video podcast on 1MILLIONHOME's new YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/@1MILLIONHOMEofficial

Podcast Sponsors

Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit

CAFO2023 is a gathering of more than 2,000 Christian orphan care leaders, parents and practitioners coming together from over 50 countries to worship and learn together. The event is September 20th-22nd in Oklahoma City. Register today!

Resources and Links from the show

Think Orphan Episode 181: Driving Innovation in Child Welfare with Ian Forber-Pratt

Think Orphan Episode 30: Revolutionizing Orphan Care in India with Ian Forber-Pratt

1MILLIONHOME's new Youtube channel

Conversation Notes

• Foster care across cultural contexts (14:00)
• Building awareness for foster care (17:00)
• Partnering with the local church in foster care (20:00)
• The importance of defining terms (27:00)
• Using what's working culturally (43:00)
• Recruiting families who root for the biological family (47:00)
• Pioneering care reform in Honduras (54:00)
• Collaboration between governments and organizations (59:00)
• The role of the local church (1:10:00)

In our second Conversations episode, we're joined by Anna Jackson from Montaña de Luz in Honduras, Brent Phillips from Cherish Uganda, and Dan Stoehr from Reach Ministries in the US, to discuss HIV/AIDS today. What is the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the world today? What are the challenges care providers face? Find out how these leaders are working to overcome stigma and other obstacles.

Also, you can check out the video conversation on 1MILLIONHOME's new YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/@1MILLIONHOMEofficial

Podcast Sponsor

Attachment and Trauma Focused Therapy by Deborah Gray

The ATFT course will prepare you to treat attachment, trauma, and loss issues in children; families. The course teaches approaches for prenatal exposure, executive dysfunction, and family maltreatment.

Resources and Links from the show

Global HIV & AIDS statistics — Fact sheet

Christianity Today: When Politics Saved 25 Million Lives

Think Orphan Episode 190: HIV/AIDS, Child Sponsorships and Fundraising Excellence with Brent Phillips

Conversation Notes

• Current HIV/AIDS data across the globe (4:00)
• The prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Uganda and sub-Saharan Africa (6:00)
• Stigma remains one of the greatest hurdles across countries (10:30)
• Medicine the constant reminder (16:00)
• How COVID-19 impacted HIV treatment (19:00)
• Mother to child transmission in the Global South (26:00)
• Medicine accessibility in Honduras (40:00)
• Overcoming the stigma with stories (45:00)
• The changing perception of HIV (49:00)
• Overcoming stigma with skits and outreach in Central America (55:00)
• One thing you want people to know (59:00)

In our first ever Conversations episode, we're bringing together four global care leaders to talk about Central American cultural contexts, cycles of poverty and violence, family separation and the push factors leading migrants to flee the region. Joining the show is Kara Garcia of Project RED in El Salvador, Erica Switzer of Embraced Intl. in Honduras, Levi Bareither of Story Intl. in Guatemala and long-time children's advocate Onesimo Feliz.

Podcast Sponsors

Attachment and Trauma Focused Therapy by Deborah Gray

The ATFT course will prepare you to treat attachment, trauma, and loss issues in children; families. The course teaches approaches for prenatal exposure, executive dysfunction, and family maltreatment.

Resources and Links from the show

Migration Policy - Central American Immigrants

Think Orphan Episode 183 - Strengthening Children and Families in El Salvador with Kara Wilson Garcia

Show Notes

• Increasing levels of migrants and asylum seekers at US southern border (7:00)
• Kara shares about the current environment in El Salvador (9:00)
• Erica contrasts El Salvador with the work Embrace is doing in Honduras (13:00)
• Levi shares about the situation in Guatemala (22:00)
• Generational poverty paired with lack of opportunity as a driving force (28:00)
• Reunifying children within violent and unpredictable environments (30:20)
• Strengthening families as a preventative factor in migration (33:00)
• Onesimo shares the role of pastors in Latin America (42:00)
• Multiple layers of generational, historical, complex issues (58:00)
• We need more empathy for asylum seekers (1:00:00)

This week we have the privilege of delving deeper into the remarkable life story of Mohamed Emmanuel Nabieu. In his captivating memoir, My Long Journey Back Home, Nabs shares his resilient spirit and unwavering determination to overcome the challenges that marked his childhood and youth. In his second appearance on Think Orphan, Nabs shares more powerful insights. Discover how he is harnessing the strength of his past to forge a path of empowerment, not only for himself but for countless others who have experienced similar adversity.

Podcast Sponsors

Attachment and Trauma Focused Therapy by Deborah Gray

The ATFT course will prepare you to treat attachment, trauma, and loss issues in children; families. The course teaches approaches for prenatal exposure, executive dysfunction, and family maltreatment.

Join the Haiti Family Care Network at the Better Together Conference this July! The Better Together conference will provide a dedicated space and time to convene, share, and learn over two and half days in Nashville.

Resources and Links from the show

My Long Journey Back Home

Watch Nabs on TedxUSW

Helping Children Worldwide

Show Notes

• What prompted the writing of My Long Journey Back Home (11:20)
• A loss of family, community, culture, language, identity (12:00)
• Cultivating resilience and being transformed (13:30)
• Spreading the message about care reform and importance of families (14:00)
• Reflecting on diverse childhood experiences (16:50)
• Growing up with family (17:00)
• Navigating life on the streets (20:00)
• Family cannot be replaced (23:00)
• It is better to grow up in a poor family than a rich orphanage (26:00)
• The abuse in institutions is higher than in families (28:10)
• It's more expensive to run an institution to family-care (29:00)
• Being taken away to the orphanage (29:30)
• Care without losing identity, connection, belonging (31:00)
• Creating bigger problems by removing children from families (32:00)
• Ways that missionaries have undermined connections with local communities (33:00)
• Changing development to ask communities, what do you need? (35:00)
• Undermining cultural ethics of countries (36:00)
• Understanding the cultural differences and how it can create challenges (38:00)
• Transitioning to family care (40:00)
• Providing hands up not hand outs (44:00)
• When families get stronger, so do communities (47:00)
• Years of cultivating a relationship with the government (51:00)
• Nab's recommendations (56:00)

This week we are joined by Tiffany Bluhm, the author of Prey Tell and Never Alone. She speaks at conferences, companies, and churches, and her work has been featured in Publisher's Weekly, Sojourners, Red Letter Christians, the YouVersion Bible app, Jenny McCarthy Show, and more. She serves at the intersection of faith and culture, humor and women's issues. She lives in the PNW with her husband and two sons. In this episode, Tiffany helps us navigate hard conversations around abuse of power and what it means to create systems of accountability.

Podcast Sponsors

Faith to Action Initiative is hosting an upcoming webinar on Jun 8, 2023! Sign up today!

Beyond Selfie Missions: How Missions Became All About 'Me' and What to do About It.

You will learn practical ways to negate "selfie missions", realign your missions efforts with the heart of God, and participate in transformational and reconciling missions work around the world.

Join the Haiti Family Care Network at the Better Together Conference this July! The Better Together conference will provide a dedicated space and time to convene, share, and learn over two and half days in Nashville.

Resources and Links from the show

Tiffany's Website

Prey Tell: Why We Silence Women Who Tell the Truth and How Everyone Can Speak Up

Speaker | Tiffany's Speaking Page

Co-Host | Why Tho Podcast

Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

Show Notes

• Tiffany Bluhm joins and shares her background (6:40)
• The importance of representation in early childhood (7:00)
• Adopting from East Africa (16:00)
• What you've learned as an adoptive parent (19:00)
• Navigating complex trauma and creating safe homes (20:00)
• The importance of self-care for ourselves (21:00)
• The unique isolation of motherhood and not wanting to burden others (22:00)
• Creating community and places families can connect (26:05)
• Tiffany's take on "Adoption is trauma" (27:00)
• Trying to reconcile with family before international adoption (34:00)
• Tiffany's book 'Prey Tell'
• Discussing abuse of power (40:00)
• Biblical example of serving as an ally and bystander intervention (42:00)
• Demanding systematic accountability (43:00)
• When we see an imbalance of power (46:00)
• True accountability outside of the organization (50:00)
• Conflict of interest between leaders and boards (51:00)
• Pathways of reporting that are anonymous (52:00)
• What Tiffany's currently working on (55:00)
• Tiffany's personal recommendations (56:30)
• Brandon and Phil's recap (59:00)

This week, Jason Johnson from Christian Alliance for Orphans returns to the show. Jason is a writer and speaker who encourages families and equips church and organizational leaders on their foster care and adoption journeys. In this episode, Jason names and shares many of the struggles and challenges that foster and adoptive parents go through. He encourages us to find safe spaces and communities where we can process our emotions and have open and honest conversations.

Podcast Sponsor

Faith to Action Initiative is hosting an upcoming webinar on Jun 8, 2023! Sign up today!

Beyond Selfie Missions: How Missions Became All About 'Me' and What to do About It.

You will learn practical ways to negate "selfie missions", realign your missions efforts with the heart of God, and participate in transformational and reconciling missions work around the world.

Resources and Links from the show

Jason's Blog

Reframing Foster Care

Everyone Can Do Something

Episode 167: Jason Johnson Everyone Can Do Something

Episode 216: Poverty and Family Separation in US Child Welfare with Sarah Winograd

Art of Gathering by Priya Parker

Quit by Annie Duke

Stolen Focus by Johann Hari

Biola Missions Conference on YouTube

Show Notes

• Jason catches us up on what he's been doing (5:00)
• The differences in how men and women approach fostering (8:10)
• Leading and following (11:00)
• Naming the struggles and grief involved in foster care(15:50)
• Giving ourselves the permission to think and feel (18:30)
• Being able to lean into the community around us (21:30)
• Improving how we do church engagement (25:00)
• Helping churches know how to care (28:00)
• Making the church our audience (31:00)
• Engagement as partnership (33:00)
• Urgency can breed scarcity (34:00)
• Focusing on family preservation and preventative measures (43:00)
• Living within the tensions and the need for foster care (45:00)
• Reckoning with the reality (46:00)
• Gaps and the spirit of scarcity (53:00)
• Gaps in the prevention space (56:00)
• Strategic benevolence and investing in the lives of at-risk families (58:50)
• Jason's recommendations (1:00:00)

This week we've got Kim de Blecourt from Nourished Hearts back on the show to talk with us about their ministry in Ukraine, the effects of the war on vulnerable children and the importance of coming alongside indigenous churches. Nourished Hearts is a ministry that encourages, inspires, and creates community around those who are involved with adoption, foster care, or orphan care internationally.

Podcast Sponsor

Masters Program at Multnomah University in Global Development and Justice

The M.A. in Global Development and Justice (MAGDJ) program prepares students to work across the nexus of justice, peace building, and transformational community development work. The curriculum seeks to develop compassionate leaders, who are trauma-informed and prepared to support human flourishing in whatever context they work in.

Resources and Links from the show

BBC Article: Deportation of Ukrainian Children to Russia

Kim's Website

Nourished Hearts

I Call You Mine: Embracing Adoption

Relevant Magazine: Re-envisioning Orphan Care

Relevant Magazine: Better Way to Talk about Adoption

Think Orphan Episode 107. Be Patient with Kim de Blecourt

Show Notes

• Kim shares her background (6:30)
• Kim shares about her recent experience in Ukraine (10:00)
• Trying to meet the needs of the internally displaced (12:30)
• Rising concerns for children in Ukraine (17:00)
• War crimes related to separating families (25:00)
• Knowing the heart of God and identifying with the orphan (32:00)
• God labels himself as the Father of the Fatherless (36:07)
• Importance of translating materials to other languages (38:30)
• Rick Warren as one person who has impacted Kim's thinking (52:00)
• Phil and Brandon recap the conversation (55:10)
• The importance of connections and networking (57:00)
• Just doing the next right thing (1:00:00)
• Relevant Magazine article 'A Better Way to Talk about Adoption' (1:03:00)

Kimberly Quinley, a pioneer of family-based care, has spent nearly 40 years serving in Thailand. She is the co-founder and Executive Director of Step Ahead, an organization committed to see all children in Thailand grow up in safe and nurturing families. Kimberly is a founding leader for Strong Families Alliance Thailand (SFAT), a Christian alliance with the same vision and goals as World Without Orphans. In episode 220, we cover everything from the core pillars of family strengthening, to collective impact, creating national roadmaps, and more.

Podcast Sponsor

JOURNEYHOME is offering online courses and practical resources for reforming models of care throughout the world. Created by seasoned frontline practitioners, the instructors in our community share field-tested and solution-based content to safely and effectively get kids home.

Reintegrating Children with Disabilities into Family: Around the world, children with disabilities are 17x more likely than typically developing children to end up living in an institution. Our hope is that this course will help your organization find a way home for children with disabilities.

Resources and Links from the show

Urban Halo by Craig Greenfield

Step Ahead Thailand

Think Orphan Episode 51 with Delia Pop

Show Notes

• Introducing Kimberly Quinley (7:00)
• Understanding the reality of orphanages (9:00)
• Starting Step Ahead (10:30)
• One mother's dilemma (12:00)
• Keeping families together is the best thing to do (15:20)
• Cross cultural insights, do your homework (18:00)
• Poverty is great reason children enter care (19:00)
• Come listen, and learn (20:00)
• Push and pull factors for children in residential care (25:00)
• Children at risk of trafficking (29:00)
• Strengthening families is most needed (35:00)
• Defining family strengthening (39:00)
• Different areas of family strengthening (40:00)
• Connecting families to services (43:00)
• Collective impact model (50:00)
• Defining shared vision (53:00)
• Monitoring and evaluation (55:00)
• Creating leadership (58:30)
• Drafting a national roadmap (59:00)
• Kimberly's recommendations (1:03)
• Brandon and Phil recap the conversation (1:15)

Find additional shows and resources on thinkorphan.com

In episode 219, Lindsay Hadley is on to discuss the upcoming release of the documentary "Uncharitable". After many years in the nonprofit sector, Lindsay has become one of the most sought-after consultants and producers. This conversation challenges us to envision an unconstrained nonprofit sector. What if the charities could attract the best leaders, talents, and ideas? What if smaller operations with less impact stopped and those resources went to the best organization solving the problem? We get into these questions and more in this episode of Think Orphan.

Podcast Sponsor

Multnomah University's Masters in Global Development and Justice

The M.A. in Global Development and Justice (MAGDJ) program prepares students to work across the nexus of justice, peacebuilding, and transformational community development work. The curriculum seeks to develop compassionate leaders, who are trauma-informed and prepared to support human flourishing in whatever context they work in.

Resources and Links from the show

Uncharitable Documentary

Dan Pallotta's Ted Talk - The Way We Think about Charity is Dead Wrong

Lindsay's Book Recommendation- Bonds that Make Us Free

Show Notes

• Lindsay shares her background in nonprofit (5:05)
• Her involvement working in orphan care and global poverty (7:30)
• Overhead myth and a real example (17:25)
• Ted Talk behind 'Uncharitable' (24:00)
• Lindsay explains her role as an executive producer (33:00)
• The role risk plays for non-profits (38:00)
• Appreciation in the non-profit sector (49:00)
• The best organizations would grow (51:00)
• Lindsey's book recommendation (55:00)
• To see ourselves in the other (57:00)
• Lindsey's most influential person (59:00)
• Joe Ritchie on Caring for Orphans (1:00:00)
• Brandon and Phil recap their talk with Lindsey (1:02:00)
• The overhead myth (1:03:00)

In episode 218, we hear from lawyer and professor, Elizabeth Kirk. Elizabeth is the Director of the Center for Law and the Human Person, as well as a research associate at The Catholic University of America. Her work spans a variety of law in child welfare, parental rights, and adoption policy. In addition to her career, her lived experiences as an adoptee and an adoptive parent, give her a unique perspective and voice to speak into the conversation happening around adoption today. She talks with Brandon about the role that infant adoption could play following last year's Dobbs decision at the Supreme Court, misconceptions around adoption, as well as insight on the decision making process for women that have an unplanned pregnancy.

Podcast Sponsor

Masters Program at Mulnomah University in Global Development and Justice

The M.A. in Global Development and Justice (MAGDJ) program prepares students to work across the nexus of justice, peacebuilding, and transformational community development work. The curriculum develops compassionate leaders and professionals, who are trauma-informed and prepared to support human flourishing in whatever context they work in.

Resources and Links from the show

LifeMark movie

Show Notes

• Elizabeth shares her background and what drew her into this work (5:20)
• The role of adoption in a post Roe vs. Wade world (13:00)
• Overviewing pro-choice arguments against adoption (14:52)
• A view of pregnancy that includes communities (18:20)
• Mothers and decision making in adoption (24:50)
• A global south perspective (27:20)
• Misconceptions concerning adoption (29:00)
• Elizabeth's adoption experience and a story from a birth mother (35:20)
• Is adoption a viable option in a birth mother's mind? (49:00)