In episode 206, we’re talking with Peter Mutabazi about his childhood growing up through various challenges in Uganda and how learning from those experiences propelled him towards foster care and adoption. Peter shares with us about his new book, Now I Am Known, which really encapsulates a lot of what we talk about on Think Orphan. Not to mention, we’ve got Phil back in the fold after a couple of months off from the pod and we’re gearing up for CAFO Summit in Atlanta this week!

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For our final summer compilation episode, we’ll be looking at foster care in the United States – an area that many of our audience members has some familiarity with. We’ve all heard the triumphs and the challenges of engaging in foster care and this week, we’ll be hearing from three guests that are leading the way towards better practice in foster care. Each of our guests have a lot of personal experience welcoming children into their homes and will be walking us through the child’s experience, the family’s experience and how we can better engage the church and community more broadly to lend a hand in helping children in foster care systems. Check out their books to learn more from each of these guests.

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In episode 198, we’re speaking with Alycia Pinizzotto of Story International in Guatemala about piloting foster care in a new context, parenting teens and ministering in the midst of tragedy. Alycia brings a lot of first-hand experience and thoughtful reflections on ministering to orphans and vulnerable children, not only in Guatemala but in the US system as well.

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In episode 197, we’re speaking with author, professor and mother Brittany Salmon about the in’s and out’s of cross-cultural and trans-racial adoption. We learn not only from her family’s experience but also research and writing that she’s put together in her new book, It Takes More Than Love. After the interview, Brandon and Phil discuss race a little further and emphasize the importance of listening and building towards unity.

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In episode 196, we’re talking with Tori Hope Petersen. Tori is an author, speaker and foster care advocate with lived experience in the system (oh, yeah, she’s also Mrs. Universe). We discuss what foster care looks like from the inside, what changes ought to be made and what compelled Tori to go from being a foster youth, to now welcoming kids in to her home as a parent.

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In episode 193, we’re talking with Author and Advocate, Jamie Finn about foster care, adoption and reunification. Jamie has written extensively on her blog Foster the Family about how God has been working in their family’s life and we get to glean from the lessons that they’ve learned along the way.

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In this special episode of Think Orphan, we’re joining Pastor and Author Francis Chan as he travels through Kenya to hear about what God is doing in the lives of orphans and vulnerable children. Along the way, he talks with care leavers, organization directors and advocates for family based care. This podcast is brought in partnership with JourneyHome, the online community learning platform that is training and resourcing leaders in global child welfare.

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In episode 190, we’re talking with Brent Phillips from Cherish Uganda. A long-time friend of the podcast, we get Brent on to share about the work that Cherish is doing in Uganda, what it looked like for them to transform to a family based model of care and then get into the nitty-gritty of fundraising for our missions and whether or not child sponsorships are the way to go.

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In episode 186, you will hear from the crew at SFAC: Mick Pease, Dan Hope and Dr Caitlin Lance Hope. They get into an array of topics with Phil and Brandon around child protection, family care services and what they’ve learned from years working in global child welfare.

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In episode 181, you’ll hear from Ian Forber-Pratt who serves as the CEO of The Institute for Child Welfare Innovation, the Director of Global Advocacy at CERI, and also teaches at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. We talk with Ian about the work that he and his team are undertaking in domestic and international reform to “Protect Childhood.”

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