Peaceful Hugs Podcast

Mark Zahringer

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Religion & Spirituality
Updated Biweekly

The Peaceful Hugs Podcast shares uplifting, real-life stories of people helping others — guided by faith, kindness, and connection. It brings the mission of the Peaceful Hugs nonprofit to life through heartfelt conversations about service, second chances, and the power of community.

Jul 8

Pain Is a Universal Language — Mark & Lorelei's Midseason Reflection

In this special midseason episode of the Peaceful Hugs Podcast, hosts Mark Zahringer and Lorelei Cromer step away from guest interviews for a conversation that is entirely their own — reflecting on the remarkable people they've met in the first half of the season, and the life-changing journeys that took them both far from home. Lorelei just returned from her third trip to Uganda, where Unbridled Acts' Mazizi program has been quietly transforming lives in the villages of Jinja and Kayunga for 14 years. She shares what it's like to watch children they once scholarshipped through school now return as staff — Ugandan nationals serving their own communities — and why a country that is only 40 years removed from civil war still manages to produce some of the most generous, content, and present human beings she's ever met. She also opens up about the pilot service trip that brought two colleagues from their for-profit partners on the ground for the first time, and what it means to build a program that is truly rooted — not dependent, but self-sustaining. Mark, meanwhile, spent a month in Spain and Portugal on a journey he had been trying to take for three years — one that finally came together in the aftermath of one of the hardest seasons of his life. What he found at a small monastery along the Camino de Santiago was not the answers he went looking for. Instead, over three weeks of facilitating daily gatherings of pilgrims from 36 countries, he found something he didn't expect: that pain is a universal language, that hugs cross every border, and that a French woman who barely spoke English could hold him tight and whisper you're going to be okay — and mean it completely. He came back without a roadmap. He came back with peace. The two also look back on the season's guests — from Temwa Wright and the Persian refugee crisis, to Jillian's raw conversation about mental health, to Reverend Antoine Colvin's vision for Detroit, to David Farmer and the unexpected revival happening among young people — and talk about what comes next. Takeaways Pain is a universal language. You don't need to share a tongue to share a burden.You don't always go on a journey to find answers. Sometimes you go to find peace with the questions.Every time you travel somewhere that stretches you, you come back a slightly better version of yourself — and shed a little of what you didn't need.The people we go to serve almost always give us more than we give them.Ugandans are some of the most generous, content, and present people on earth — not because they don't know what they're missing, but because they're not focused on it.What happens when children are believed in is incredible. Every generation deserves that.We are not doing enough to get young people outside of their own bubble — whether across town or across the world.Destigmatizing mental health care is one of the most important things we can do for every generation, especially older men who were taught not to ask for help.Technology was an accidental science experiment on humanity — and we're still figuring out how to undo the damage for younger generations.When everyone in a room is carrying a loss, judgment disappears. We need more rooms like that.Chapters 00:15 Welcome & Midseason Check-In 02:30 Lorelei's Third Trip to Uganda — What's Changed in 14 Years 07:00 Mud Huts, Malaria & What Poverty Really Looks Like 11:30 Kids They Scholarshipped Are Now Running the Program 15:00 Fatherlessness, Boarding Schools & the Next Generation in Uganda 19:30 What Happens When You Come Home From a Place Like That 24:00 Mark's Month in Spain — Three Years in the Making 28:30 The Camino Monastery & Serving Pilgrims From 36 Countries 33:00 The Room Where Everyone Cried — Stories From the Cafes 38:30 A Danish Man's Wedding Ring, a Couple's Lost Son & a French Woman's Hug 43:00 What He Went Looking For vs. What He Actually Found 47:30 Why Peaceful Hugs Is Named Exactly Right 51:00 Looking Back — The Guests That Stood Out Most This Season 55:30 Pastor Tat & Iran, Jillian & Mental Health, David Farmer & Youth Revival 59:00 Open Door Lubbock, Reverend Colvin & the Work Happening in Detroit 1:02:00 What's Coming in the Second Half of the Season 1:04:00 Closing — Thank You & Where to Find Everything About the Peaceful Hugs Podcast The Peaceful Hugs Podcast is a space for thoughtful, real conversations about faith, culture, purpose, and the stories that shape us. Hosted by Mark Zahringer and Lorelei Cromer, the show brings together voices from different backgrounds and generations to explore what it means to live with empathy — especially when the world feels loud, polarized, and quick to judge. At the center of it all is a simple idea: kindness matters, and we can't afford to lose it. 🎙️ Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PeacefulHugsPodcast
Jun 24

Not Fearless. Fear Proof. The Story Of Sophia Campana.

In this episode of the Peaceful Hugs Podcast, hosts Mark Zahringer and Lorelei Cromer sit down with Sophia Campana — Italian-American elite gymnast, YouTube creator, and founder of the Fire Within experience — for a conversation that is equal parts inspiring, sobering, and deeply empowering. From sneaking out of her childhood bedroom in the middle of the night to practice gymnastics in the basement, to competing in front of 11,000 fans in Italy who knew her name from a viral MTV show, Sophia's journey is one of passion, resilience, and an unwavering belief that sport should never steal the joy that started it all.Sophia grew up in Colorado with gymnastics in her bones from the age of three — crying to her parents to let her train more, offering to sleep on the gym mats so they wouldn't have to drive her home. At 15, she moved to Italy alone, unable to speak the language, to train with the national team. The transition was anything but smooth — social isolation, homesick nights, and a training culture that at times crossed deeply into abuse. She watched a young girl dragged across the floor by her ponytail and froze, unable to move. She found herself — the girl who once loved gymnastics more than anything — beginning to fear and hate the sport entirely. And she had to ask herself the hardest question: is this really what it takes to become a champion?The answer, she discovered, is no. And that discovery changed everything about the way she shows up for young athletes today.The conversation also goes deep on what it felt like to become famous in a foreign country almost overnight — opening Facebook one morning to 999+ friend requests after an MTV Italia show she'd all but forgotten about won national awards. Sophia opens up about the moment before competing in front of 11,000 fans when a rival tried to get in her head — and the mindset shift that saved her performance. And she shares the vision behind her Fire Within experience: a series of events designed to help young gymnasts reconnect with the reason they fell in love with the sport in the first place.Takeaways It's not about not having fear — it's about learning how to move through it. Even Olympians are still afraid.The most important question anyone can ask themselves is not "how do I win?" but "what does it mean for me to win at life?"Play is not the opposite of elite performance — it's what sustains it. Athletes who stay connected to joy last longer and learn faster.Empowering young athletes produces not only better gymnasts, but better humans.Abuse in elite sport was once normalized — naming it, refusing it, and educating around it is how the culture changes.When you walk into a room full of people, you can choose to see judgment or love. That choice changes everything.Parents who believe in a child's fire and get out of the way are one of the greatest gifts an athlete can receive. Chapters00:15 Welcome & Mark's Real Reason for Having Sophia On (Italian Citizenship)03:30 Growing Up With Gymnastics in Her Bones — Sneaking Out at Midnight to Train07:00 Parents Who Believed in Her Fire — Balancing Support and Boundaries10:30 Moving to Italy at 15 Alone — Excitement, Fear & Not Speaking the Language15:00 The Girls Who Didn't Like Her at First — And Became Friends Later18:30 Going Viral on MTV Italia Without Knowing the Show Even Aired22:00 11,000 Fans, One Mean Comment & the Mindset Shift That Changed Everything27:15 Elite Training Abuse in Italy — What She Witnessed and What She Froze Through33:00 The Girl Who Started to Fear the Sport She Loved Most37:30 Visiting Olympic Gyms Around the World — Is There Another Way?41:00 Champions Who Never Had to Endure Abuse — Proof It Doesn't Have to Be That Way45:15 Becoming a Role Model — Natural Pull, YouTube & Her Dad's Words49:00 The Fire Within Experience — Play, Fear & Reconnecting With Why You Started54:30 What the San Diego Chargers Coach Said About Fun and Great Athletes58:00 Sophia's Hope for the Future of Gymnastics1:01:00 Best Life Advice — What Does It Mean to Win at Life?1:03:00 Book Recommendation: Power vs. Force by Dr. David Hawkins1:04:30 How to Find Sophia & Upcoming Fire Within Event Connect with Sophia CampanaWebsite: sophiacampana.com About the Peaceful Hugs PodcastThe Peaceful Hugs Podcast is a space for thoughtful, real conversations about faith, culture, purpose, and the stories that shape us. Hosted by Mark Zahringer and Lorelei Cromer, the show brings together voices from different backgrounds and generations to explore what it means to live with empathy — especially when the world feels loud, polarized, and quick to judge. At the center of it all is a simple idea: kindness matters, and we can't afford to lose it.
Jun 10

Built To Break Made to Rise

In this episode of the Peaceful Hugs Podcast, host Lorelei Cromer and Mark Zahringer sits down with her old high school friend and fellow storyteller Danielle Damrell — serial entrepreneur, life story coach, podcast host, and founder of Rise Leadership Collective — for one of the most raw, redemptive, and deeply personal conversations the show has ever aired. These two go way back, and it shows. This isn't an interview. It's two women who carried each other through some of the hardest seasons of their lives, finally getting to tell that story out loud. Danielle's journey begins in a volatile home — a mom who never quite learned how to be a mom, an abusive stepfather, multiple elementary schools, expulsion from the Archdiocese of Denver, an eating disorder, self-harm, a treatment facility in Nashville at 15, and seven different high school enrollments before she ever walked across a stage. But in the middle of all of it, the Lord gave her a vision: standing on a stage, pointing people to freedom through story. She had a 1-point-something GPA and no idea how she was going to get there. He made a way anyway. From a single mom at 19 finishing her communications degree, to meeting her husband — the man she calls the biggest miracle of her life — to building a creative business that has helped over 65 authors tell their stories for the very first time, Danielle's arc is nothing short of stunning. But the most powerful chapter might be the most recent one: two car accidents in three weeks, a traumatic brain injury, a Judas-level board betrayal, and a ministry she had to surrender completely — all because she didn't listen when God told her to rest. The conversation also gets beautifully honest about boundaries as acts of love, trusting yourself over trusting the wrong people, and what it means to be the author of a story you didn't choose to be born into. Takeaways The Lord is the author, but you are the writer — and that means you have the power to rewrite the stories you didn't choose.Resilience isn't something you aspire to. It's something God builds in you through the things you never would have picked for yourself.When God says rest and you don't listen, he has a way of making you listen.The ultimate form of trust is sleep — believing he will work on your behalf while your eyes are closed.A boundary isn't rejection. It's a way to stay in relationship. Jesus set boundaries because he loved people.Trusting the wrong people can make you stop trusting yourself — and that's one of the most damaging things that can happen.Unprocessed emotions don't stay hidden. They destroy your relationships, even when you don't mean them to.You cannot find your purpose in your children — but when you feel like you have nothing to live for, God can use a baby to turn the light switch on.Generational patterns can be broken. You don't have to pass on what was passed to you.Lead with love — in your workplace, your home, your career, wherever you lead.Chapters 00:15 Welcome & Introducing Danielle — Old Friends, Big Stories 03:30 Damrell Designs, Created Worthy & the Evolution of a Creative Business 07:00 Growing Up in a Volatile Home — Feeling Unparentable from the Start 11:15 Catholic School to Christian School — What in the Cult Is Happening? 15:00 Expelled, Acting Out & Why School Felt Safer Than Home 18:30 Bulimia, Self-Harm & Seven High School Enrollments 22:00 Mercy Ministries in Nashville — Meeting Jesus for the First Time 27:15 Getting Kicked Out of Treatment & Hitting the Lowest Point 31:00 A Vision at 17 — Standing on a Stage, Pointing People to Freedom 34:30 Single Mom at 19, a Christian University & the Miracle of Graduation 39:00 Meeting Her Husband — The Biggest Miracle of Her Life 43:15 65 Authors, Life Story Coaching & the Heart Behind Created Worthy 47:30 Lorelei & Danielle — The Morning Everything Came to a Head 52:00 Backpacks, Safety & What It Means to Hold Someone's Story 56:15 Boundaries Are Love — And Why That Changes Everything 1:00:00 Trust God, Trust Yourself — Why Trusting the Wrong People Costs You 1:04:30 God Said Rest. She Said Not Yet. Then Came Two Car Accidents. 1:10:00 Traumatic Brain Injury, Board Betrayal & Surrendering the Ministry 1:15:30 Spiritual Warfare & Walking in Obedience When the Enemy Shows Up 1:19:00 Rise Leadership Collective — What's Coming & How to Get Involved 1:23:00 Best Life Advice — Lead With Love 1:25:00 Book Recs: The Path Made Clear by Oprah & Strong Ground by Brené Brown + Wicked for the Movie Connect with Danielle Rise Leadership Collective: riseleadershipcollective.org Created Worthy Podcast: available wherever you listen to podcasts About the Peaceful Hugs Podcast The Peaceful Hugs Podcast is a space for thoughtful, real conversations about faith, culture, purpose, and the stories that shape us. Hosted by Mark Zahringer and Lorelei Cromer, the show brings together voices from different backgrounds and generations to explore what it means to live with empathy — especially when the world feels loud, polarized, and quick to judge. At the center of it all is a simple idea: kindness matters, and we can't afford to lose it. 🎙️ Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PeacefulHugsPodcast
May 29

Left Everything to Pastor a City He Barely Knew | Rev. Antoine Colvin

In this episode of the Peaceful Hugs Podcast, hosts Mark Zahringer and Lorelei Cromer sit down with Reverend Antoine Colvin — pastor of Historic Little Rock Missionary Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan — for a rich, energizing conversation about faith, community, calling, and what it truly means to shine your light beyond the four walls of a church. Reverend Colvin's story begins in Baltimore, Maryland, where athletics, education, and a tight-knit community of mentors shaped him from the ground up. Baptized at 12, he initially set his sights on college football — earning a spot at NC State on an athletic scholarship — while quietly carrying the weight of a father whose health was declining and a family that needed him. It was the sudden death of his beloved high school coach, Benjamin Eaton Sr., that shifted everything. In that moment of grief, Reverend Colvin heard the words that would define his life's work: always leave a place better than you found it. From there, the road to ministry wound through Baltimore churches, a first pastorate in Columbus, Mississippi, and ultimately — by nothing short of divine call — to the Motor City, a city he had visited only once as a middle schooler and where he knew not a single soul. He arrived to shepherd a congregation that had been rooted in Detroit since 1936, following the near-50-year legacy of the internationally renowned Reverend Dr. Jim Holley. The pressure was immense. But Reverend Colvin's approach is simple: you don't replace a legacy — you build on it, one faithful step at a time. The conversation digs into what ministry actually looks like on the ground in Detroit today — from meeting people at their moment of need, to understanding that handing someone a turkey means nothing if they don't have a kitchen to cook it in. Reverend Colvin also opens up about his unique calling to bridge faith and mental health, drawing on both his Master of Divinity and his Master of Social Work to help his congregation and community understand that God cares deeply about what's happening in our minds and bodies — not just our souls. Takeaways Always leave a place better than you found it — in ministry, in relationships, in life.The church is not a building. The majority of Jesus's ministry happened in the marketplace, among ordinary people with real needs.You can't skip Maslow. If someone's belly is empty, you can't minister to their soul first.Anger isn't always a negative emotion — sometimes it's exactly what pushes us toward justice and change.Every generation of leadership is meant to build on what came before it, not replace it. Moses had Joshua. John had Jesus.Eat the meat, throw away the bones — not everything on your plate is meant to be ingested.Faith and mental health are not opposites. The church has a responsibility to bridge that gap.When you take a step back, it's not failure — sometimes you need to relearn step one to grow past the plateau you've reached.Darkness isn't just in places. It's in people. And the light you carry is meant for them too.Life is like a box of chocolates — but what matters is what you do with the box you've been given.Chapters 00:15 Welcome & Mark's Personal Connection to Little Rock Baptist Church 04:00 Growing Up in Baltimore — Athletics, Education & Older Parents 08:30 Baptized at 12 & the Dad Who Got Sick at the Same Time 12:45 NC State, Football & the Career Path He Almost Took 16:30 Coach Benjamin Eaton Sr. — The Hug That Changed Everything 21:00 Licensed to Preach in 2008 & the Road to Ministry Begins 25:15 Connecting Communities to Christ — The Vision of Little Rock 29:30 Love God, Love People — And Why Number Two Is the Hard One 33:00 Ministry Outside the Four Walls — Marketplace Ministry & Meeting Real Needs 38:15 The Bible Story That Sums It All Up — 1,000 Bibles & a Community That Couldn't Read 42:30 Why Detroit? A Divine Call to a City He Barely Knew 47:00 Following Reverend Dr. Jim Holley — Building on Legacy, Not Replacing It 51:30 Bridging Faith & Mental Health — A Pastor With a Master of Social Work 56:00 Nehemiah, Anger & What the Church Gets Wrong About Emotions 1:00:15 Best Life Advice — Eat the Meat, Throw Away the Bones 1:02:30 Must-See Movie: Forrest Gump & Must-Read Book: Peaks and Valleys 1:04:30 Closing — Detroit's on the Rise & How to Connect with Little Rock Connect with Historic Little Rock Missionary Baptist Church Visit them online or in person if you're in Detroit — one of the city's most beautiful and historic congregations. About the Peaceful Hugs Podcast The Peaceful Hugs Podcast is a space for thoughtful, real conversations about faith, culture, purpose, and the stories that shape us. Hosted by Mark Zahringer and Lorelei Cromer, the show brings together voices from different backgrounds and generations to explore what it means to live with empathy — especially when the world feels loud, polarized, and quick to judge. At the center of it all is a simple idea: kindness matters, and we can't afford to lose it.
May 13

He Lived on the Streets by Choice. Here's What Nobody Tells You With Chad Wheeler

In this episode of the Peaceful Hugs Podcast, hosts Mark Z and Lorelei Cromer sit down with Chad Wheeler — Executive Director of Open Door in Lubbock, Texas — for a candid, deeply moving conversation about what it truly looks like to love your neighbors, especially the ones most people would rather not see.Chad traces Open Door's remarkable origin back nearly 30 years to a returned missionary named Jim Beck, who — reeling from reverse culture shock after more than a decade in Kenya — didn't start a program or a nonprofit. He simply got in line at a soup kitchen, grabbed a plate of fried chicken, and sat down with a man named Bo. That single act of table fellowship planted the seed of what is today a thriving church, community center, supportive housing program, and survivor housing initiative serving hundreds of Lubbock's most vulnerable residents every single night. Chad also pulls back the curtain on his own remarkable journey — from an affluent upbringing with no exposure to homelessness, to sleeping in the backseat of a 1995 Toyota Camry as a college student, to spending three weeks on the streets of Austin with $12, a backpack, and no phone — all to understand from the inside what the people he serves actually experience. What he found wasn't danger. It was loneliness. And that discovery has quietly shaped everything Open Door does. Chapters00:15 Welcome & Introduction to Chad Wheeler and Open Door03:30 How Open Door Started: Jim Beck, Bo, and a Plate of Fried Chicken08:45 From Carpenter's Church to Community Center — 30 Years of Showing Up13:10 Chad's Journey: Sleeping in His Car and Three Weeks on the Streets of Austin19:20 What He Learned: Loneliness, Judgment, and People Are Just People25:00 Housing vs. Home — Why a Roof Alone Isn't Enough29:40 Wraparound Services: Meeting People Where They Actually Are34:15 Faith Without Force: Open Door's Approach to God and Belonging39:30 The Story of the Man Who Drew Satanic Art in Art Class43:00 Survivor Housing: Jamie Wheeler's Work with Domestic Violence and Sex Trafficking Survivors48:20 How People Find Open Door — Word of Mouth, Law Enforcement, and Everything In Between52:10 Encampment Laws, Political Realities, and the Revolving Door57:00 The System That Holds People Down — DUIs, Daycare, and Broken Bureaucracy1:01:30 Funding Realities: Federal Grants, Local Donors, and Building Sustainability1:06:45 Best Advice: Trees Can Be Planted Often — But Their Default Is to Stay1:09:30 Book Recommendations: Compassion by Henri Nouwen & The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle1:11:00 How to Support Open Door in Lubbock, TexasConnect with Open DoorWebsite: https://opendoorlbk.orgConsider donating, volunteering, or joining their annual Hub City Bed Run — details at opendoorlbk.org About the Peaceful Hugs PodcastThe Peaceful Hugs Podcast is a space for thoughtful, real conversations about faith, culture, purpose, and the stories that shape us. Hosted by Mark Z and Lorelei Cromer, the show brings together voices from different backgrounds and generations to explore what it means to live with empathy — especially when the world feels loud, polarized, and quick to judge. At the center of it all is a simple idea: kindness matters, and we can't afford to lose it.
Apr 29

You Don't Have To Go Alone, How Therapy Helps With Jillian Garner Nakayama

In this episode of the Peaceful Hugs Podcast, hosts Mark Z and Lorelei Cromer sit down with Jillian — Licensed Social Worker, therapist, and Mark's own counselor — for one of the most open and disarmingly honest conversations the show has ever hosted. Recorded during Mental Health Awareness Month, this episode pulls no punches: Mark shares his own journey through a called-off wedding, a traumatic robbery, and the very real stigma that kept him — a 59-year-old man — from asking for help. And Jillian, making her podcast debut, brings the clinical knowledge, the warmth, and just enough push-back to make it all land.Jillian traces her path into social work back to childhood — fighting against her family's wishes, navigating her own experiences, and arriving at a simple but profound conviction: we are all human, having a human experience, just trying to deal with it in whatever way we can. She breaks down what therapy actually is versus what most people imagine it to be, why your best friend — no matter how wise or well-meaning — simply cannot do what a trained therapist can, and what treatments like EMDR are actually doing inside your body when talk alone isn't enough.The conversation gets real about forgiveness — the difference between saying sorry and actually reconciling, why so many people can't accept forgiveness even when it's offered, and how self-forgiveness is often the deepest wound of all. Mark opens up about forgiving the man who robbed him, crying at his death, and what it would have meant to look him in the eye and say the words out loud. They also dig into the workplace — how burnout, dysregulation, and unprocessed trauma show up every day in high-performing people who have no idea anything is wrong — and how Unbridled Acts' Identity Fund is quietly changing that, one company at a time.And yes — Ted Lasso comes up. Because of course it does.Takeaways You don't have to go alone. Reaching out is not weakness — it's the bravest thing you can do.Your best friend loves you, but they cannot give you an unbiased perspective. That's what therapy is for.Trauma is stored in the body. Saying "I don't think about it anymore" doesn't mean it's gone — it means it's coming out another way.If therapy is all validation and no challenge, you're not getting what you need. Find someone who will push you.You can't accept forgiveness from others until you learn to forgive yourself.Forgiveness is a process, not a moment — and asking "do you forgive me?" might be the step most of us skip.Stuffing your feelings down is not coping. Those feelings will come out — as addiction, anger, illness, or walls around your heart.Mental health isn't visible. The person who looks perfectly fine in the parking lot might be barely holding it together.Put your oxygen mask on first. You cannot pour from an empty cup.It's not always about you — and remembering that changes everything about how you respond to the people around you.High-functioning and high-performing doesn't mean okay. Your nervous system doesn't care about your productivity.The truth will set you free — but it'll tick you off first. Chapters00:15 Welcome & Why Mental Health Month Hits Close to Home03:00 Mark Opens Up — The Called-Off Wedding, the Robbery & Asking for Help07:30 Meet Jillian — Her Path Into Social Work & Why Her Family Pushed Back12:00 We're All Human — The Playbook Nobody Gave Us15:45 Why Your Best Friend Can't Replace a Therapist19:30 EMDR, CBT & the Treatments Most People Have Never Heard Of24:15 When Medication Is the Bridge, Not the Destination28:00 Forgiveness Is a Process — Saying Sorry Isn't Enough33:30 Can You Accept Forgiveness If You Can't Forgive Yourself?38:00 How to Know If You've Found the Right Therapist43:15 Honesty in the Room — What Happens When You're Not47:30 Trauma Lives in the Body — Even When You Think You're Over It52:00 The Identity Fund — Destigmatizing Mental Health in the Workplace57:30 Faith, Anchors & What You Hold Onto When It's 1 AM1:02:00 It's Not Always About You — Two Pieces of Life-Changing Advice1:04:30 Movie Recommendations: Little Black Book & Hector and the Search for Happiness1:06:00 Closing Thoughts — Give People the Benefit of the Doubt About the Peaceful Hugs PodcastThe Peaceful Hugs Podcast is a space for thoughtful, real conversations about faith, culture, purpose, and the stories that shape us. Hosted by Mark Z and Lorelei Cromer, the show brings together voices from different backgrounds and generations to explore what it means to live with empathy — especially when the world feels loud, polarized, and quick to judge. At the center of it all is a simple idea: kindness matters, and we can't afford to lose it.
Apr 15

She Asked God Why. He Taught Her How with Patty Stewart

In this episode of the Peaceful Hugs Podcast, hosts Mark Z and Lorelei Cromer sit down with Patty Stewart — missionary kid, pastor's wife, nurse, musician, and author of No More Pat Answers: Living in the Not Knowing — for one of the most quietly powerful conversations the show has ever had. Patty's story spans continents, decades, and depths of suffering most people will never know — and yet she tells it with a warmth and honesty that makes you feel like you're sitting across the table from a dear friend.Born in 1948 in Mashhad, Iran — smuggled in unknowingly by her missionary parents before she even existed on paper Patty grew up on a compound near the Afghan border surrounded by fruit trees, tire swings, donkeys, and a community of faith that felt like one big extended family. It was also where she first encountered the kind of poverty that breaks a child's heart and plants a seed that never quite leaves. She met her future husband Tat when she was two weeks old and he was two years old. It was not, she jokes, love at first sight.After returning to the U.S. in 1964 and building a life, a marriage, and a young family, Patty found herself pulled back — not by her own desire, but by a letter, a prayer, and a quiet but unmistakable shift in her heart. She and Tat returned to a post-revolution Iran that looked nothing like the one they'd known, raising two blonde children in a culture that stopped to stare, teaching a Sunday school class in two languages, and ministering to women who were quietly falling apart far from home. Then came the newspaper. Their photos. The word "spies." And seven days to get out of the country — driving through darkened alleys with no headlights, two half-asleep children in the back of a Land Rover, not knowing if they'd make it to the airport alive.But the hardest chapters, Patty says, came later. A traumatic brain injury in 2012 that left her at 93 pounds, unable to move, staring at a knife in the dark. Anxiety so severe that no medication, no therapy, nothing could touch it. Years of waiting, asking God why — and slowly, painstakingly, learning to stop asking why and start asking how. Her book, No More Pat Answers, is the culmination of that journey: a raw, honest, deeply personal account of what faith actually looks like when the darkness won't lift and the answers don't come. The conversation also turns to Iran today — and Patty shares what happened when she posted about her book in Farsi on Instagram and half a million Iranians responded. Chapters00:15 Welcome & Introduction to Patty Stewart02:30 Smuggled Into Iran Before She Was Born — Life in Mashhad07:00 Growing Up on the Compound: Fruit Trees, Tire Swings & a Heart for the Poor11:20 Meeting Tat at Two Weeks Old & Coming Back to America in 196414:45 The Letter That Changed Everything — God Shifts Patty's Heart to Return19:30 Waiting Out the Revolution: Six Months in New Jersey, Then Back to a Different Iran24:00 Raising Blonde Kids in Post-Revolution Tehran & Ministry to Expatriate Women29:15 Teaching Sunday School in Two Languages (and One Kid Who Ate the Elmer's Glue)33:00 The Iranian Children's TV Show That Told Kids to Bomb Americans35:30 Illness, Breakdown & the Order to Leave in 10 Days39:45 Fleeing Under Cover of Darkness — The Airport Story46:00 "Party of Stuart, Please Step Out of Line" — First Class Out of Iran49:30 The TBI, 93 Pounds & Learning to Live One More Day55:00 Anxiety So Severe She Looked at a Knife in the Dark59:30 From "Why" to "How" — The Question That Changes Everything1:03:00 Half a Million Iranians on Instagram & What They Said About Her Book1:07:15 The Prince of Persia — Spiritual Warfare and the Battle Over Iran1:11:00 Western Comfort vs. What the Iranian People Are Enduring Today1:14:30 Best Life Advice: Just Wait One More Day1:16:00 Book Recommendation: The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee1:17:30 About No More Pat Answers: Living in the Not Knowing Get Patty's BookNo More Pat Answers: Living in the Not Knowing — available on AmazonAbout the Peaceful Hugs PodcastThe Peaceful Hugs Podcast is a space for thoughtful, real conversations about faith, culture, purpose, and the stories that shape us. Hosted by Mark Zahringer and Lorelei Cromer, the show brings together voices from different backgrounds and generations to explore what it means to live with empathy — especially when the world feels loud, polarized, and quick to judge. At the center of it all is a simple idea: kindness matters, and we can't afford to lose it.🎙️ Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PeacefulHugsPodcast
Apr 1

Hand Up, Not Handout: Transforming Malawi with Temwa Wright

In this episode of the Peaceful Hugs Podcast, hosts Mark Zahringer and Lorelei Cromer sit down with Temwa Wright — Executive Director of Pamoza International — for a moving and deeply inspiring conversation about faith, service, radical generosity, and what it truly means to help people help themselves. Temwa shares the remarkable story of how Pamoza came to be, from her father Dr. Mike Mtika's sociology students being so transformed by a trip to rural Malawi that they moved there after graduation, to Temwa stepping away from a comfortable career to take the helm of the organization in 2013 — a total walk of faith with three children and a family to provide for. She also recounts the unexpected, God-orchestrated chain of events that first connected her with Mark and Peaceful Hugs, and why she believes divine intervention is behind every meaningful partnership. The conversation digs into what sustainable, community-driven development actually looks like — from village banks and demonstration farms to adult literacy centers born out of one woman's courageous request — and why handing out Bibles to a community where 60% of adults can't read is a powerful lesson in listening before acting. Temwa also reflects on the unique impact of seeing someone who looks like you show up to help, and why representation in mission work matters more than most Westerners realize. Takeaways If you want to go fast, go alone — if you want to go far, go Pamoza, together.Sustainable development starts with listening, not assuming you already know what people need.A hand up, not a handout: empowering communities to meet their own needs outlasts any program or donor.$800 a year can send a young man to college — and one donor's "yes" can ripple into a career of service that impacts thousands.Representation in mission work changes what people believe is possible for themselves.Radical generosity isn't just about giving — it's about inspiring others to multiply that generosity forward.Well-intentioned help without community input can do more harm than good.Progress over perfection: don't let the pursuit of ideal outcomes stop meaningful forward movement.God works in the background, even when — especially when — you can't see it.True transformation is holistic: you can't address one need and ignore the rest. Chapters 00:15 Welcome & How Mark and Temwa Met — A God Story05:30 What Pamoza Means and the Proverb Behind It09:45 How Pamoza Started: A Sociology Professor and 13 Students14:20 Three White Women, Rural Malawi, and Killing Snakes18:50 Temwa Steps Into the Executive Director Role — A Walk of Faith23:10 Oil and Water: Working Alongside Her Father to Carry His Legacy27:35 The CHIEF Approach: Five Areas of Holistic Transformation32:00 Thomas's Story: $800, a Suicide, and a Programs Manager Born37:45 Distributing 1,100 Bibles — and the Humbling Lesson That Followed43:00 Ovaline's Request: Adult Literacy and Listening to Real Needs47:20 Hand Up, Not Handout: The School Breakfast Program Story52:10 When Another Organization Came In and Gave It All Away55:30 How to Get Involved with Pamoza International58:45 Final Reflections: Best Advice and What Everyone Should Read Connect with Pamoza InternationalWebsite: https://pamoza.org/Sign up for updates, prayer requests, and volunteer opportunities at pamoza.org About the Peaceful Hugs PodcastThe Peaceful Hugs Podcast is a space for thoughtful, real conversations about faith, culture, purpose, and the stories that shape us. Hosted by Mark Zeringer and Lorelei Cromer, the show brings together voices from different backgrounds and generations to explore what it means to live with empathy — especially when the world feels loud, polarized, and quick to judge. At the center of it all is a simple idea: kindness matters, and we can't afford to lose it.

The Peaceful Hugs Podcast shares uplifting, real-life stories of people helping others — guided by faith, kindness, and connection. It brings the mission of the Peaceful Hugs nonprofit to life through heartfelt conversations about service, second chances, and the power of community.

Creator

Mark Zahringer
Years Active

2026
Episodes

14
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© 2026 Peaceful Hugs
Show Website

Peaceful Hugs Podcast