Welcome to the defender bible study. A weekly encouragement to equip the body of Christ through the study of scripture and prayer to manifest the gospel to orphans and vulnerable children around the world. This podcast is a ministry of Lifeline Children Services where we believe that defending the fatherless begins by being rooted in God's word. It's Monday, November 25, 2024, and I'm coming to you from Birmingham, Alabama. Well, this week, we finish up our 5 week series on what it means to be heroic, how Lifeline embodies the heroic archetype.

Let's join in as I was able to address our staff at our Monday morning bible study. We wanna know what now. Why is it important that we're shifting from a caregiver to heroic archetype? What does it mean? What What does it mean for me on a normal day?

And certainly this is not exhaustive. The first thing I do wanna remind us of is that a caregiver archetype, being a caregiver is not a bad thing. It's not a bad thing. It's not going from a better to a best. It's going from a change to make sure that we align with our mission, our vision, and where we're going as an organization.

As a reminder, the carrier is focused on nurturing and meeting needs, while the heroic is focused on bold action, transformation, and leading through challenges. And so we are shifting because we believe that the heroic archetype, right, is going to help us with a vision for proactive engagement. So we don't wanna simply just respond to the crisis of ministry, but, ultimately, we want to be proactive in looking for ways to care for families, women, and children. And so even as we think of our programs, programs like, a Rooted in Love is heroic. Why?

It was a big shift when we did Rooted in Love. Many of you may not even know a time before Rooted in Love, but it was a big shift to say, nationally, we're gonna require folks from all 50 states to come to the beautiful town of Birmingham for training. But we also believed it was proactive. It was going to help us be heroic. We needed to equip and empower families so that they could use these unique opportunities to disciple and to parent their children on their adoption journeys.

Our church based programs, if you think about them, they're they're heroic. Right? We're leaning in and helping the church be the agent of change in the lives of people. So you think of a a program like Worthy, which is connecting women and women going through crisis pregnancies, it's heroic. It's dangerous in some regards.

It's proactive. Families count. Again, it's proactive. It's engaging. It's heroic.

Coming and pleading for families that for the most part have been forgotten by the system. You think about heritage builders and 21,000 to 23,000 kids are aging out of foster care every year. What are we gonna do about it? Not just sit by but heroically act. And so this shift, it really does redefine our daily work by fostering a culture of leadership, innovation, and strategic impact.

So as team members, we're not only wanting to nurture and support, but also lead and transform. We wanna embody the boldness and the mission driven spirit. And so this transition empowers everyone, everyone to contribute meaningfully to make global kingdom impact to the mission and division of Lifeline. We wanna ensure stability and we wanna have far reaching change. And so this morning as we look at this caregiver switch, I want us to look at God's word because the apostles actually went through what I believe a very similar transition.

From being followers or caregivers to Jesus' ministry, to becoming heroic in Jesus' ministry. And so they relied on themselves as caregivers and were trying to do everything they can, think about Peter cutting off the the the soldiers ear in the garden of Gethsemane, we want to preserve, we want to care, but then after Pentecost think about the same believers they became heroic. And so if you've got a bible, let's look at acts chapter 1, gonna start in verse 6, it's at the end of Jesus' ministry. Luke is recording in acts for Theophilus, the second account, the the building of the church, what happens after Jesus ascends? Verse 6 says this, he says, so when they had come together, they asked the lord, they asked him, lord Jesus, will you at this time restore the kingdom of Israel?

In other words, they were still thinking of caregiver. They they were still thinking of an earthly ministry of Jesus. Will you restore Israel? Are you gonna come and reign on the earth? And he said to them, it's not for you to know the times and the seasons that the father has fixed by his own authority.

Verse 8, the mission statement, but you, you will receive power when the holy spirit has come upon you and you will be my witness in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria and to the uttermost ends of the earth. And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing up in heaven as he went, wondering what in the world are we supposed to do, behold, 2 men stood by them in white robes and said, men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. This is the shift.

Pentecost comes and and these apostles are completely and utterly rearranged in their thinking and in their ministry and in their action. As caregivers, the apostles were fearful of change and they lacked understanding of the future mission. In Mark chapter 9 verse 31 through 32, it says Jesus was teaching his disciples saying, the son of man is going to be delivered in the hands of men and they will kill him. And he and when he is killed and after 3 days, he will rise. But verse 32 says, they, the apostles, did not understand the saying and they were afraid to ask.

We're afraid so many times when we're caregivers, we're fearful of change, we're fearful of of what what could be around the corner. We we don't understand the mission. But we wanna be heroic. We're we're not fearful of change, but we understand the mission and we understand that the mission is a change agent when we wanna see this beautiful gospel manifested to vulnerable children, their families, and to women. It is a change agent.

But then we also see the apostles as caregivers, they like boldness and vision. You remember in Mark chapter 4 verse 37 through 41 that a a a great windstorm arose, waves were breaking on the boat and the boat was filling. But there he was, Jesus in the stern, asleep on a cushion. And it says and they woke and said to him, teacher do you not care that we are perishing? And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, peace, be still.

And the wind ceased and there was great calm. And he said to them, why are you so afraid? Have you so little faith? And what were they this even after he said this? It says they were filled with great fear and said to one another, who is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?

And yet we see after this mission statement in Acts 1:8 that everything is rearranged for the apostles, everything is rearranged for the disciples. Now they're making bold proclamations for the gospel. Look in Acts chapter 4 verse 13, no longer are they scared, not no longer are they passive, but they are now bold heroes. And again, not heroes of themselves, but heroes of the gospel and champions of Christ. Verse 13, it says, when they, the Sanhedrin, saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated common men, they were astonished and they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

The apostles are are now preaching with authority and confidence even in the face of great opposition. They had shifted from being a caregiver of Jesus' ministry to a hero championing Jesus' ministry. You see, unified leadership, Acts chapter 6 starting in verse 2, it's determined that too much time is being taken in caring for the the widows and and and caring for the the means of the church and and and they choose 7 deacons to be able to care for the church. You all of a sudden see they have unified leadership, Acts chapter 6 verse 2. And it said the 12 summoned the full number of the disciples and said, it is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.

Therefore, brothers, pick from out from among you 7 men of good repute, full of the spirit of wisdom who we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word. And what he said pleased the whole gathering. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the holy spirit, and Philip, and Procuras, and Nicanor, and Teman, and Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte of Antioch. And they set them before the apostles and they prayed and they laid hands on them.

They were heroic. They did the things that needed to be done so that the mission would not be avoided, so the mission would not be hindered. But then we also see a a boldness in the apostles that we had not seen before. Just the paragraph before, Acts chapter 6 and Acts chapter 5 verse 40. And it said when they had called in all the apostles, they beat them, again this is the Sanhedrin, and they charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus and they let them go.

Now do you remember the caregiver on the boat with the storm and the wind and the fear? And Jesus says do not be afraid and what does it say, they were afraid? They've been beaten, they've been whipped, they've been warned not to speak in the name of Jesus, but look at what the heroic do. Verse 41, and when they left the presence of the council rejoicing, they had great joy that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.

Brothers and sisters, this is a shift that we see in the disciples from being caregivers, not wrong, to being heroic, being bold, wanting to see the mission begin to to flourish, wanting to see the mission go forth, wanting to see Jesus' name praise among the nations where they're bold, they have unified leadership, they're not afraid. And, beloved, there is a time when this culture will come against us And the question is, will we be a caregiver and only do as much as we possibly can? There are other organizations that have gone before us and they're great organizations and they're still around, and they had a caregiver mindset. So when the culture came against them and said you're gonna have to water down your mission and the Christianity and the bible nature of your mission or you won't be able to care for children anymore, they chose caregiving over being heroic for Christ. And why do we wanna shift this archetype?

What is the reasoning behind this? Why now? Because we see the vision ahead. Culture will get darker. The message against the gospel will get bolder, and it will become more pronounced.

It's not gonna be as subtle as it is now. And the question for us as an organization, are we going to be willing to be bold and stand on our mission and hero Christ Jesus? Again, there's nothing wrong with being a caregiver, but that's not what God showed us to do. That's not what he has called us to do. Lifeline has a heroic mission, and for the sake of the gospel, we will continue to be heroic.

We shift from responding to needs to leading change in the area. You see, caregivers focus on maintaining, but heroes seek transformation. And so at Lifeline, we're gonna not focus only on the vulnerable children's immediate needs, but ultimately on equipping families, churches, and communities to lead transformative change in the gospel. But then second, we also want to embody gospel boldness in the face of changing culture. And so like the apostle stepping out in faith, we want to expand our mission boldly in order to reach the vulnerable with the gospel.

And so we move from reactive to proactive strategy through training and equipping leaders, churches, and families. We see ourselves not just as a caregiver but a partner with Christ in seeking transformation and change. And so as social workers who I know 70% of you are, this means not only supporting a family but it means equipping them to disciple others. Our strategic goals and initiatives are not looking just to maintain but seeking the betterment of those that we serve internally and externally. And so so what?

What now? Ten things that I see that affect every single person, the so what? What about on a Monday? What about on a Tuesday? What does this mean on a Thursday or a Friday?

Ten ways that I see this shift impacting our team and staff. And, again, this is not exhaustive. It's not meant to be there's no other way. This is the 10 ways. Right?

This is, for those of you old enough to know this is not the David Letterman top ten list and, you know, there's no more. Right? This is exhaustive. This is not exhaustive. But let's go through 10 ways that I see that this change affects us every single day, the so what, the what now.

1st, we wanna see proactive leadership and initiative. And so we hope to see team members taking leads on new projects and new directives without waiting on a directive or approval. I wanna empower every single person in my sound of my voice that's listening to this Zoom or is in this room. If you see a better way to do it, I am empowering you now to suggest a new way and a better way to do it. That's what heroic does.

A caregiver just does it all the same way because that's the way we've been told. But if there is a better, more efficient, more effective way, then we're gonna do it because we're a heroic archetype. I am commissioning every single team member to get out of the doldrums of the job description, and as you're working and you see a better way forward, act upon that better way. Go to your supervisor, suggest a better way. And for every supervisor, if an employee comes to you, if a staff member comes to you, if a team member comes to you with a better way, with a way forward, with an idea, do not turn them away.

But listen with listening ears ready to respond and ready to see if there's a better way forward. But the second is we want to all be strategic thinkers and planners. Instead of solely addressing immediate cases, we want to encourage all of our team to engage in strategic planning. Thinking of long term solutions, thinking about the the systematic change that and issues in our ministry and how do we move through those, but not just internally, how do we affect the child welfare system for the good? What are ways that we can change the church for the church to truly be a change agent?

As we go globally, how can we help waken the global church to care and to reform child welfare, not just in the United States but around the world. We want to be strategic in our planning and in our training and in our moving. And then 3rd, we want to be problem solvers. On Wednesday, we gave out a chart that, again, is not comprehensive. It's not every possible thing, but it's a start on decision rights.

And decision rights are important to understand, not just because of of how they flow in the everyday decision making, but because they can develop more cross departmental teams which collaborate to tackle complex challenges. And so we're gonna break down silos, we wanna promote new perspectives, and we wanna find comprehensive solutions. And so, we wanna make decisions at the right level. We wanna work cross departmentally so that we can truly see what we're learning not just affects our team, but impacts the entire ministry. Number 4, continuous learning and skill development.

We want to develop our leaders. We want to develop our staff and our team. We want to make sure that everyone has an opportunity to learn something new, to grow in their tool chest so that we can see skill development for the future and we can become better at what we do. It also means embracing innovation and technology. Number 5, we wanna use new software for better case management, we wanna adopt digital platforms, we wanna expand our global outreach.

That's why we're talking about, an ERP system and getting all of our data on the same the same place. We don't want our technology to be an impediment to what we're doing. We want it to be a tool that helps us as we go. And that's heroic and I'm gonna tell you right now, I'm sure Chris in the back of this room may say amen, but but taking on and challenging an ERP, an enterprise resource platform within our ministry is a challenging heroic thing. But we have thank you.

He said amen for those of you on Zoom. So, right, it is challenging, it is heroic, but it engages us and helps us be able to make a difference. But then 6th, we wanna have bold advocacy and public engagement. So I wanna encourage everyone to actively participate in in going to your church and advocating that your church would do something, an orphan Sunday. I wanna encourage everyone to advocate for what's going on.

As you see media opportunities, bring them to our PR team. As you see stories, I wanna engage everyone thinking how do we get this message out. Not because it necessarily informs what I do on a daily basis because it informs our team and the the mission that we're going forward to. We wanna increase visibility, attract new support, and we wanna position ourselves as ministry leaders in the field for the sake of the hope of the gospel. And then 7th, we wanna have empowered decision making.

We want to empower, encourage our team to be able to make decisions within their scope without excessive layers of approval. We wanna foster trust, responsibility so that we can also accelerate the process, empower our staff, and enhance our responsiveness to urgent needs. There's no reason that the decision making needs to be centralized. It needs to be decentralized so that we can ultimately be efficient and effective. That's another reason we put the chart out on Wednesday, the decision rights chart, helping make sure that people know what decisions can have been made and how can I be empowered to make those decision?

We wanna focus number 8 on transformation over maintenance. We wanna shift our efforts from merely providing social services to empowering the church to be the go to for child welfare in their communities. We want to see the vulnerable so transformed by the gospel that they are in turn making disciples of others. The 9th, we wanna see enhanced collaboration with external partners. And so I wanna tell you again, if you see an external partner that's doing it better than we are, instead of trying to duplicate it, let's join them so that we can do what we're best at doing.

We wanna continue looking for and forming strategic alliances with churches and ministries to lever resources and expertise for greater collective impact. We want to rely on others to do what they do well so we can do what we do best. And I think of examples of how we've already done this with Care Portal and Stand For Life and 4 others ministry and POMA 686. We're we're looking at others who do it better so that we can do what we do best. We wanna have enhanced collaboration.

And then 10th, maybe this isn't different or new, but it's a reminder, we wanna have a mission driven mindset. Every task, whether administrative or direct service, needs to be approached with the mission in mind, ensuring that the actions are ultimately contributing to the bold gospel centered mission statement that we have. We wanna ensure consistency. We wanna align daily work with a heroic mission, to manifest the glorious gospel by equipping the church to manifest this glorious gospel to orphans and vulnerable children. And so, beloved, ultimately, why are we shifting from caregiver to heroic?

Well, Jesus in his ministry, he told the disciples, he says, you're gonna do greater things. I'm going. I'm departing to my father and you're going to do greater things. We have been commanded. We've been equipped.

We've been commissioned to go and spread the glorious gospel. And our mission field are orphans and vulnerable children, vulnerable families, and vulnerable women. And we wanna be active, and we wanna be urgent, and we wanna be expectant of what the lord will do. So in closing, I wanna tell you a couple things. 1st, don't hesitate to ask if there are still confusions.

Don't hesitate to ask if you're like, okay. He said 10 reasons, if so what, but he talks really fast and didn't really gather all of that. Like, go ahead and ask. Please ask. Ask so that we can know and that it will guide everything that we do in the future.

We wanna be on the same page. Also, in December, we're gonna be releasing our 2025 to 2027 strategic plan. And I hope that as you read through those goals and you read through that plan, you will see that it is more heroic. The language is is less caregiver, and it's more heroic. And then also be looking for the updated cultural guide where we're gonna be putting in and infusing what does this mean heroically in our culture?

How does this change who we are? But the mission is too critical. The gospel is too urgent for us to just sit by and continue to do the same thing. We must go boldly so that ultimately this gospel will spread to orphans, to vulnerable children, to vulnerable women, and to vulnerable families. Thanks for joining the Defender Podcast.

This week, we are praying for our pregnancy counseling ministry. Specifically, we are praying for the leadership within our, pregnancy counseling ministry as well as all of those wonderful ladies that lead and counsel birth mothers, but also we are praying for those women who come to us and we are praying that the lord would show himself to them in a very real way. Let's pray. Father god, thank you so much for the way that you've called Lifeline to be, an advocate and a voice, and to be a representative of you to women walking through unexpected pregnancies. Lord, we thank you for the leadership that you have given us in our pregnancy counseling ministry, for the way that they lead so well with such integrity with the life of a woman and the life of a child forefront in everything that they do.

We thank you for the plethora of pregnancy counselors that you've given us, their their heart, their passion for women. The ways that they sacrifice around the holidays and sacrifice on the weekends to maybe be the only voice, the only person that a mom sees in the delivery room. Lord, we pray for our intake team as they answer hotlines and chats each and every day, each and every night, and on weekends and holidays. Would you give them the words to say, would you give them the heart to say it, would you give them great grace, and would you help them to connect even over the phone or or online with these women. Help them to show the love of Christ in what they type and in what they say.

And father we pray for the fruit to come from these chats that that women would would schedule meetings and would come face to face with those that are here to serve them. Lord, we pray that our team would have rest and endurance, capacity, strength, wisdom, and ultimately boldness to share the gospel as they serve these clients. Oh, father, we pray that they would have be patient. We pray that they would be kind. And, lord, we pray for the women that we are serving.

God, would you bring them to us, the ones that we need to be able to minister to? Would you walk with them through these difficult decisions? Would you help them to know that that they are loved and that they are valued? Would you let them know that they are precious as well as their child? Lord, for those that need housing, would you pray, we pray that you would give them the ability to find housing, housing that's safe.

Lord, if it be your will, would you allow them to find our maternity services so that we could house them and love them and and and disciple them and and care for them through their pregnancy. Lord, for all of the moms that are looking for reunions, and the adoptees, and the adopted families, would you bring them together and navigate the reunion process in a way that is honoring to you and honoring to these women? And last but certainly not least, we pray for pregnancy resource centers across the country, but particularly the one that we have the opportunity to to run and to operate in Topeka, Kansas. Would you be with our Pregnancy Resource Center? Would you be with our staff?

Would you give them great grace? Would you give them great energy? We ask that you would use the ultrasound rooms that that that would show moms that that the child inside of them is a living life and is precious and is sacred. God, we're thankful for the over 450 appointments that we've been able to have so far this year, and we pray that 2025 would bring, a lion's share of women to our center who need to hear the gospel, who need to hear the truth of life, and, ultimately, women that need a friend and need Jesus. Father, we thank you for the ways that you go before us.

We thank you for the ways that you are using us, and we pray that we would be found faithful in serving these women unto you. It's in your great name that we pray, the name of Jesus. Amen. Thanks again for joining us for the defender bible study. If you enjoy making this podcast a part of your weekly routine, we'd love for you to take a moment to subscribe, rate, and review the defender bible study to make it easier for more people to find.

For more resources and information on how you and your church can partner with Lifeline, please visit us at lifelinechild.org. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter by searching for Lifeline Child. You can email us directly at info at lifelinechild.org. We look forward to seeing you again next week for the defender bible study.