Upwardly Dependent

If there is a good place to start this conversation for our season on Orphans and Vulnerable Children, Brandon Stiver is the right person to set the tone. With years of experience in this space, Brandon helped Lauren curate this episode through his knowledge and his connections to voices in this space. He is a co-host of the Think Orphan podcast, and has dedicated his work and his research to family preservation and family-based care for vulnerable children. Listen to Brandon and Lauren discuss the difference between family preservation and child protection, and why it is critical for the Church to revisit our approach to orphan care.

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Episode Highlights

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For more information, details, and episode transcriptions, visit: upwardlydependent.org/shownotes.

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Links

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Connect with Lauren

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Connect with Brandon

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Lauren is back with another season exploring the complexities of a global issue that engages many churches, but not always with a cohesive impact. As we follow the mandate of ‘pure religion’ outlined in James 1:27, what does it really mean to care for orphans and widows? What is the invitation to this work, and why isn’t it as simple as a few words in a New Testament epistle?

Hear the purpose behind this season, and how the conversations will address not only global orphanages, but also how vulnerable children should be guiding our thoughts and actions around criminal justice, infertility treatments, transracial families, and human trafficking. You will need to be Upwardly Dependent to hold these discussions well…

Join us here on Mondays and Wednesdays this season as we seek to place children and their flourishing back at the center of our care.

Hosted by the ⁠Kindred Exchange⁠ Podcast Network

View show notes for this episode at ⁠upwardlydependent.com/shownotes/season-two⁠.

For this episode, Lauren spills her heart (and a bit of her life history) to explain the purpose behind this season’s episodes. She discusses how her biblical worldview has changed over time, shares stories from experiences with churches spotted across the world, and offers a hope for a future faith community that stewards responsible Gospel messaging.

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EPISODE SHOW NOTES

EPISODE TRANSCRITPION

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Links

Kindred Exchange - Learn more and support ethical missions

Shop ABLE - Get 15% off your order with the code UPWARD15

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Connect with Lauren

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Dr. Aaron Wheeler, the Director of Missional Development for Kindred Exchange, chats with Lauren about four different frames through which people see the world and their place in the Story of God. Too often, he says, our evangelism problem is rooted in a limited theology–we have a “good news” that doesn’t match people’s bad news.

This two-part episode series will significantly inform the way followers of Jesus share their belief with others, providing a set of powerful questions to ask and postures to take when connecting with other humans around conversations of faith.

From guilt to shame, purity to power, Aaron breaks down the worldviews most people hold and then explains why it is critical to understand a person’s frame before introducing him or her to a gospel narrative. He and Lauren also discuss what is next for the global Church, and how local churches can be better stewards of Good News.

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EPISODE SHOW NOTES

EPISODE TRANSCRITPION

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Links

Kindred Exchange - Learn more and support ethical missions

Shop ABLE - Get 15% off your order with the code UPWARD15

The 3D Gospel by Jayson Georges (discussing 3 of the 4 pathways in this episode)

Another podcast episode with 3D Gospel author Jayson Georges

Missio Pop Podcast - Listen to the trailer and subscribe today

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Connect with Lauren

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Connect with Aaron

Kindred Exchange / Email / Linkedin

Dr. Aaron Wheeler, the Director of Missional Development for Kindred Exchange, chats with Lauren about four different frames through which people see the world and their place in the Story of God.  Too often, he says, our evangelism problem is rooted in a limited theology–we have a “good news” that doesn’t match people’s bad news.

This two-part episode series will significantly inform the way followers of Jesus share their belief with others, providing a set of powerful questions to ask and postures to take when connecting with other humans around conversations of faith.

From guilt to shame, purity to power, Aaron breaks down the worldviews most people hold and then explains why it is critical to understand a person’s frame before introducing him or her to a gospel narrative. He and Lauren also discuss what is next for the global Church, and how local churches can be better stewards of Good News.

...

EPISODE SHOW NOTES

EPISODE TRANSCRITPION

...

Links

Kindred Exchange - Learn more and support ethical missions

Shop ABLE - Get 15% off your order with the code UPWARD15

The 3D Gospel by Jayson Georges (discussing 3 of the 4 pathways in this episode)

Another podcast episode with 3D Gospel author Jayson Georges

...

Connect with Lauren

Email / Instagram / Leave a Review

Connect with Aaron

Kindred Exchange / Email / Linkedin 

Lauren talks with Jeje Godfrey Nzirimu, President and Founder of East Africa Energy Solutions, about the many complications of mobilizing both aid and religion across cultures. Jeje highlights concepts of power dynamics, and explains why so many development efforts fall flat or cause unintended harm. With loads of generosity and grace, he shares wisdom for Westerners engaging in the majority world to help them be better partners and more humble co-laborers in whatever goals they have for engaging across borders.

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EPISODE SHOW NOTES

EPISODE TRANSCRITPION

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Links

Kindred Exchange - Learn more and support ethical missions

Shop ABLE - Get 15% off your order with the code UPWARD15

East Africa Energy Solutions - Learn more and become a supporter

Chapati Recipe - Make this delicious East African flat bread

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Connect with Lauren

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Connect with Jeje

Website / Email / Instagram

Rob Touchstone, the Director for the Center for Vocational Discovery at Lipscomb University, shares his journey through different jobs in formal church-based ministry to social enterprise. He and Lauren discuss the Hebrew concept of Avodah, or the convergence of our work also becoming a form of our worship. In this episode, you will hear some new spins on the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus, and will hopefully feel compelled to continue sharing yourself with the world around you as you see God’s reflection in your design and purpose.

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EPISODE SHOW NOTES

EPISODE TRANSCRITPION

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Links

Kindred Exchange - Learn more and support ethical missions

Shop ABLE - Get 15% off your order with the code UPWARD15

Listen to Rob’s Podcast - Talmidim: Living Into The Story of Jesus

Every Good Endeavor - Order the book online today

Completing Captialism - Order the book online today

The Well Coffeehouse - Learn more, visit in-person, or order online today

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Connect with Lauren

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Connect with Rob

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Dr. Brian Fikkert and Lauren discuss what has changed in missional movements since publishing his monumental book, When Helping Hurts. The two have a riveting conversation about economic structures, how financial capital can work against mental health, and how the Western world can learn some of its best lessons from the Majority World. In this episode, you will be challenged to think about how globalizing capitalism can come at a cost to communal societies.

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EPISODE SHOW NOTES

EPISODE TRANSCRITPION

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Links

Kindred Exchange - Learn more and support ethical missions.

Shop ABLE - Get 15% off your order with the code UPWARD15.

Order Becoming Whole - Why the Opposite of Poverty Isn't the American Dream

Order When Helping Hurts - How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor… and Yourself

The Chalmers Center - Learn about the center and get connected

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Connect with Brian

Twitter / Linkedin

Derran, a long-time acquaintance of Lauren from working in Southeast Asia, tackles some big questions around systems of community development. The two take a critical look at recent trends in social intervention, and ask where our best-laid plans for developing communities outside of the West have failed and how we can be more curious as we seek new strategies.

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EPISODE SHOW NOTES

EPISODE TRANSCRITPION

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Links

Kindred Exchange - Learn more and support ethical missions.

Shop ABLE - Get 15% off your order with the code UPWARD15.

Order Development In Mission - A Guide for Transforming Global Poverty and Ourselves

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Connect with Lauren

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Connect with Derran

Linkedin

In this episode, Mats shares the history of the Business as Mission (BAM) Global Movement. He and Lauren discuss why business is an authentic way to connect across cultures, how business has been used to unethically enter different countries, and what the future of the BAM Movement entails. From human trafficking to economic justice, this conversations tackles the why behind Business as a form of Mission.

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EPISODE SHOW NOTES

EPISODE TRANSCRITPION

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Links

Kindred Exchange - Learn more and support ethical missions.

Shop ABLE - Get 15% off your order with the code UPWARD15.

Order BAM Global Movement - Business as Mission Concepts & Stories

BAM Website - Learn more about Business as Mission

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Connect with Lauren

Email / Instagram / Leave a Review

Connect with Mats

Website / LinkedIn