What do you do with pain that you can’t fix?

In this episode of the MercyCast, I sit down with Rebecca Taguma from the American Bible Society to explore how God meets us in the middle of trauma, grief, and suffering. From refugee camps to local churches, we talk about how Scripture doesn’t avoid pain—it steps directly into it, offering real healing through truth, grace, and community.

Rebecca shares her journey from serving vulnerable communities in Zimbabwe to leading trauma healing efforts around the world. We discuss how “heart wounds” impact our lives, why many of us struggle to face our own pain, and how God uses ordinary people to become safe, healing presences for others.

I also reflect on how easy it is to isolate when life gets hard—and how the Gospel calls us back into community. Healing isn’t something we achieve alone. It happens when we bring our wounds into safe spaces and allow God to work through His people.

This conversation is a reminder that you don’t need to be an expert to help—you just need to be willing, present, and rooted in God’s Word.

Key Takeaways:

• You don’t need professional training to care for others—just a willingness to listen and be present.
• Trauma often isolates us, but healing happens in a safe, Christ-centered community.
• “Heart wounds” affect every part of our lives and need to be acknowledged, not ignored.
• Scripture provides a framework for understanding suffering, grief, and lament.
• God uses our own stories of pain to help us walk alongside others.
• Emotional resilience grows through vulnerability, not avoidance.
• Healing is a process—there are no quick fixes, but there is real hope.

Listen, subscribe, and share the MercyCast—because what you’re facing isn’t the end of your story.

Learn more about Rebecca’s work with Trauma Healing Institute and Restoring Hope.

You can follow MercyCast on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

You can follow Raleigh on Twitter and Instagram. Thanks for listening. We want to hear from you!

Email us at info@mercycast.com.

The work seems small: hands in the dirt, neighbors gathered, scraps transformed into new life. But this care needs more than good intentions—it needs presence and staying power.

In this episode of The MercyCast, Brendan McClanahan, Church Engagement Manager at Plant With Purpose, discusses creation care as living discipleship—not just environmentalism. His words challenged how I view mentoring, community, and even the earth. Brendan starts not with programs, but with people, identity, and the conviction that God restores all things and invites us in.

Through stories of composting, shared meals, and daily faithfulness, we explore how creation care heals land, relationships, and the Church. This is not theory—it is gospel with dirt under its nails.

Key Takeaways

• Discipleship is more than an idea; it is practiced tangibly with our hands, with our neighbors, and with the land.
• Creation care restores more than the environment. Tending the earth also means tending what is broken, whether systems, communities, or hearts.
• Community takes shape through practices like composting, shared meals, and being present with others. These foster a sense of belonging and enable personal change.
• The gospel reconnects what’s fractured. God’s mission is restoring all creation—including our relationships with one another and the world.
• The life you long for lies beyond discomfort. Invitation, vulnerability, and presence may cost you, but they lead to Jesus’s abundance.

Call to Action

If you feel disconnected—from God, others, or yourself—start small. Invite someone over, take a walk, or share a meal. Notice the ground beneath your feet. Want to go deeper? Explore Tend by Plant With Purpose and practice a faith that stays.

The work may look small. But this is where restoration begins.

Learn more about Brendan’s work with Tend. Follow Tend on Facebook and Instagram

You can follow MercyCast on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

You can follow Raleigh on Twitter and Instagram.

Thanks for listening. We want to hear from you!

Email us at info@mercycast.com.

We say children belong in families—but our actions tell a different story. Nearly 90% of Christians believe kids thrive in a home, yet billions are still poured into orphanages.

There’s a gap… between what we believe and what we build. That gap matters—and it’s shaping the lives of vulnerable children around the world.

In this episode, I sit down with Elli Oswald, Executive Director of Faith to Action, an organization equipping churches to move from institutional care to family-based solutions. Elli brings data, theology, and real-world experience to a conversation the Church can’t afford to ignore.

Here’s the tension: Nearly 70% of believers acknowledge that institutional care can actually hinder a child’s development, yet we keep supporting it. Why? Because it feels like the easiest way to help. But there aren’t silver bullets. Orphanages may meet physical needs—but they can’t replace family, connection, and belonging.

And the reality is more complex than we think. Eight out of ten children in orphanages have a parent. Poverty, lack of access, and broken systems—not lack of love—are often the real drivers. Which means the solution isn’t separation. It’s support.

Key Takeaways:

“We’re not called to keep an orphan an orphan.” We’re called to restore families.

This episode reframes orphan care, challenges outdated models, and offers practical ways the Church can lead in global child welfare—through family reunification, community support, and sustainable, faith-based solutions.

So here’s the invitation: rethink what you’ve been taught, realign your mission, and take one step toward family-based care. Because children don’t need better institutions—they need families.

If this episode speaks to you, subscribe to MercyCast for more stories about how we learn compassion through adversity. Share it with someone who cares about vulnerable children. You never know how one story can change a life. Leave a review to help others find these conversations.

Learn more about Elli’s work at Faith to Action. Here is the book mentioned in the episode by Bryant Myers. We also referred to the MercyCast episode with Nabs.

You can follow MercyCast on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

You can follow Raleigh on Twitter and Instagram.

Thanks for listening. We want to hear from you!

Email us at info@mercycast.com.