James 1:27 has long been a central biblical text from which our podcast community has drawn from. But to what extent have we delved into the depths of the Jewish context in which James wrote? To help us go deeper on this text and the social implications of true religion, we’ve invited Dr. Andrea Siegel to the show. Dr. Siegel has years of experience in humanitarian work, Hebrew studies and counseling and brings that to the text as the curriculum writer on Helping Children Worldwide’s most recent orphan care resource. If you want to hear some things about James 1:27 that you’ve never heard before, this is a podcast to check out.
Category Archives: Orphan Care
Balancing Tensions in Children’s Rights
The most effective approaches to doing justice will acknowledge nuance and there is wisdom in maintaining tensions in the work God has called us to. Central to the work of global development is how we work among at risk children and youth and there are a lot of principles to balance in that space. In this solo episode of the podcast, Brandon Stiver breaks down a number of paradigms that children’s rights advocates and practitioners operate within as we hope to find the right balance that will allow children to flourish and be fully who God created them to be.
The Underbelly of Anti-Trafficking and Orphan Care Work with Erin Foley
There are so many needs within the work of anti-trafficking and orphan care, but what happens when people that are engaging as helpers are actually doing harm. Ego, poor practice and a desire for appearances can corrupt organizations that purport to be doing good. As a practitioner and journalist working in Southeast Asia, Erin Foley has been around the block working in organizations and comes onto the show today to share some of what she’s seen and learned doing missions and nonprofit work over the years. She also shares about some of the great organizations she’s worked with and about her most recent project, the recently published book “Where They Belong” which chronicles the movement of family care in Cambodia.
What Scripture and Science Say About Resilience with Dr. Nicole Wilke
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!
Community Care in Kenyan Slums with Steve Kariithi
We’re heading to Kenya for episode 262 as we connect with Steve Kariithi who is the Kenya Program Director at Hope’s Promise. Steve talks with Brandon Stiver about what it looks like to do kinship based family care in Kenyan communities. We cover the effects of changing child welfare policy on families and juxtapose that with actions of the government that adversely affect families living in informal settlements. If you’ve ever wondered what it looks like to work in a slum, this is a good conversation to jump into.
Reforming Care in the Age of Mass Media with Christopher Muwanguzi, Elli Oswald and Jared Scheppmann
Joining the podcast for episode 260 are global child welfare leaders Christopher Muwanguzi from child’s I Foundation, Elli Oswald from Faith to Action Initiative and Jared Scheppmann from Ekisa Ministries. Our guests speak with Brandon Stiver and Phil Darke about the status of moving people’s mindsets in the west to focus on the need for children to be in families, as opposed to orphanages. We zero in specifically on the country of Uganda and juxtapose the good work being done by organizations like child’s I and Ekisa with the common practice of needlessly placing kids in residential care. With the backdrop of larger cultural narratives and specific stories about orphanhood that are promoted in media.
This is Child Empowerment with Gaston Warner
We are joined today by global nonprofit leader Gaston Warner who is the Global North CEO of Zoe Empowers. Gaston talks with Brandon Stiver and Phil Darke about their work among vulnerable families, especially child and youth headed households. Over the years, our show has talked a lot about the need for kids to be raised in families and communities and in this episode we learn about a comprehensive model that emphasizes the children’s agency to overcome poverty. We talk empowerment, data, promising practices and it’s an episode our orphan care diehards don’t want to miss.
Rethinking Orphan Care with Preston Sprinkle and Brandon Stiver
Today, we’re releasing our podcast collaboration with our friends at Theology in the Raw. Brandon had a chance to sit down with Preston Sprinkle and dive into all things global orphan care and discuss the realities of that children in orphanages face worldwide. Our conversation weaves between a theology of calling and mission and how American Christians intersect with orphans in the Global South. We discuss the reality of life within orphanages, why kids end up there and what risk factors and vulnerabilities arise when kids are raised in that environment. This is a good Ethical Orphan Care 101 type episode and we’re grateful for the chance to collaborate with Theology in the Raw to raise awareness and education.
Pioneering Family Care in the Philippines with Chrina Henson
In honor of the World Without Orphans Global Forum and in honor of awesome work being done in the Philippines, we’ve got Chrina Cuna Henson joining the show. Chrina runs the Manila-based organization Generations-Home and talks with Brandon Stiver and Phil Darke about what it’s like to promote foster care and adoption in the Philippines. We discuss the reality of violence against children and the pervasive online sexual exploitation of children in the country and learn how Generations-Home is promoting the care and protection of children therein.
Owning Poverty with Dr. Michael Pucci
Author and development educator, Dr. Michael Pucci joins the show to talk with us about the spiritual and relational dynamics of poverty and helps us understand the biblical view of the global family of God. We also dive into a fascinating conversation on the multi-billion dollar aid industry (which is nuanced by the amount of remittances sent to the Global South). Dr. Pucci is based in Kigali where he runs Transformational Initiatives and invests in women’s economic empowerment alongside other transformational development initiatives.
Canopy International 