
219 episodes

The ThinkOrphan Podcast 1MILLIONHOME
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- Society & Culture
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5.0 • 70 Ratings
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ThinkOrphan, the podcast for orphan excellence, helping you navigate the global orphan crisis with experts from around the world.
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Elizabeth Kirk - Infant Adoption in a Post-Roe World
In episode 218, we hear from lawyer and professor, Elizabeth Kirk. Elizabeth is the Director of the Center for Law and the Human Person, as well as a research associate at The Catholic University of America. Her work spans a variety of law in child welfare, parental rights, and adoption policy. In addition to her career, her lived experiences as an adoptee and an adoptive parent, give her a unique perspective and voice to speak into the conversation happening around adoption today. She talks with Brandon about the role that infant adoption could play following last year's Dobbs decision at the Supreme Court, misconceptions around adoption, as well as insight on the decision making process for women that have an unplanned pregnancy.
Podcast Sponsor
Masters Program at Mulnomah University in Global Development and Justice
The M.A. in Global Development and Justice (MAGDJ) program prepares students to work across the nexus of justice, peacebuilding, and transformational community development work. The curriculum develops compassionate leaders and professionals, who are trauma-informed and prepared to support human flourishing in whatever context they work in.
Resources and Links from the show
LifeMark movie
Show Notes
Elizabeth shares her background and what drew her into this work (5:20) The role of adoption in a post Roe vs. Wade world (13:00) Overviewing pro-choice arguments against adoption (14:52) A view of pregnancy that includes communities (18:20) Mothers and decision making in adoption (24:50) A global south perspective (27:20) Misconceptions concerning adoption (29:00) Elizabeth’s adoption experience and a story from a birth mother (35:20) Is adoption a viable option in a birth mother’s mind? (49:00) -
On The Ground in Lesotho - The Power of Family Reunification
In episode 217, we have a special on the ground episode to share how one organization's journey and commitment to reunifying families has inspired others. Trust for Africa's work in Lesotho has gone beyond their own organization and now supports other organizations to transition to family-based care. Naomi Schalm, Mafusi Semethe, Mbele Horoto, and Bokang Lipholo all join us in this conversation to celebrate the movement underway in Africa's "Kingdom of the Sky."
Podcast Sponsor
JOURNEYHOME is offering online courses and practical resources for reforming models of care throughout the world. Created by seasoned frontline practitioners, the instructors in our community share field-tested and solution-based content to safely and effectively get kids home.
Resources and Links from the show
Trust for Africa
On the Ground in Lesotho- The Power of Family Reunification
Show Notes
The challenges for children in residential care (4:45) Ramping up family tracing efforts (5:48) The hard work of individualized care plans (6:55) Importance of follow-up after placement (7:40) One 12 year old’s journey home (10:20) Another story of family separation and reunification (12:40) Are we including children in their restoration? (15:20) Mafusi asks what can we do differently? (18:15) The start of training other orphanages and childcare workers (19:20) Making plans to reunify children (20:30) Family strengthening programs (23:00) The importance of following up with families (26:00) Emotional and psychological challenges for children in care and building resilience (28:15) Resolving misunderstandings (30:00) Mbele on children aging out of the orphanage (39:00) On influencing the country and bringing change (41:30) Concerns about transitioning (42:10) Director of an orphanage, Bokang, shares about kids aging out (45:30) Addressing more than material needs (46:40) Children visiting families during holidays (48:40) A vision to help more children with a different model (49:30)
Visit thinkorphan.com for additional resources and stories. -
Sarah Winograd - Poverty and Family Separation in Child Welfare
In episode 216, we hear from US care reform leader, Sarah Winograd from Together for Families. Sarah speaks passionately about the complexities in child welfare and foster care as a system, how poverty contributes to family separation, and the problematic ways we've seen and judged birth families. She asks the hard questions- if most children aren't coming into foster care because of abuse, what resources and systems are we investing in to keep those families together? What are we doing to intervene and stabilize families in order to prevent separation and keep children in families? Can the church do better?
Full show notes can be found at thinkorphan.com -
Jenn Hook - Thriving Families
In episode 215, we have the privilege of sitting down with Jenn Hook to glean from her experiences in the foster care system and hear about her newly released book, Thriving Families. Jenn is the Founder and Executive Director of Replanted. She's also the author of Replanted: Faith Based Support for Adoptive and Foster Families.
Attachment and Trauma Focused Therapy Course by Deborah Gray - Link
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Full show notes and links can be found at thinkorphan.com -
Jeff Rogers - Storytelling to Empower
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.
Full show notes can be found at thinkorphan.com -
The Annual Review/Preview Show with Phil and Brandon
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!
Full show notes can be found at thinkorphan.com
Customer Reviews
Definitely Worth a Listen!!
The Think Orphan Podcast is incredibly informative, conversational and thoughtful in the way they approached tough subjects. There was a wide variety of topics talked about by people who are well informed and have done a lot of work with orphans and vulnerable children. This is a great resource to learn more about organizations who are working to alleviate this problem and who will give helpful opinions and resources on how we can take tangible steps to help with this issue! Definitely is a humbling podcast and makes me recognize that the world is far bigger than just me :) thankful for this resource!
A Student’s Perspective
There are many treasures throughout these episodes! For a course called, “Orphaned and Vulnerable Children,” we were given this podcast to go through to listen and reflect on the conversations within various episodes. I’m so blessed to have been exposed to such insights! This podcast’s scope of conversations makes each episode worth the time to listen!! It’s not just focused on one problem within the orphan crisis which creates a great atmosphere for tough talks and vulnerability! I would recommend to all! Caring for orphaned and Vulnerable children should be a Christina “thing” rather Everyone pursuit.
Worth the Listen! :)
The Think Orphan Podcast was super informative and engaging! Something I really enjoyed was being able to go through and hear some of the same speakers on different topics. It added a level of continuity while still providing new and intriguing facts with each new podcast. I also really enjoyed hearing how the Lord worked in each of the speaker’s lives to get them to the place where they felt the urge to help those who were also in need. Some individuals went very deep with great sentiment while relaying their memories while others just enjoyed sharing what they have been learning in terms of psychological advancements or even research breakthroughs. I thought it was a pretty healthy balance that gave people a chance to share their testimony while also being able to share their expertise.