Think Global, Do Justice

Latest Episodes:

Healing Hearts and Lives Amidst the AIDS Crisis with Echo VanderWal Oct 01, 2024

Show notes

There is no lack of complex challenges when delivering health care in the epicenter of the HIV/AIDS crisis. On the show today, we have Echo VanderWal who is the Co-Founder and Executive Director at The Luke Commission in Eswatini. Echo joins Brandon Stiver and Phil Darke for a conversation about calling, the pain and loss created by the AIDS Crisis, the irreplaceable impact of PEPFAR and what it looks like to provide holistic care in rural communities. With over 20 years in the country, Echo points us to what excellence looks like as follow Christ's example of humble service.

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Resources and Links from the show

The Global HIV/AIDS Conversation

The Luke Commission Online

Conversation Notes

4:00 - What do Jesus, Conor McGregor and Osama Bin Laden all have in common?
5:35 - The importance of having the support of your family when being called to serve God overseas
6:55 - Following Christ's example of service in loving our global neighbors
7:50 - The reality of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa during the early 2000s inc consideration of the cost of transport, lack of medicine and poor treatment
11:35 - Pursuing professional investment in the national team that is delivering life-saving support in their own country
17:00 - The reality of inner pain and the orphaned spirit when family is lost
21:30 - Seeking care at scale within rural areas of Eswatini
23:35 - Eswatini has the rate of HIV/AIDS in the world - a resounding 26% and why we don't want that number to go down
25:45 - The importance of international partners that provide anti-retrovirals
26:45 - How PEPFAR has positively impacted Eswatini, the work of the Luke Commission and what it looks like on the ground.
29:10 - The dire reality of potential extinction when HIV/AIDS first expanded in Eswatini
31:35 - The erosion of bipartisan support in US politics and how it is now undermining the delivery of life-saving HIV/AIDS support for millions of people
35:00 - The risks that face people if PEPFAR pulls out
38:30 - The importance of comprehensive healthcare and tracking trends to help an array of health issues that arise across a population
47:00 - Don't wait to take the first step when it comes to engaging or even moving overseas to pursue God's heart for justice in the nations

Ecclesiastes and Impact Sep 17, 2024

Show notes

All is futility! Even in Christian nonprofits? We're changing it up a little for episode 265 as Brandon does a solo dive into the book of Ecclesiastes to gather wisdom from Solomon that can inform what we do and more importantly how we do the work of global justice. In an age of Big Impact, this is a word for the nonprofit leader that cares about the ethic of our approach and the opportunity for a compounding influence in a world where it seems that nothing ever changes.

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Resources and Links from the show

Scriptures shared:

Ecclesiastes 1: 1-4; 8-11
Ecclesiastes 5: 8-10; 18
Ecclesiastes 9: 7-10

Andy Crouch Tweet 1; Tweet 2

Conversation Notes

"All is futility!" - Solomon
The work of oppressors and corrupt politicians ends in futility, but what about our work that counters their work?
Brandon shares some of his own global nonprofit futility
The grace of recognizing how the world works even in it's vanity
"Eat, drink and experience good"
Andy Crouch throws shade and "impact" and Brandon says "Amen"
Does our work matter?
Getting our priority (singular) in order

Theme music Kirk Osamayo. Free Music Archive, CC BY License

Eighty Years of Responding to Global Displacement with Myal Greene Sep 03, 2024

Show notes

The number of forcibly displaced people in the world are at an all-time high. On every populated continent, we are seeing conflicts and climates that lead to people fleeing their homes. Our guest today is Myal Greene, who is the CEO of World Relief and he says that the global displacement crisis is the most significant issue that we face in the world today. We look at the last eighty years of how God has used World Relief to meet needs of people from war-torn areas and look at some of the most gripping conflicts today (Ukraine, Sudan and others). Myal has worked with World Relief for nearly two decades both within the US and in Africa. He walks us through what Christians should be aware of when it comes to displacement and how we can be instruments of welcome and support to global neighbors next door and abroad.

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Resources and Links from the show

Good News About Injustice by Gary A. Haugen

Welcoming the Stranger by Matthew Soerens and Jenny Yang

Walking with the Poor by Bryant Myers

Rich Christians Christians in an Age of Hunger by Ronald Sider

Refuge by Alexander Betts and Paul Collier

Refugee Stats from the UNHCR

The Evangelical Immigration Table

World Relief Online

Conversation Notes

9:40 - In the west, we don't have a full conception of the level wealth and privilege that we have
12:20 - Remembering the last eighty years of what God has done through World Relief
15:25 - Finding ways to work with the church and give sacrificially to help the hurting
16:45 - A story about the need for both eternal salvation and the restoration of the present
24:40 - The impact of the 2021 Haitian earthquake and the fall of Kabul as Myal stepped into his role of CEO at World Relief
31:35 - The current displacement crisis is the greatest issue of our time
34:15 - "A smaller set of nations in the world are experiencing far greater suffering while the rest of the world is making continued and sustained progress in poverty alleviation"
36:55 - Contrasting the Ukraine case study with most other areas of poverty and ensuing conflict
38:45 - "Vulnerability is the likeliness that you will experience suffering as a result of shock"
40:50 - World Relief sets their focus on the global displacement crisis
43:00 - The church can be God's instrument of welcome to those that have been forcibly displaced
46:12 - The importance of understanding underlying issues when discussing the arrival of refugees in a host country
52:40 - Working with the church under a biblical vision of community engagement
56:00 - Being inspired by God's Word as a starting point for a life of justice

Theme music Kirk Osamayo. Free Music Archive, CC BY License

Luke Perkins - The Great Commission for All Professions Aug 20, 2024

Show notes

The Great Commission and making disciples is for all Christians, but do we really live that way? We've had a classic understanding of what missionaries ought to be doing, but is that exclusionary? In episode 263, we have Luke Perkins from Crossworld to help us sort it out. Luke served as a missionary professor in Haiti for several years and today is the President at Crossworld where they emphasize that all professions have a role in the work of the Great Commission and the imperative of making disciples throughout the globe.

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Resources and Links from the show

Crossworld Website

African Friends and Money Matters by David Maranz

Conversation Notes

5:25 - What would good helping even look like
8:10 - Starting from the beauty and goodness of God in pursuing mission
10:00 - Emphasizing all professions beyond the classic missions archetypes
17:11 - Defining what disciple-making is all about
18:20 - Understanding business as mission with the quadruple bottom line
29:35 - Distinguishing between disciple-making and church planting
32:20 - The North American church is not designed to make disciples
36:00 - The essence and the rhythms of making disciples
38:00 - Key questions to ask yourself for disciple making
41:00 - Discussing the current state of Haiti

Theme music Kirk Osamayo. Free Music Archive, CC BY License

Steve Kariithi - Community Care in Kenyan Slums Aug 06, 2024

Show notes

We're heading to Kenya for episode 262 as we connect with Steve Kariithi who is the Kenya Program Director at Hope's Promise. Steve talks with Brandon Stiver about what it looks like to do kinship based family care in Kenyan communities. We cover the effects of changing child welfare policy on families and juxtapose that with actions of the government that adversely affect families living in informal settlements. If you've ever wondered what it looks like to work in a slum, this is a good conversation to jump into.

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Resources and Links from the show

What can we do about injustice? : Blog by Colleen Briggs

The Star Kenya : Families in pain as houses demolished in Mathare

YouTube : Residents of Mathare Lament

YouTube : Over 6,000 households forcefully evicted along Mathare River

Conversation Notes

Understanding what life is like for families living in slum areas and what causes slums to form on the margins of urban areas
Bridging impact expectations of western donors when working in severely impoverished areas
Meaningful interventions that support children to grow up in families
The effects of 2022 legislation in Kenya that promoted child care reform and changes for organizations serving children
The Kenyan government is destroying homes and displacing families in the Mathare informal settlement of Nairobi

Theme music Kirk Osamayo. Free Music Archive, CC BY License

Crowdstrike, Free Education, Muhammad Yunus and Anti-Corruption Jul 30, 2024

Show notes

For our July news and recommendation episode, we're joined by orphan care leader Kristen Lowry of Shelter Yetu to dive into a range of topics including the recent anti-virus update that sent the Blue Screen of Death around the world, the unintended results of making education free in Zambia, the legal trials of the Nobel Laureate father of micro-finance and dive into a book on being a whistleblower amidst corruption. There's a lot going on in the world, it's not only the American election we should care about, so jump into these other stories with us!

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Resources and Links from the show

BBC : How a single IT update caused global havoc

BBC : Zambia made education free, now classrooms are crammed

The Guardian : Under threat of jail, microfinance pioneer vows to keep lending to poorest Bangladeshis

It's Our Turn to Eat: The Story of a Kenyan Whistleblower by Michaela Wrong

Theme music Kirk Osamayo. Free Music Archive, CC BY License

Christopher Muwanguzi, Elli Oswald and Jared Scheppmann - Reforming Care in the Age of Mass Media Jul 23, 2024

Show notes

Joining the podcast for episode 260 are global child welfare leaders Christopher Muwanguzi from child's I Foundation, Elli Oswald from Faith to Action Initiative and Jared Scheppmann from Ekisa Ministries. Our guests speak with Brandon Stiver and Phil Darke about the status of moving people's mindsets in the west to focus on the need for children to be in families, as opposed to orphanages. We zero in specifically on the country of Uganda and juxtapose the good work being done by organizations like child's I and Ekisa with the common practice of needlessly placing kids in residential care. With the backdrop of larger cultural narratives and specific stories about orphanhood that are promoted in media.

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Resources and Links from the show

The World : American Missionary Accused of Abuse At His Organization, AidChild (First Article)

Barna and Faith to Action : Study on Christian Giving to Orphanages

Faith to Action : Family Care in the News

Conversation Notes

The deliberate work of Faith to Action and partner organizations to change the western media narrative around orphan care
The environment within the UK in regards to Global South orphanages
The country of Uganda has been up and down in supporting care reform, is it currently progressing or regressing
The setbacks in promoting better care in the Global South when stories like Ghetto Kidz comes out on Britain's Got Talent
Comparing the perceived realities for children in orphanages versus the actual realities for such children
The reality of abuse and corruption within orphanages covered in the media in Uganda
The role of local governments to meet the needs of the community – capacity and enforcement
Continuing gaps in coverage even in media that promotes care reform

Theme music Kirk Osamayo. Free Music Archive, CC BY License

Dr. Ruth Padilla DeBorst - Integral Mission and Decolonizing Theology Jul 09, 2024

Show notes

There is no escaping the reality that much of what we're familiar with in global missions and development has some roots in colonialism. There is no better person to help us disentangle God's work from worldly power structures than Dr. Ruth Padilla DeBorst. Dr. Padilla DeBorst is the Richard C. Oudersluys Associate Professor of World Christianity at Western Seminary. She describes how integral mission addresses gaps in many traditional approaches to missions and what it looks like to live out a contextualized gospel in Latin America.

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Resources and Links from the show

Dr. Ruth Padilla DeBorst's Work Online

Good News From Latin America Book

Conversation Notes

An introduction to integral mission and what deficiencies it was addressing in world missions
Disentangling God's work in Latin America from European colonization
How neocolonialism continues to affect Christian missions and development work
Ethical practices in global partnerships for missions and development organizations
Contrasting Jesus' proclamation of the Gospel against the backdrop of Roman imperial rule
Exiting our echo chambers to hear from Christian leaders in other global contexts

Theme music Kirk Osamayo. Free Music Archive, CC BY License

Food Poverty, Breastmilk and Blood Metals Jun 25, 2024

Show notes

Today on the show we are weaving in and out of various topics, largely surrounding Africa and that touch areas of malnutrition (continent-wide) and trafficking (Congo) and even some really beautiful solutions for helping babies (Uganda). We have Dr. Lauren Pinkston of Kindred Exchange on the show with us to make sense of the news and provide critical insight. We dive into questions like if the resource curse is real, the long-term effects of colonialism and the challenges of addressing corrupt supply chains.

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Resources and Links from the show

Fox News : UN report says 27% of children under 5 live in severe food poverty, many in Africa

AP News : A growing community of breast milk donors in Uganda gives mothers hope

CBS News : African nation threatens Apple with legal action over alleged "blood minerals" in its gadgets

King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild

The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt

Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson

Upwardly Dependent Podcast

Faith to Action Webinar feat. Dr. Lauren Pinkston : Caring for Orphans

Conversation Notes

2:20 - An update on the Upwardly Dependent podcast
6:45 - The high propensity of kids in Africa and around the world that are experiencing food poverty
18:45 - The establishment of a breastmilk cooperative organization in Uganda and how it is saving the lives of children
33:25 - The supply chain of blood metals in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Apple's role within it
40:00 - Supply chains that shift to go through countries that don't have the same ethics that come from a Christian worldview
47:25 - Phil's recommendation of Jonathan Haidt's new book, The Anxious Generation

Theme music Kirk Osamayo. Free Music Archive, CC BY License

Tiffany Bluhm - Contemplative Formation for the Life of Justice Jun 18, 2024

Show notes

In episode 257, Brandon welcomes author and nonprofit director Tiffany Bluhm back to the show. Tiffany is the Executive Director at Made for Pax, a Christian foundation which provides mentorship and vocational development for BIPOC leaders following Christ. The work is specifically employing contemplative formation for those that are engaging in peace and justice work, and that's what we talk about! Tiffany provides us with biblical insight and spiritual practices that can help us sustain the work of community development and justice leaders for the long haul.

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Resources and Links from the show

Made for Pax Online

Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman

Rescuing the Gospel from the Cowboys by Richard Twiss

Leading from Your Knees with Peter Greer and Ryan Skoog

Conversation Notes

The link between contemplative formation and sustaining an action-oriented lifestyle
Stories of civil rights leaders and how they remained rooted in the midst of justice
The importance of intentional investment of BIPOC Christ followers
Contextualization and diverse cultural expressions of Gospel embodiment
The story of the Old Testament is uniquely tied to the migrant experience

Theme music Kirk Osamayo. Free Music Archive, CC BY License

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