In episode 214, we’ve got filmmaker and justice advocate Jeff Rogers on the show. Jeff talks with us about his work over the years that has highlighted and advocated for children outside of parental care and communities that have been impacted by HIV/AIDS. Jeff shares with us about the new feature documentary Beyond the Island which tells the story of HIV/AIDS in Papua New Guinea and highlights the work of advocates and the triumph of overcomers. Through the conversation, we learn more about the role that filmmaking plays in enacting community change and advocating for vulnerable children.

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In episode 213, Brandon and Phil reflect on 2022 and look forward to 2023 for the podcast and orphan care ministries. This is our annual show to share the state of Think Orphan and what exciting things are coming down the pipe for the podcast. We want to hear from you while we do it all!

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In episode 212, we’ve got a panel of executive directors that oversaw the transition of their orphanage to family based care. We’ll be asking them the hard questions of how they worked with their board of directors and their donor bases to take the journey with them. Brandon will be interviewing past Think Orphan guests and orphan care leaders, Brent Phillips of Cherish Uganda, Ashlee Heiligman of Global Child Advocates and Spencer Reeves of Child Hope International. This panel took place live in Atlanta, Georgia at the Christian Alliance for Orphans Annual Summit.

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In episode 211, we’re talking with foster care alum, entrepreneur and advocate Justin Black about the new book he co-wrote with his wife Alexis called Re-Defining Normal. Justin shares with us his experience spending some of his childhood and adolescence in care and the importance of supporting foster youth as the exit care. It’s a great conversation to think through family, community and what it means to help young people heal and establish their own family successes.

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In episode 210, we’re talking with Adrien Lewis and Jake Barreth of the Global Orphan Project to learn about their ministry and dive into the Care Portal platform. We get into conversations on youth that are aging out of care, hear about the crisis in Haiti and learn how Care Portal is changing communities throughout the US and Canada. All that, plus Brandon and Phil subject our listeners to pointless sports banter (and it’s not even Phil’s other podcast!)

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In episode 209, we’ve got our buddy Craig Greenfield back on the show to catch us up on the Alongsiders movement and tell us about his new book Subversive Mission. We talk with Craig about the five fold ministry framework that he adapted from Ephesians and get our questions answered about ethical cross-cultural missions. If you are doing missions work overseas, this is an episode you don’t want to miss.

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In episode 208, we’re in conversation with author and preeminent attachment expert Deborah Gray. Deborah shares from her decades of experience serving children and families through therapy and sets baseline understandings on trauma and attachment. In addition to the stack of books that Deborah has written, she also shares about the Attachment-Trauma Focused Therapy post-graduate course that is now available for the first time ever in an online format. All that, plus we’ve got our favorite Brit, movie director and podcast editor, Samuel Rich, filling in for Phil this week. 

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In episode 207, we’re talking with Nick Runyon, Ashlee Heiligman and Julie Ann Walton about their new media series called Reimagine Orphan Care. Nick from The Archibald Project shares with us about storytelling and the power of media to help orphans and vulnerable children and Ashlee and Julie share some of the misconceptions they’ve encountered when talking with others about orphan care. All that plus some wrap up conversation on CAFO Summit in Atlanta.

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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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