U.S. Senate Testimony — Review of U.S. Foreign Assistance for Children in Adversity

Today’s U.S. Senate Appropriations hearing offered a tremendous opportunity to engage key orphan-related policy issues and also spotlight the vital role that so many Christian groups are playing in caring for orphans worldwide. In my remarks before the Committee, I desired to affirm that government can indeed play a vital role in child protection and [...]

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Watch online NOW: Review of U.S. Foreign Assistance for Children in Adversity

This morning The Subcommittee on the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs is hosting a hearing on  Review of U.S. Foreign Assistance for Children in Adversity.   CAFO President Jedd Medefind will testify shortly. Watch it LIVE now! - http://www.appropriations.senate.gov/streamb.cfm Witnesses:   Panel 1 The Honorable Donald Steinberg, Deputy Administrator, United States Agency for International [...]

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More from NPR on the Christian Orphan Care Movement

NPR will again be airing critique of the Christian orphan care movement, but this time with an opportunity for response.  This week, “Interfaith Voices” will air a pair of interviews—one with Kathryn Joyce followed by a second allowing me a chance to share a perspective from within the movement. The interviews were framed with emphasis [...]

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“Step Forward for Orphans” March in DC

The Both Ends Burning “Step Forward For Orphans” March was yesterday in Washington, DC.  Individuals and families who’d been moved by the film STUCK gathered to send a strong message to America’s leaders about the importance of families for children who lack them. If you haven’t yet seen the film, we’d encourage you to do [...]

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My Personal Favorite Responses to Summit

We’ve received much feedback since Summit.  It’s been rich and heart-lifting.  Even the criticisms have been truly constructive. But most meaningful of all for me are the notes from individuals who’ve at times been especially critical of their fellow Christians’ approach to orphan care and adoption…often with good reason.  As with any budding movement, this [...]

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Great 12-Minute Feature on Foster Care

I’ll confess I’ve have had my moments of frustration at things I’ve heard were said on the 700 Club. But I can’t say enough about the program Terry Meeuwsen and the rest of the team there hosted yesterday on foster care. It was moving, thoughtful and a healthy blend of the beauty and the challenges [...]

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Summit Revisited in Two Short Videos!

After an experience like Summit last week, words fall short in trying to capture it all.  I don’t think anything anything short of the experience itself really could.  But a good video gets a lot closer than nouns, verbs and adjectives.  Here’s a memorable one put together by Sherwin Lau, whose eye for compelling images [...]

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Overwhelming (Literally) Response to Summit 9!

With Summit registration closing tonight at midnight, we’ve been forced to confront the best kind of problem to have:  overwhelming response. Registration are now at least 500 more than when we closed online registration last year…and the registrations continue to pour in until 12 PM. That’s tremendous news, and also one more indicator of a [...]

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BBC on the Plight of Orphans in Russia

The BBC carried a highly significant article earlier this month on the tragic situations facing many orphans within Russia—titled, “Are efforts to help thousands of ‘abandoned’ children being resisted?”  For anyone concerned with the plight of orphans worldwide, the accounts it presents are both heart wrenching and revealing. As much as anything else, the article [...]

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Un-Marketing Our Leadership: Christian Leadership Alliance Webinar

I’ll be teaching for the Christian Leadership Alliance’s (CLA) leadership webinar series this Thursday, April 24 with a presentation titled, “Un-Marketing Leadership:  Authentic Communication for a Marketing-Weary Culture.” The webinar will draw from the themes of my book, UPENDED, with a focus on organizational leaders, missional influencers and issue advocates.  We’ll explore communication choices that [...]

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