Effective Compassion

Latest Episodes:

Effective Compassion: Pure and faultless religion - S4.E10 Jun 20, 2023

Show notes

Not every Christian is able or called to foster and adopt. But everyone has a part to play, and churches are finding ways to get more people involved in helping kids in crisis. Because only the church—not government agencies—can meet the deepest spiritual and relational needs of children and families with the hope of the gospel.

North Korea is one of the most secretive, closed-off countries in the world, but World Help has a network of trusted partners there with 20+ years of experience smuggling Bibles and other aid to believers. These partners use donations to print, ship, and secretly distribute Bibles as well as food to people who have been desperately praying for help. And since North Koreans share their Bibles with trusted family and friends, each copy impacts around five people. Click here to learn more and donate.

Effective Compassion: Extra needs, special love - S4.E9 Jun 13, 2023

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All kids in crisis have needs. But some have extra challenges, medical conditions that complicate their care. What does it look like to love children with these special needs? And how can Christians support families involved in this heart-wringing and exhausting work?

Effective Compassion: Better together - S4.E8 Jun 06, 2023

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Since the mid 20th century, the U.S. foster care system—and Christian organizations—have moved away from institutions in favor of family care. That’s because statistics show children thrive when they’re raised in a stable family unit. But some kids in crisis don’t need—or want—a new family. Where do they fit in a system with a one-size-fits-all approach?

Effective Compassion: Bearing heavy burdens - S4.E7 May 30, 2023

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Social workers face the worst of human brokenness every day. And they’re often lightning rods for the anger of everyone involved in the foster care system: families, foster families, judges, and even the kids themselves. Burnout and turnover is high, a heart-breaking end to careers that almost always start with a desire to help. But Christians, who know the source of hope, are finding ways to help.

Effective Compassion: Redeeming broken families - S4.E6 May 23, 2023

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Christian ministries that once emphasized adoption as the best solution now focus on prevention—coming alongside families in crisis before their kids enter the foster care system. That means meeting more than just their material needs. For many struggling families, it's all about relationships—connections that shatter their isolation and discipleship that points them to the only source of true restoration.

Effective Compassion: Court Appointments - S4.E5 May 16, 2023

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The family court system in practice includes two components of effective compassion. Help that is challenging and personal. But in a secular system, it’s up to individual believers to bring the spiritual component.

Effective Compassion: In pursuit of hope - S4.E4 May 09, 2023

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How can Christian parents effectively foster hope in children whose traumatic past gives them little hope for the future? Choosing to love children not their own—whose behavior often does not foster familial love—builds trust. That fosters better communication, self-discipline, good character, and, by God’s grace, hope in the one who will never leave them or forsake them.

Effective Compassion: Staying close to home - S4.E3 May 02, 2023

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Christians once flocked to foreign countries to adopt children who desperately needed families to love them. But attitudes toward taking children so far from their home countries and native cultures have shifted. Christians who once emphasized adoptions are now prioritizing in-country care. What does that mean for vulnerable children around the world?

Effective Compassion: Rending and repair - S4.E2 Apr 25, 2023

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More than a third of Americans say they’ve thought about adopting. But just 2 percent actually have. Adoption is complicated and expensive. It can be confusing and overwhelming. Christians are the most likely to adopt…twice as likely as the general population. That’s because adoption holds a special place in the Kingdom. It’s a common figure of speech in the Bible, describing how we are made part of God’s family. But for all its beauty, adoption is never simple. It involves a lot of broken hearts…on all sides of the equation.

Effective Compassion: Called to care S4.E1 Apr 18, 2023

Show notes

Christians once played a key role in caring for American children in crisis. But as the government’s involvement in social services grew, Christians’ participation shrank. Now that state and federal agencies have the primary responsibility for meeting the needs of children without families, how can the church answer the call set out in James 1:27—to care for widows and orphans in their distress?

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