Trauma has the potential to cripple individuals that have experienced adversity, poverty and exclusion. There isn't an area where this is more clear than in global orphan care and there isn't a better person to walk us through what building resilience looks like than our guest today. Dr. Nicole Wilke is the Director at the CAFO Research Center where she leads a team focused on making research applicable to everyday practitioners in global child welfare. On the show, Nicole talks with Brandon Stiver and Phil Darke about what she's learned both from living in Peru as well as through the research that she has conducted in promoting better practice for orphaned and vulnerable children. We close our conversation with diving into the new book that she co-wrote with Dr. Amanda Howard called Overcoming which is out now. There's something in this conversation for everyone, so jump in with us!

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Resources and Links from the show

Caleb Koala's Comeback Ride

Overcoming: What Scripture and Science Say About Resilience (CAFO Site)

Overcoming Book on Amazon

CAFO's Core Elements

Transitioning to Family Care Resources

Conversation Notes

• The needed mutuality between Global North and Global South within the family of God
• The difference between endogenous and exogenous empowerment in cross-cultural missional work
• Christians in orphan care had become known with leading with their hearts rather than their heads
• Addressing the distrust between research and Christian orphan care practice
• The products and resources at the CAFO Research Center that turns research into applicable practice
• How scripture and science align to bolster understandings of resilience
• Trauma is real and at the same time use of the word 'trauma' is often watered down in the West
• Adversity that turns into trauma happens at an instantaneous and subconscious level and will affect people differently
• The keys to building resilience that can happen at any time for anyone
• Data-informed practices and frameworks that will promote resilience in children

Theme music Kirk Osamayo. Free Music Archive, CC BY License