733. The Forgotten Initiative: A Lifeline for Foster Care Workers and Children with Jami Kaeb

[00:00:00] This complex financing talk is very exciting. Do I get my depot ever?

[00:00:06] But you already have a depot.

[00:00:08] No.

[00:00:09] Yes, you have the Vodafone Gigadepot.

[00:00:11] That's right. And I have myself in hand how big my depot is.

[00:00:15] Now with the Vodafone Gigadepot and the data volume of data in the next month. Go on in the 5G-Netz of Vodafone.

[00:00:22] Vodafone. Together we can.

[00:00:24] Hey family, let me ask you, how do you move into your passion and purpose work?

[00:00:42] You know how passionate I am, no pun intended, about that.

[00:00:45] During this episode, we will uncover a story of someone who did just that by following the burden on their heart.

[00:00:53] Jami Kaeb is the founder and CEO of The Forgotten Initiative. Let's jump in.

[00:00:58] CoreLink Solution family have got a treat for you today.

[00:01:00] We're going to talk with someone who is leading something I know is near and dear to all of us,

[00:01:05] but may not be as obvious sometimes that need.

[00:01:08] Foster care and adoption were not always a part of the dreams for her life,

[00:01:12] but God changed her heart when he made her aware.

[00:01:15] And she is passionate about helping others become aware too.

[00:01:19] Jami Kaeb is the founder and executive director of The Forgotten Initiative,

[00:01:23] a Christ-centered nonprofit ministry helping churches support foster care agencies to awareness, encouragement and advocacy.

[00:01:30] Jami, welcome to the show.

[00:01:33] Jami Kaeb is the founder and CEO of The Forgotten Initiative.

[00:01:33] Thank you so much.

[00:01:34] Happy to be here.

[00:01:35] Thank you for coming.

[00:01:36] Thank you for coming.

[00:01:37] Hey, I always like to get the audience warmed up with a little bit about the person.

[00:01:41] So let me ask you, what is one thing that you might be able to share that even those closest to you don't know?

[00:01:48] Oh, here's the funny thing is if I am excited about something, I share it with everybody.

[00:01:56] And so I don't know that there's many things that nobody knows.

[00:02:00] Gotcha.

[00:02:00] I'm what you call a galvanizer.

[00:02:02] And so if like, if I love it, I'm going to share it.

[00:02:05] You're going to share it.

[00:02:05] I remember being at a board meeting with my husband's work and I loved this particular sandwich at Panera.

[00:02:12] By the end of the board meeting, I had everybody ordering that sandwich.

[00:02:19] Like it or not, I have to taste the sandwich.

[00:02:20] If people are in here, don't usually stay inside.

[00:02:23] I got to share it.

[00:02:24] So that's great.

[00:02:25] That is great.

[00:02:26] Well, listen, I am very, well, I shouldn't say very knowledgeable, but I, you know, I've had my own, my own journey with foster care.

[00:02:33] My parents were huge proponents.

[00:02:37] At one time, I think I had three or four foster brothers and sisters in the house.

[00:02:41] Some stayed through longer terms than others, but I think a part of that watching them give that way.

[00:02:47] And in other ways, my dad was a minister, et cetera.

[00:02:49] My mom was the one sitting up conducting service.

[00:02:52] Right.

[00:02:52] I mean, so I've just watched them be in service.

[00:02:54] And I think that can't help but have an impact on you as you grow up.

[00:02:58] And so I, I believe I get it, but I know you're going to help us really get it.

[00:03:02] So maybe just start with what led to the creation of the forgotten initiative.

[00:03:06] Yeah.

[00:03:07] Thanks for asking.

[00:03:08] So I, I didn't get it when I was young.

[00:03:11] I did not grow up seeing this.

[00:03:13] Yeah.

[00:03:13] In fact, I remember when we first got married and we were very young, we got married.

[00:03:17] I was only 19.

[00:03:18] My husband was 21 people.

[00:03:20] I even had a friend who asked, would you ever consider adoption?

[00:03:23] And I remember saying to her, well, only if I couldn't have children.

[00:03:28] So this was kind of the idea that I had in my head as adoptions, like the second, second

[00:03:34] sort of idea.

[00:03:35] If your first idea doesn't work.

[00:03:37] And yes, and God had to do a work in my heart.

[00:03:40] And he did to really change my heart.

[00:03:42] He, he started to make us aware.

[00:03:45] And over time that awareness turned into some curiosity.

[00:03:49] And so we started to see some friends bring home children from other countries that they

[00:03:53] were adopting.

[00:03:54] We got to be a part of helping provide some funding to help children come home.

[00:03:59] So that curiosity started to spark in us a little bit of like, Hmm, maybe we should consider

[00:04:04] this.

[00:04:04] And so eventually we started to pray like, Lord, is this something that you're asking

[00:04:08] us to consider?

[00:04:09] And by this time we had two biological daughters.

[00:04:12] Uh, and as we started to pray, God just really, I just remember it almost felt like an overnight.

[00:04:18] And I know it wasn't, it was little by little by little, but he changed our hearts and we

[00:04:23] were ready and we were available.

[00:04:25] And so we adopted our first son.

[00:04:28] He was born in Guatemala.

[00:04:29] He was 10 months old when he came home.

[00:04:32] He's 17 today.

[00:04:34] And really by adapting him and understanding the heart of God, um, for children and seeing

[00:04:43] the way he changed us and drew us closer to God, um, man, we caught the bug and we were ready to do it

[00:04:49] again.

[00:04:50] And so we tried to adopt from, uh, we wanted to adopt from Guatemala, but at that time, Guatemala

[00:04:55] had closed to any international adoptions.

[00:04:58] And so that wasn't an option.

[00:04:59] So we tried to adopt from the United States.

[00:05:02] And this time we thought maybe we could adopt a baby, um, in the United States, birth moms

[00:05:09] will, who are wanting to give up their children, give their children in adoption, we'll make,

[00:05:15] we'll review like pictures and stories of the prospective adoptive families and they get to

[00:05:21] choose.

[00:05:22] And it's a beautiful thing.

[00:05:23] And so for us, we made the book and we made the story, told the stories and, and we sent it

[00:05:29] out to different birth moms through our agency and nobody chose us.

[00:05:33] And it was very unexpected for me and very challenging.

[00:05:38] He took us on about a two year journey of hearing no after no after no.

[00:05:44] And it was painful.

[00:05:46] I didn't understand it.

[00:05:47] I questioned God saying, okay, God, you've, you've called us to this.

[00:05:51] We know that this is something that is close to your heart.

[00:05:55] And now you're saying no to us.

[00:05:57] Like I don't get it.

[00:05:58] And I just felt like God over the course of that time, a couple things showed me one.

[00:06:04] And first of all, Jamie, it's not about you.

[00:06:07] It's not about you.

[00:06:09] Um, second, he taught me that he is my first, he is my everything.

[00:06:15] You know, I remember when one of we first heard like a disappointment early on in the

[00:06:19] journey and I called my husband and I said, Clint, come home.

[00:06:22] I need you.

[00:06:23] I need you.

[00:06:24] And he did because he's a good husband.

[00:06:27] But several months later, we had another disappointment and I was really struggling.

[00:06:33] And my husband said, do you need me?

[00:06:36] And that point I said, I think I need to be with God.

[00:06:39] And it was in that moment that I remember falling back on the bed and just, I just cried

[00:06:43] out to God.

[00:06:44] And I felt him say to me, Jamie, think back when you first needed your husband.

[00:06:50] Now I'm the one you're calling on first.

[00:06:53] And so God just did a number of things like that in my heart during the season of waiting.

[00:06:58] He also then opened my husband and my eyes to foster care.

[00:07:02] So we're like, okay, so if there's not a need for us, you know, to adopt a baby for some

[00:07:08] reason, like our, you know, the, maybe God's pointing us to something else.

[00:07:12] And he really changed our perspective.

[00:07:14] And it was like, he said, Jamie, it's not about bringing a child into your family so much as

[00:07:19] it's about bringing your family to a child.

[00:07:22] And that was this flip-flop in my head of, oh, maybe we can be a family for a child for

[00:07:30] however long they need.

[00:07:32] Yeah.

[00:07:32] Did you, did you?

[00:07:33] Sorry, go ahead.

[00:07:34] No, please.

[00:07:35] Well, I was just going to say that is when God really opened our eyes to foster care.

[00:07:39] Yeah.

[00:07:40] And it was through that journey that I first became aware of foster care agencies and children

[00:07:48] and what happens there.

[00:07:50] So Jamie, again, that, that was a remarkable journey you share.

[00:07:54] And I guess I've got two questions, right?

[00:07:56] One is on the front end.

[00:07:57] Did you ever ask yourself like, God, why, why me?

[00:08:00] Why us?

[00:08:01] Why Clinton?

[00:08:01] Why did you not?

[00:08:02] Hmm.

[00:08:03] You know, I don't know if I asked that question so much.

[00:08:07] I think it, because it was such a journey of like, just got opening our eyes slowly that

[00:08:12] by the time we were interested in adoption, by the time we were ready, we were really excited.

[00:08:18] So it was more like a thank you.

[00:08:20] Thank you, Lord, that you allowed us this privilege.

[00:08:23] So then on the other end of it, after, you know, you, you commit, I'm down.

[00:08:27] We're going to make space.

[00:08:29] I think I have some sense of what to do, the difficulties in, you know, adopting.

[00:08:35] Yes, that I definitely asked why.

[00:08:37] Okay.

[00:08:39] Yes.

[00:08:39] And, and I think that that was such a lesson for me in learning that you don't, one, it isn't about you.

[00:08:48] Like I said, and just because God calls you to something and you think that this is the direction he's calling you to.

[00:08:55] We only see a very small picture.

[00:08:58] Amen.

[00:08:58] And so we don't know, you know, and it wasn't that we did.

[00:09:02] I don't think we did anything wrong by pursuing that, even though that wasn't the answer.

[00:09:06] But he used that journey to get us to where we are today.

[00:09:10] Yeah.

[00:09:10] And so just learning to trust him and his sovereignty has been such a journey.

[00:09:17] What do you think prepared you for a journey?

[00:09:20] When you look back, you know, cause oftentimes I think we have gifts and talents, right.

[00:09:25] That are often unnurtured or for lack of better terms, don't get excavated.

[00:09:29] Right.

[00:09:29] And then later on down, you go, Oh, I can see where God was preparing me for this.

[00:09:34] Did you have that moment or not really?

[00:09:37] I mean, the only thing I can think is that God has always given me a love for people, for children.

[00:09:42] Um, and so, I mean, that made sense.

[00:09:45] Like now I just think of myself, like now we have seven children since that day.

[00:09:51] Wow.

[00:09:51] Um, plus a son-in-law, our oldest got married last year.

[00:09:54] And I get to be mom to many and my own immediate family, but also mom to a lot of my kids friends.

[00:10:04] And I just, God has given me a nurturing heart.

[00:10:08] And so I really, I love people.

[00:10:11] I love encouraging people.

[00:10:13] And so I don't know if I had a moment where I'm like, I was made for this because we all

[00:10:19] know, like stepping into life with people of any kind is hard.

[00:10:24] Um, and it takes us to the end of our, of ourselves.

[00:10:26] And we, I recognize my limits so much more than I ever used to, but I'm just so grateful.

[00:10:34] That's good.

[00:10:35] You know, when you, when you think about the forgotten initiative and I know this is such

[00:10:39] a difficult question, cause I think when you're doing hard work, um, I think there's the yin

[00:10:44] and yang of, of, you know, what, what the goal looks like versus being immersed in the

[00:10:48] work.

[00:10:49] But to the extent that you can, what, what is the forgotten initiatives overarching goal?

[00:10:54] Yeah.

[00:10:54] Well, if you think of kind of like our theory of change, it goes like this.

[00:10:59] We believe that well supported foster care workers, and we're specifically thinking of

[00:11:04] caseworkers will more effectively serve children.

[00:11:07] Okay.

[00:11:08] So there is this foster care community.

[00:11:10] Uh, we have birth parents, we have foster kids in foster care.

[00:11:15] We have foster parents and we have caseworkers, um, and some other auxiliary people, right.

[00:11:21] Who are involved.

[00:11:22] The worker is such an, a unique position because they reach every other member of the foster care

[00:11:29] community, but they're often unseen.

[00:11:31] They're not supported.

[00:11:32] No one's really thinking of them.

[00:11:34] It's a very hidden, thankless job.

[00:11:37] For us, we really want to see the church come alongside these workers, support them because

[00:11:44] we believe by supporting them, more children and families will be supported.

[00:11:49] Yeah.

[00:11:49] Um, we know that worker turnover is only about two and a half years on average.

[00:11:54] And every time a worker leaves, kids are impacted.

[00:11:58] Two and a half years.

[00:11:59] Two and a half years.

[00:12:00] And that's on average.

[00:12:01] So that means there's a lot of times that's much less.

[00:12:04] Yeah.

[00:12:04] And, uh, we know it's a very stress filled, highly emotional, lots of trauma around you

[00:12:12] kind of a role.

[00:12:13] Right.

[00:12:14] And so our, our vision is that every foster care worker will be supported by the church

[00:12:20] as the church faithfully reflects the redemptive love of Christ.

[00:12:24] Yeah.

[00:12:24] We really want to just help the church serve their neighbors in foster care in a way that

[00:12:30] maybe they don't quite know how to yet.

[00:12:33] Um, we are get, we can, we teach volunteer leaders in communities.

[00:12:38] We call them advocates and they really get to know the agency, get to know the workers, find

[00:12:44] out what the needs are.

[00:12:45] And then they advocate on their behalf to the church and they get to know the church,

[00:12:50] you know, starting off in with their own local church.

[00:12:52] Um, and maybe the church wants to get engaged, but they don't know how.

[00:12:56] So they guide the church towards opportunities.

[00:12:59] Got it.

[00:12:59] So it can be something as simple as this.

[00:13:02] So we had a, an advocate share a story with us where their church reached out to her to

[00:13:08] say, Hey, we would love to support TFI, do something with TFI or VBS.

[00:13:14] Not long after the agency reached out to her also and said, Hey, we need, um, some, some

[00:13:20] birthday bags for kids in, in care.

[00:13:22] Is there anyone, you know, that could provide these?

[00:13:24] So the advocate is really this person that sits in the gap between church and agency.

[00:13:29] And so she said, absolutely.

[00:13:31] So she approached the church.

[00:13:32] They were excited about the idea.

[00:13:34] They created 50 birthday bags for kids in foster care in their community.

[00:13:39] They were able to pray over those bags, write notes to children and teens who had received

[00:13:45] those bags and then deliver those bags to the agency.

[00:13:49] And the workers were just so absolutely grateful to get those bags.

[00:13:53] But not only that, then they got the joy of providing these bags to the children and families

[00:13:58] who had received them.

[00:13:59] Wow.

[00:14:00] Wow.

[00:14:00] So it's just this beautiful way to say, we need each other.

[00:14:04] We love to think about, we're in the business of reconciling communities,

[00:14:08] reconciling church and agency, church and state for the sake of the children.

[00:14:13] Because when you care for the worker, you care for the child.

[00:14:16] That's beautiful.

[00:14:17] That's what we want to see.

[00:14:18] And so if you were to look ahead five years from now, how would you express the impact?

[00:14:27] Mm-hmm.

[00:14:28] If you can, quantitatively that you want to see.

[00:14:31] Sure.

[00:14:31] Is it by number of kids, number of communities, number of churches involved?

[00:14:34] How do you think about it?

[00:14:34] I think about it a few different ways.

[00:14:37] And I'll tell you, we actually have a goal right now where we're pursuing 150 communities

[00:14:43] that are reconciled, which is churches and agencies are partnering together on behalf of the kids.

[00:14:49] Yeah.

[00:14:49] By 2028, we want to see 150 communities reconciled.

[00:14:53] We're in about 50 right now.

[00:14:56] We want to see 450 churches mobilized.

[00:14:59] We want to see God's people sharing their lives and their resources with the agency and with these kids.

[00:15:06] We want to see the church growing in dependence on Jesus as they engage with their neighbors,

[00:15:11] because we know that will happen.

[00:15:12] We also want to see thousands.

[00:15:15] For instance, we have a goal of seeing 40,000 children served more effectively as their caseworkers are supported by the church.

[00:15:26] So these are the things that we're shooting for.

[00:15:29] There's other things we're looking for, but essentially we want to see God's people together, come together on behalf of kids.

[00:15:36] The agency, the government has a very important role to play, but they shouldn't be doing it alone.

[00:15:41] They don't want to do it alone.

[00:15:42] We can do it together.

[00:15:44] We need to do it together as neighbors for the sake of children.

[00:15:48] What I love about it.

[00:15:49] Well, there's a few things I love about it.

[00:15:50] One, I mean, that's an awe inspiring goal.

[00:15:53] 40,000 children touch 150 communities, 450 churches involved.

[00:15:58] The second thing is, is much more practical and tactical, which is, I can see the agency sitting on one side of the street and the church sitting on the other side of the street,

[00:16:07] both lovingly looking at each other, but not sure.

[00:16:10] Totally.

[00:16:11] Waving out the window, hey, I would love to work with you someday.

[00:16:14] Right?

[00:16:15] Yeah.

[00:16:18] Yeah.

[00:16:19] Not unlike teachers, as a primary example.

[00:16:22] Yep.

[00:16:22] And we know, churches are

[00:16:49] Here is, let me match make and here's how it will work.

[00:16:53] Exactly right.

[00:16:54] It's exactly right.

[00:16:55] We kind of talk about our strategies in three different ways.

[00:16:58] We have awareness, encouragement, and advocacy.

[00:17:01] So we want to generally just make more people aware of the need for caseworker support,

[00:17:07] like help people even see that this is a need.

[00:17:10] We want to encourage the church to depend on Jesus as they serve their neighbors in foster

[00:17:16] care.

[00:17:16] And we want to promote more advocacy, which means we're guiding churches to effectively

[00:17:23] support caseworkers in their community through these volunteer leaders.

[00:17:27] Can we go back to the second one?

[00:17:29] You said when you say you want the church to depend more on Jesus as they do this.

[00:17:33] Give me a little more on that.

[00:17:34] What made that one pop as an essential principle in this work?

[00:17:39] Well, we really believe the church needs the foster care community as much as the foster

[00:17:43] care community needs the church.

[00:17:44] It is not we're up here reaching down to serve.

[00:17:49] It is we need you and you need us.

[00:17:52] We just give each other different things.

[00:17:54] But I know for personal, my life has been transformed because of walking with my neighbors, whether

[00:18:02] they be my own children who have come to me from another country, whether they be young adults

[00:18:09] that we've cared for in our home, whether they be birth parents who we've walked with and

[00:18:14] loved.

[00:18:16] It has not been easy.

[00:18:17] It has changed my life, though, because it has made me recognize that I am not the hero.

[00:18:23] I am not the savior.

[00:18:25] I am not enough.

[00:18:27] But God is.

[00:18:30] And it's made me want to worship him and more and drawn me closer to him.

[00:18:35] And that's my heart for the church.

[00:18:37] That's so good.

[00:18:38] That that is in and of itself a quote.

[00:18:40] So the church needs those in foster care as much as they need the church.

[00:18:46] Totally.

[00:18:47] You know, when you say that, the image I saw in my mind was almost like puzzle pieces

[00:18:53] coming together.

[00:18:54] Yeah.

[00:18:54] Right.

[00:18:54] But one doesn't realize it is incomplete without that other puzzle piece.

[00:18:59] Yeah.

[00:18:59] That's beautiful.

[00:19:00] That's beautiful.

[00:19:01] When a church wants to get involved.

[00:19:04] From the time they get give you a call and say, hey, Jamie, we saw you talk about this.

[00:19:11] We see the 50 communities you're impacting.

[00:19:15] We want to do it, but we're a little apprehensive.

[00:19:18] Walk us through what the process will look like.

[00:19:20] Absolutely.

[00:19:21] So, number one, I really have a heart.

[00:19:24] And we do at TFI for the local church and particularly the pastor, the church leader.

[00:19:31] Who are deeply passionate, doing their best to serve their people, to teach the word of God.

[00:19:37] They want their people to experience God more.

[00:19:41] And yet they are burdened.

[00:19:43] They don't have time to do more.

[00:19:45] Right.

[00:19:45] And so we are not here to add any burden onto the pastor or the church leader.

[00:19:51] What we are asking of the pastor or church leader, though, is to identify someone in their church

[00:19:56] who could be a connector between the two.

[00:20:00] Who they say, this is a person who has integrity.

[00:20:04] This is a person who's humble.

[00:20:06] This is a person who I would trust to engage, to serve in this way.

[00:20:12] But then we really do the rest for them.

[00:20:15] So we train that person.

[00:20:17] And we do it through cohorts.

[00:20:18] So we will have three different times a year that people can actually apply.

[00:20:24] They can learn throughout.

[00:20:25] They can sign up to receive applications all the other times.

[00:20:28] But there's only three different times a year that we actually bring in new communities, new advocates.

[00:20:34] But then we train them for three months with the other people in their cohort.

[00:20:38] So they're already getting to know each other.

[00:20:40] Then we connect them with one of our coaches.

[00:20:43] So they are getting ongoing coaching throughout their entire experience with TFI.

[00:20:48] Then we provide resources for them.

[00:20:51] Sometimes that might just be creating banners and things that can help them share the need with their church.

[00:20:58] Some churches we work with are very small, so they don't have a creative staff.

[00:21:03] So we can help them with that.

[00:21:04] Some are large, and they don't need that help.

[00:21:07] So that's great.

[00:21:08] We provide them with intentional community with each other.

[00:21:13] So one of the favorite things we do is invite them to come to a retreat that we host every year where we get to meet together in person.

[00:21:22] Otherwise, we're always talking virtually.

[00:21:24] So we are here to really equip that lay leader, that advocate, so that then they can go out and make those connections.

[00:21:33] Yes.

[00:21:34] All with the blessing of the pastor, but without putting burden on the pastor.

[00:21:39] Yeah, that's good.

[00:21:40] And everything we do for the church is for free.

[00:21:42] So our focus and everything we do for our advocates, we want to serve.

[00:21:47] One of our core values is grow through service.

[00:21:50] Yeah.

[00:21:50] And so we don't charge the church to engage with us.

[00:21:53] We just deeply desire to see the church engaged.

[00:21:56] And so we're going to just do what we can to get them there.

[00:21:58] And are you government funded?

[00:22:00] No.

[00:22:01] You're not?

[00:22:01] No.

[00:22:02] So you do your own fundraising activities, et cetera, to support your nonprofit.

[00:22:06] And so I just want to say this to the agencies, folks who may be listening.

[00:22:10] You may know someone working with an agency and plenty of leaders here and plenty of vocational leaders as well.

[00:22:16] You're in a C-suite, whatever the case may be.

[00:22:18] Think about the value of an intermediary in any deal you have done.

[00:22:22] Someone who gets out and for you on your behalf and makes the process easier.

[00:22:27] Think about the efficiency, the effectiveness, the efficacy even.

[00:22:31] And think about somebody doing that for free.

[00:22:34] And so I just want to encourage you to use the resource, the Forgotten Initiative.

[00:22:39] You can go to the ForgottenInitiative.org.

[00:22:42] We're not done talking with Jamie, but I just want to encourage you to go there now while you're listening.

[00:22:45] Check it out.

[00:22:46] So, Jamie, let me ask you this.

[00:22:49] What's been some of the biggest learnings for you in this work?

[00:22:53] You know, I got into this work with—I didn't plan to start an organization.

[00:23:00] I saw a need in my community.

[00:23:02] I started meeting it, and I started blogging about it, and people started following along and saying,

[00:23:07] Hey, that need is in my community, too.

[00:23:08] Can you help me?

[00:23:10] And so I experienced a ton of insecurity in leadership as God started to bring this team around me,

[00:23:17] and He started to call me into more and more responsibility.

[00:23:21] And I experienced a lot of lack of confidence, a lot of insecurity.

[00:23:26] And I think that something the Lord has taught me so much is—well, here, I'll explain it this way.

[00:23:31] When we first adopted our son, he came home, I thought I would just feel overwhelming feelings of love for him immediately

[00:23:40] and just feel like he's mine and has always been mine.

[00:23:43] And I didn't.

[00:23:44] I actually felt like I was babysitting, and I hated that feeling.

[00:23:47] It bothered me.

[00:23:49] And I remember saying to my husband, What percentage are you bonded to him?

[00:23:53] Do you think you were like 99%?

[00:23:56] Like, I couldn't imagine.

[00:23:57] I just felt terrible.

[00:23:58] I felt guilty.

[00:23:59] And the Lord spoke to my heart and just said, It doesn't matter what percentage you feel bonded.

[00:24:05] You're 100% committed to him.

[00:24:08] And so that gave me peace.

[00:24:09] And I feel like God has done a similar thing for me in my leadership journey.

[00:24:13] He says, You don't need to—it's okay if you feel insecure.

[00:24:16] That's human.

[00:24:17] That's normal.

[00:24:18] It's okay if you don't feel certain total confidence all the time.

[00:24:21] That's actually healthy.

[00:24:23] And your weakness is my strength.

[00:24:25] But I feel like God has said to me, But what you can lean into is you lead with integrity.

[00:24:30] You lead with humility.

[00:24:32] You lead with conviction.

[00:24:34] And those are three things that, by the grace of God, I can lean into.

[00:24:38] It doesn't matter how I feel in the moment.

[00:24:40] Feelings come and go.

[00:24:42] And I think that's my biggest learning.

[00:24:44] As God has continued to say, I've created you to uniquely do this.

[00:24:49] You can't do it all alone.

[00:24:51] One, you need me, but you need people.

[00:24:53] And he's brought me an incredible team.

[00:24:56] But lean into the gifts I've given you and go forth.

[00:25:00] That's good.

[00:25:01] That's good.

[00:25:02] What—well, I think I know the answer to this question.

[00:25:04] I was going to say, What does the future hold?

[00:25:06] But it sounds like 150 communities, 450 churches, and 40,000 children serve.

[00:25:12] How about the more immediate future?

[00:25:13] What does it look like the next 6, 12 months for you?

[00:25:16] Yeah.

[00:25:17] We're praying that over the course of the next year, we will have 65 advocates in our program,

[00:25:22] which would be 65 communities.

[00:25:24] Yes.

[00:25:25] And so that would increase.

[00:25:28] I don't have those larger numbers tallied out.

[00:25:31] But that's essentially where we've been.

[00:25:35] I'll tell you, last year, we had 57 advocates.

[00:25:40] We had 277 churches that were supporting 82 agencies, which meant over 2,700 workers had

[00:25:49] an advocate who was ready and willing to answer their call for help as these workers served

[00:25:54] 14,000 children.

[00:25:56] That's awesome.

[00:25:56] So we're multiplying that out with the goal, holding our hands open loosely, knowing that

[00:26:01] it's God who does the work.

[00:26:03] Yeah.

[00:26:03] So we're trying to be faithful.

[00:26:05] But that's our dream.

[00:26:06] That's awesome.

[00:26:06] Air horn.

[00:26:07] Boop, boop, boop, boop.

[00:26:09] That's our air horn.

[00:26:11] Boop, boop, boop.

[00:26:11] 14,000 children served.

[00:26:13] Come on.

[00:26:14] Hey, as we close, I believe there are always people who are listening that are sometimes

[00:26:19] struggling to walk into their passion and purpose.

[00:26:22] If you could give them a point of advice of how you do that, how you take those initial

[00:26:28] steps, what would you say?

[00:26:29] Yeah.

[00:26:30] Well, I have three things.

[00:26:33] First, abide.

[00:26:34] Abide with Jesus.

[00:26:36] That is the ultimate, is be still and know that I am God.

[00:26:41] Yeah.

[00:26:41] I have learned over the years as I've grown to know my Lord more, the greatest thing I

[00:26:47] can do is depend more on Him.

[00:26:49] Yes.

[00:26:49] And He meets me every morning.

[00:26:52] It's my favorite time of day to spend with Him.

[00:26:55] But abide, rest, be still.

[00:26:58] Anyone with passion, we wear a lot of burden on our shoulders.

[00:27:03] We think we got to do it all and it depends on us and it just doesn't.

[00:27:08] Yeah.

[00:27:09] That's so good.

[00:27:09] And we just need to release and trust and open our hands to Him.

[00:27:15] That's my first thing.

[00:27:16] Abide and just ask the Lord, is what I'm excited about right now what you want me to be excited

[00:27:21] about?

[00:27:22] Change my desires if they're not right.

[00:27:25] Fuel my desires if they are right.

[00:27:27] The second thing I'd say is surround yourself with community.

[00:27:31] Who are the people in your life that are willing to speak the truth to you?

[00:27:36] The people that know you, that you're not paying necessarily to do a job, but the people that

[00:27:43] know you and are not afraid to hurt your feelings in love if they need to, who are not afraid

[00:27:50] to speak the truth.

[00:27:51] Because man, we need more people of integrity.

[00:27:55] But so many times we have blind spots, right?

[00:27:58] And so we need good people around us.

[00:28:00] God has just blessed me with incredible people, multitude of counselors.

[00:28:04] He says there's safety.

[00:28:06] Yes.

[00:28:06] Yes.

[00:28:07] And then the third thing I would do is if you've done that and you're feeling that passion

[00:28:10] and you have those people, you go for it.

[00:28:14] Get out there.

[00:28:15] Just do the next thing.

[00:28:17] You're going to make mistakes.

[00:28:19] You're going to start and you're going to have to turn and pivot.

[00:28:23] I mean, this whole journey.

[00:28:24] It's all about learning and growing.

[00:28:27] It's not about doing it perfectly.

[00:28:29] That won't happen.

[00:28:30] That would be my encouragement.

[00:28:32] Amen to that.

[00:28:32] If people want to follow up with you, Jamie, what's the best way for them to get in contact

[00:28:36] with you?

[00:28:38] I mean, you can find, get a hold of us and me on through my website, theforgotteninitiative.org.

[00:28:44] I'm on Instagram, Jamie Cabe.

[00:28:45] Not super active at the moment.

[00:28:48] LinkedIn.

[00:28:49] I'm on LinkedIn, Jamie Cabe.

[00:28:50] But also just follow along at Forgotten Initiative.

[00:28:53] Hey, Coralink Solution family.

[00:28:55] You heard it here.

[00:28:56] I implore you to check this information out.

[00:28:59] Again, go to the forgotteninitiative.org and check out Jamie Cabe and the wonderful

[00:29:04] work she's doing.

[00:29:05] Jamie, thank you so much for joining.

[00:29:07] Thank you.

[00:29:07] I appreciate the opportunity.

[00:29:09] Absolutely.

[00:29:10] Family, as always, thank you for listening to this episode of The Coralink Solution.

[00:29:14] I hope you enjoyed Jamie's story in that it provides some perspective on both how you

[00:29:19] might pursue your passion and purpose and potentially how you might help the foster children population.

[00:29:26] It is so huge and needs more support.

[00:29:29] As always, if you have other tips we didn't cover, please share them with me.

[00:29:32] We are a learning tribe around here.

[00:29:35] So, always looking to learn, as are others in this tribe.

[00:29:39] Send me an email.

[00:29:40] Thank you.

[00:29:44] And until next time, be informed, be empowered, be accountable.