His Hands His Feet |Adoption | Missions | Live Life on Mission

Often we hold onto our agenda and comforts thinking that they are better than what God's plan is for us.
Allen shares how God challenged this belief in his life not once but many times. This led Allen to make dramatic changes, and he can't imagine not getting to experience the path God laid out for him.
You will be challenged to consider the question, "If God asks, will you say yes?" regardless of the question.

Dave felt God's challenge to at least look into the idea of international adoption. He easily could have responded by thinking he was too busy, it wasn't what he and his wife had planned, he had already had his hands full with three young children, etc. 

I began the Dad to Dad series (thank you Amy Holman!) because most men don't consider adoption. And if we do end up bringing a child into our family, we don't always embrace it as an opportunity to change the destiny of child from a hard place. 

I hope as you listen to this episode of the Dad to Dad series of His Hands His Feet podcast that you will, as an adoptive Dad, fully accept the opportunity and responsibility to invest in that child's life. 

Youthful offenders, as Chris Haskins refers to these young people, need someone to be the hands and feet of Christ to them in a moment of brokenness. However, many times no one is there to fill that void except someone who uses them in the name of community which only deepens and continues the cycle of abuse and criminal activity. Listen to Chris and Eddie as they share not only what and why Nineveh Ministries exists, but why it should matter to you.

It is hard for anyone to stay in the moment; even harder for a foster parent as they strive to care for a child that is not there own making it easy to think about what the future holds. However, that child needs for their foster parent to be present with them. Listen as I read Chapter 12 - Staying in the Moment of the revised version of my first book Adopting the Father's Heart.

Every adoption story has its ups and downs, and Brett and Melissa Millican's story is no different. In this Dad to Dad episode, I ask Brett to tell the story of how he went to Ethiopia uninvited almost two years ago to bring home his daughter. Then we spend the second half of the episode talking about what it has been like for Brett to be an adoptive dad. Whether you are in the process of international adoption or you are and adoptive dad, you will want to listen in to our conversation.

After I read through her book, I knew that many of you would want to hear from Paula, so I invited her to do a podcast interview with me. Just like in her book, Paula shares deeply from her heart in a vulnerable and authentic way about how struggles of life will take you to a place you don't belong only to find that God meets you there..

Many needs around the world go unmet simply because people think that someone else more qualified will respond to that need. I appreciate how Jeff Jenkins and his friends saw a need and didn't walk away thinking someone else would meet it. Even though Jeff and his friends knew nothing about drilling wells, they began to find a way to meet the need for water in Kajeyo, Rwanda. 

I asked Jeff to share with us more about how they are responding to this need. He and his friends formed what they are calling the Amazi Project. Amazi means water in the local language. 

I take a few minutes to celebrate the 50th episode of His Hands His Feet podcast by reviewing the top 5 episodes, the type of episodes included in the first 50, and how listeners can give me feedback and support His Hands His Feet podcast.

Often things happen in our lives that at the time don't seem that important. Later, sometimes many years later, we can look back and see God's hand in it. He knows the plans He has for you, and He is at work at making them come to fruition even when we do things to hinder His plan. 

As we listen to Geoff and Martina share their story that brought to them to this starting point as missionaries to the Czech Republic, we will hear over and over how God orchestrated this moment. 

Kevin and Michelle share experiences from their 10 plus years serving in Thailand. Two sayings that I love are: God equips the called, and Prayer is the work. They also share about raising two children in a foreign country...and much more.

After 20 plus years of marriage without children, adjusting to having an eight-month-old stretched me and challenged my resolve as a foster parent. I kept telling myself that I could do anything for a few weeks. But as you will hear, those weeks turned into months. 

Jason and I talk about his two new books, Reframing Foster Care and Everyone Can Do Something. We discuss the audience of each book, his favorite stories, what his future writing plans are, among many other interesting topics.

Jason is the national director for church initiatives for Christian Alliance for Orphans. He travels the country speaking and training. He is also the author of several other books.

In this episode, I dive into what my worldview is and how it impacts my mission and purpose in life. I share how you can discover your mission and live it out.
This episode sheds light on why I choose to write and podcast about topics such as foster care and adoption, international missions, non profit ministry, and so on.

In chapter 7 I tell about the possibility of adopting a 12 year old boy after being told that it was a long shot to ever be considered. Then a week later we get a call from CPS about fostering an eight-month-old boy.

John shares about his experience as an adoptive dad adopting their, at the time, teenage son through foster care.
Listen to what challenged John along with what brought him, and still does today, great joy.

After our placing agency and CPS certified us as foster parents, it seemed that we either turned down several placements, or we didn't get a call. I share why we turned down the placements and how the delay impacted me.

We often lack self awareness as foster and adoptive parents usually because our kids needs easily outweigh our own. However, a healthy self awareness is one of the best parenting tools. In this episode I discuss this along with three common areas that we often have little self awareness about. Listen and join the conversation.

An interview with Nella Davidse, founder of Tamar Center Thailand, first recorded in 2015. Nella shares some of her personal story, a story of transformation and healing of a young woman, and about the mission of Tamar Center.

Find out more about the work Tamar is doing to help bar girls find hope, healing, and a new way of life.

Brenda Camp, my Mom, sits down with me to talk about her volunteer involvement with Helping Hands Ministry in Belton, TX. She shares about the work the ministry does in her community, what she does with the ministry, and her motivation to serve when she can do many other things in her retirement years.

We send missionaries all over the world many into locations that involve danger or at least extreme isolation. Even missionaries in places they can serve openly face challenges that we might not understand. The truth is those of us who "send" missionaries don't always do a good job of it.
In today's episode, I expound on 13 Common Challenges Missionaries Face and how you can connect better with them.