Together by AGCI

Today we’re chatting with AGCI adoptive parents Jake and Kaitlyn Hoermann. Jake and Kaitlyn adopted their sweet son, Martin, from Bulgaria earlier this year. You don’t want to miss their inspiring story of following God’s call to bring their son home.

We are so excited about our conversation with Amanda Purvis, consultant with the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development at Texas Christian University and AGCI Board member. At KPICD, her main focus is instructing systems, organizations, and professionals working with children who have experienced trauma, in Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI®). In addition to her incredible work with TBRI at KPICD, Amanda is the mother of five children, three of whom joined their family through adoption. This is a heartwarming episode filled with hope and the life-changing impacts of TBRI that Amanda has witnessed firsthand.

Today we’re talking about all things sponsorship! I was lucky enough to chat with Amanuel Roba, AGCI’s Associate Director of Sponsorship about this important program and the truly life-changing impact it can have on children and families. AGCI’s one to one sponsorship in Ethiopia is truly unique and is a simple way for people to have a direct impact on children in need. If you would like to sponsor a child, it’s easy to get started! Just head to our website and make a difference in a child’s life for just $40 a month! https://www.allgodschildren.org

No matter where you are at in your parenting or grandparenting journey, this episode is a must listen. We are joined by educator and Certified Life Specialist, Keeley Machen, talking through how we can best support and empower our children as they overcome medical encounters.

We are so excited to be chatting today with Sarah, our Philippines Programs Officer, and Taylor, our Asia and Europe Program Director. Taylor and Sarah are hard at work building AGCI’s programs in the Philippines that will impact children and families for generations to come. We are so inspired by their heart and dedication for this lifechanging work and we know you will be too.

Today, we had the honor of chatting with some of our favorite people all the way from Bogota, Colombia! Angie and Taty are residents at AGCI’s Independence Program Home and are incredible young women who are working towards their college degree while enrolled in AGCI’s Independence Program. We are also joined by Wendy, who is part of AGCI’s team and providing some support in the translation department—Angie and Taty are both native Spanish speakers so we extra impressed that they were willing to join us today—in English! This is a fun episode and gives you a little bit of an inside look of life at the Independence Program Home and the amazing work made possible through the support of people like you.

Today, our co-host Marisa Butterworth has an honest, funny, and vulnerable chat with her husband Jesse Butterworth about his journey being a biological and adoptive dad to their three kids and all that he has been working on as a father. Listen in to find out all that he has learned over the years.

Today we’re chatting with the incredible Genet Roba. In this episode Genet shares her adoption story and what it was like to be adopted from Ethiopia as an older child. This episode is a must listen for anyone in the adoption community or thinking about becoming an adoptive parent. Genet’s story is filled with miracles and she has so much wisdom to share!

Pastor Neely McQueen is the Co-Lead Pastor of Overlake Church in Redmond, WA and has led for over 25 years in the church and parachurch organizations. She is a wife and mom to three young adults and today, she is going to share about what she’s learned about parenting after years of Biblical study.

Hear more about the incredible work that our team in Ethiopia is doing at the All God’s Children International and Tim Tebow Foundation House of Hope. We are joined by a very special guest, one of our Child & Family Social workers, Hosseana Solomon, to share about her experiences at our reunification home and what she hopes for the future of Ethiopia and Africa.

Today, we have the honor of talking to Pastor Doug Frazier. In addition to being the pastor at Living Hope Church, Doug is also married to AGCI President, Hollen Frazier and has had a front row seat to this work for decades. We’re talking about God’s heart for children in need, suffering, and how to get quiet and discern where the Lord is calling you. I really enjoyed our conversation and hope it challenges you to step up and care for those in need.

Co-host Melissa Rush was recently in Ethiopia and had the opportunity to visit an Ethiopian Institution for the first time. Due to rules, we cannot photograph or video anything that we see but listen in as Melissa does a beautiful job explaining what she saw, experienced, and how it impacted her.

We are up to some really exciting stuff these days and wanted to share with you about a new way for YOU to be involved in breaking the cycle for vulnerable children around the world! AGCI’s Jep Robertson (you may also know him from Duck Dynasty and Duck Family Treasure) and Campbell Haug share about why they do this work and how you and your family can be involved in seeing real lasting healing in the world around you.

Today, we’re chatting with Special Education Coach Jessica Monteverde. Jessica has a master’s degree in education and in-classroom experience as well as experience working with parents and professionals navigating IEPs for the children in their care. Links to resources: http://understood.org http://pacer.org http://readingrockets.org https://schoolchoiceweek.com/how-to-continue-your-iep-if-you-start-homeschooling/ Spedhomeschool.com https://www.wrightslaw.com/

Today, we’re chatting with Dr. Jana Hunsley about how to create connected foster and adoptive families. Dr. Hunsley is an Assistant Professor of instruction at University of Texas Dallas and studies family trauma, adoptive sibling support, and adoption therapeutic interventions. She is also the Executive Director of Project 1025, which offers effective resources to create connected foster and adoptive families. Dr. Hunsley has a unique perspective—she studies family systems and experienced the effects of adoption first hand when her parents adopted her 7 youngest siblings.

Today, we’re celebrating all of the AGCI miracles of 2022! I can’t think of anyone more equipped to speak to this than AGCI President, Hollen Frazier. We’re chatting about all that God provided, answered prayers, and what’s next for 2023.

Ethical adoption is a huge part of who we are as an organization and this year we have seen so much change and growth. Join us as we take a look at what adoption looked like in 2022, celebrate all of the miracles, and find out how we can be praying for 2023.

Of all the gifts to receive, we can’t think of anything better than your child coming home. Adoption is a journey full of ups and downs, but today, we get to celebrate kids coming home, the absolute BEST GIFTS EVER!