Dr. Jessica Peck prescribes Hope for Healthy Families on American Family Radio
Hello, and welcome to the Dr. Nurse Mama show, prescribing Hope for healthy Families.
Here on American Family Radio. Here's your host, professor, pediatric nurse practitioner. And mom of four, Dr. Jessica Peck.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, hey there, friends, and welcome to my favorite part of the afternoon, getting to spend time with you, prescribing Hope for Healthy Families. And listen, friends, do not touch that radio dial. Today is a very special day where I have a very special guest, one of my favorites, one of of the most passionate people I have ever met to carry the gospel into the far corners of the earth through so many ministries. You are not going to want to miss it.
May is actually national foster care Month, and that's a time
Now we're talking about May. May is actually national foster care Month, and that's a time to not only recognize the tireless work of, foster families, social workers, of course, child advocates, but really, our hearts need to be awakened to the reality there are nearly 400,000 children living in the US foster care system. Some are moved from home to home. Some never find one. And today we are joined by none other than global evangelist and relentless advocate, Champions for the brokenhearted, Nick Vujicic, founder of Nick V Ministries, who believes that every child, especially the orphaned, the forgotten, the brokenhearted, deserves to know they are seen, they are loved, they are known. They are never alone. And I am so proud to be supporting the Champions for the brokenhearted initiative. If you're watching online, you'll see me weari the T shirt because I believe in this mission, putting action behind this belief, and starting with the most vulnerable. You may have heard some of our past shows where we featured some of the other initiatives within this incredible ministry, and I cannot wait to talk to you more about it. Every time I learn about it, every time I talk to another champion, my heart becomes more and more on fire. And Nick, you seem to have that effect on people. I'm so grateful to call you my friend. Thank you so much for being here. Welcome back to the show. We're so appreciative of your time.
>> Nick Vujicic: Dr. Jessica, thank you so much for having me back. I loved seeing you in Richardson in the Dallas area recently. I want to say thank you for being a champion. You're an incredible champion, championing on the missions of the Lord through your influence. And I'm so excited, to continue to be, interviewed by you every single month. So thank you so much for what you do.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: I know. Thank you so much for the gift of that, Nick, because I know that you have so many opportunities. We're so grateful here to raise up this, this Champions for the brokenhearted. And I'm really praying that my listeners hearts will catch fire for this and that. Especially if you are leading in a church. This is a message that you need to hear. So before we get all preachy because I'm ready to step on the soapbox, Nick, and I know you'll jump up there with me. I would love.
We just had Mother's Day and as we talk about orphans and those longing for a mother
We just had Mother's Day and as we talk about orphans and those who are longing for a mother, I would love to give you the opportunity to honor the mothers in your own life. Your mother and your beautiful wife. Would you like to say any words of tribute to them?
>> Nick Vujicic: Oh my goodness. First of all, my dad's mother and my mom's mom. My mom's mom I didn't really get to know, she died when I was too young. but my, my dad's mom, I remember my parents both having full time jobs, while also voluntarily being a lay pastor and church planter in Melbourne, Australia back in the 1980s. And so I'd find myself at grandma's house about three and a half days a week. And I think of my grandma today. I thank God for my own mother who gave me birth. wow, my mom, she's actually in our documentary coming out a film based on my life called no Limbs, no Limits. and it's coming out to theaters October 3rd to 9th. It's going to be a normal conventional box office release. So we're really excited about that. And she's in the documentary talking about how it was to be my mother and the ups and downs and kind of the, the rawness of what it really means to be, taking one day at a time in faith and courage that the Lord provides. and my goodness, my wife, absolutely incredible. She is a rock star as a wife, she's a rock star as a ma. my kids have the best mom I could ever imagine. my wife is the pinnacle of womanhood in Jesus. I mean I just, I admire her more than any other woman on planet earth and she's just absolutely incredible. And then of course my mother in law, my wife's mother, she's absolutely incredible. She's a prayer warrior intercessor. She lives on the property with us. And it's beautiful to have grandma, on the premise as well. And so we've had a wonderful weekend together for Mother's Day. In fact, my mom's flying in tonight, to spend a month with us. So we're excited to reunite Face to Face.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, that is so exciting. I will definitely be at the theaters in October for that film release, Nick. I cannot wait to see it. Got to see a little behind the scenes work at the NRB convention. And just seeing all that's going to come out, it is, it's just going to be incredible. And I pray that God uses it to go so far, just like you've said. I mean, how is it that God can make you the hands and feet of the gospel, really bringing the good news to everybody. And as we look at Mother's Day, Nick, I. It's always so interesting because it's such a great day to celebrate the wonderful moms in our life. But there's also pain there because there are people who don't have a mother, there are people who want a mother, there are people who want to be children who want to be reunited with their mother, but they can't. They're in the foster system or they're orphaned. And that's part of what Champions for the Brokenhearted does. So I would love to back up for just a second before we really talk about the orphan and talk about Champions for the Brokenhearted. Tell everybody again and again and again what this work is, what your vision for this mission is, and then we'll talk a little about the orphan.
>> Nick Vujicic: Thank you so much, Jessica. Yes. Look, as I've traveled all around the world the last 25 years and this is actually 2025 is our 20th anniversary celebration, for Nick V Ministries being registered here as a non profit in America before I moved to from Australia. And it's been an incredible ride. I mean 3, 500 speeches, over a half a million hugs. My arms fell off. And then when you get to like you know, learning other people's stories and their types of brokenness, you know, I've written out 106 different ways in how the human being can suffer. and every though, point of hope, though points back to the real hope. And I just want you to know, you know Jessica, as you know, I'm just like anyone else but all your listeners, you know, we can't compare each other's brokenness, but we can all point towards the real source of hope, which is Jesus Christ. and it's not just for someone who maybe is not even a Christian listening, it's not just, you know, ah, a coping mechanism, as a religion, as an identity, as a tradition, as a motivation, God is real. And when you, when you experience the transformation of God, it's a real transformation. And real transformation is when you realize that he can change a physical, ailment. But when you don't get a miracle that's physically you, can still be a miracle for someone else. And that's okay for me to say without arms, and legs, but what if I was raped? You know, one in three girls are raped in America by, ah, age 17. One in five guys are raped by age 17. And yeah, look, I actually think the numbers are higher than 400,000 from what I understand. I think you got the foster care number, but also the, the children waiting to be adopted. I think it's closer to half a million. And, and you know, I can't imagine not having a mother. listen, I was in Mexico, about a month ago. We went to go visit an orphanage. A hundred kids went to the nursery. Six babies in, cribs. And then there's this two year old sitting and he's slouching. And one of my friends said, you look sad. He says, I am sad. He said, why are you sad? And he said, I miss my mom. And m. He said, I'm so sorry, can I give you a hug? And he said, oh, I'd like that a lot. And so not having a mom missing a mum, knowing that maybe there's circumstances that hinder her, in so many variables as to why she's not the mother, for the child or different outside circumstances or abusive circumstances. We don't know what the circumstances are. But you know, I can't imagine feeling like an orphan. And Jessica, when I was a kid, my parents taught me what it meant to be homeless. My parents taught me how it meant to be hungry. Because they were homeless and hungry at one stage themselves, fleeing communism regime, Yugoslavia in, 1960s. And they always said, help the orphans, help the orphans. And we always think, you know, human trafficking 20 years ago was just something out there. Orphans are still something out there. And we don't like to use the words orphans whatsoever here for the foster care system, which I completely understand, and, and I agree with actually. But a foster care child, and a child waiting to be adopted, first and foremost, you know, happy Mother's Day to every foster and adopting child. amen. M. You know it. Thank you for saying yes. Thank you for giving God your yes. You know, we, we love these children as, as if, you know, we, we are loving Jesus and serving Jesus and doing unto others as we would do for him as, as one of these little Kids. And so what we gotta understand is, you know, we, we are part of Christians, we're part of the problem and we're part of the solution. We didn't have the problem about a hundred years ago because the church actually announced every Sunday when the train is coming, literally train with babies who need mums and dads. And the pastor gets up and says, pray about how many kids you're going to take. And that was before the government stepped in and then they had the systems. and I'm not saying that's a bad thing, I'm just saying in that though we then were released of the God given responsibilities to help these children that have no mom and dad.
Nick V. says fatherlessness affects foster kids after they age out
Before we get into it, Jessica, I want to just say a stat for the people who do not understand the compounding effect of fatherlessness as well. Yes, fatherlessness. As well as understanding what happens to a foster kid after they age out with no role models. There's no true north compass. And I'm not saying that the mother can't lead her family, I'm not saying that. But a family unit together with the mom and the dad, knowing that Jesus is the leader of the home, is everything. We have single mothers, we have single fathers. But what the young people actually are lacking even with mothers and fathers is a role model, of to look up to, to aspire towards something bigger in their own life and character, integrity. Unfortunately, what people must understand the United States of America. I'm a US Citizen for many many years, is that, listen to this. We have 2 million incarcerated people in the American prison system. 2 million 85% of them came out of the foster care system. What does that mean? It means they at ah, any given time were entered into the foster care system, went from home to home to home to home. I've met foster kids that have been to 17 homes in two years and they don't even, they don't even have anything to pack. They, they pack up their belongings in trash bags, trash bags. And they go from home to home to home to home to home to home to home. Then they're never actually adopted and age out with no home, no money on the streets. 85 of the 2 million people in the prison system and juvenile for system, outside of, outside of the foster care age bracket, is actually outside of, they graduate, they age out of the foster care system because no one actually took them under their wing. They can't get one foot in front of the other because no one loved them enough to show them what that means. And unfortunately, this is a systematic, oppressive thing as well. It's a $98 billion industry, the prison ministry, the prison industry in America, $98 billion. And you've got so many counties from a structural point of view who don't even speak to each other. So let's say in one county.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Nick, we're already, we're already at our first break. You're right in the middle of this compelling story. Hold on, because this is really important. And we talked to Jay about that in the champion for the prisoner at the summit last month, about how much money the prison industry is making and how this all relates. Listen, don't go away. We're right in the middle of this conversation. We have a lot more to cover. And most importantly, we're going to tell you how you can be a champion for the brokenhearted and a champion for the orphan. Do not go away. I'll be right back with more from Nick V. Because of the generous donations provided from listeners like you, PreBorn has rescued over 330,000 babies. But every day, the abortion industry is taking thousands of babies lives and we have to save them. Please donate your best gift to save more babies at preborn.com/AFR, that's preborn.com/AFR. If we learned anything from this election, it's how important it is for us to fight for the lives of babies, which is why every day PreBorn Ministries fights for babies. Preborn's network of clinics are positioned in the highest abortion areas, fighting for mothers deciding between the life and death of their child. Preborn welcomes these women with God's love and offers them a free ultrasound to introduce their precious baby and hear the beautiful heartbeat. This amazing encounter gives her baby a fighting chance and the majority of the time she will choose life. Would you join PreBorn in the fight for life? One ultrasound is just $28 and $140 will sponsor five ultrasounds babies are worth fighting for. To donate, dial pound 250 on your cell and say the keyword "BABY", That's pound 250 "BABY" Or visit preborn.com/AFR, that's preborn.com/AFR. All gifts are tax- deductible and PreBorn has a four star charity rating. PreBorn is there for hurting mothers and at risk babies standing strong in the darkest corners of our nation. By sponsoring an ultrasound, you can be there too. One ultrasound is just $28 and doubles a baby's chance at life. Please donate your best gift to save more babies at preborn.com/AFR, that's preborn.com/AFR. How Great Thou Art (Until That Day) by Matt Redman then. Sings my soul, my savior God to me how great thou art how great thou art Then sings my soul, my savior God sing how great thou greatest.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back, friends. That is how great thou art until that day by Matt Redman. And we are talking about how great God is and how he's working through Nick v Ministries.
Every year thousands of young people age out of the foster care system without adoption
I'm here with Nick Vujicic, and we are just having a really compelling conversation about his initiative, champions for the brokenhearted. And one of those populations we're looking at specifically this month is the orphan. Caring for the orchid. Orphan being champions for the orphan. I want you to imagine if you turn 18 and you have no one to call, no support, no safe place, no family. Every year there are thousands of young people who age out of the foster care system without ever being adopted. And many of them experience homelessness. As Nick has shared with us, many of them end up, in the prison system in the United States. And we are talking about the heartbreak behind these statistics, but also the hope behind this. Behind the champions for the orphan and how this campaign is calling the church to rise up not just in charity, but in championship. What does it truly mean to stand in the gap for the vulnerable? This is what we're in the middle of talking about. Nick, you were right in the middle when we were interrupted by our radio break of talking just about this, about all of these statistics about what a path for an orphan in the United States looks like. So I'm going to give it back to you and let you finish telling us.
>> Nick Vujicic: Thank you so much. So when we understand the implications, the compounding effects of, understanding what happens to a child when they've gone from house to house to house to house, never found a home, taking their belongings in a trash bag, then aging out with nowhere to go, where do they go? They go to drugs. They go to violence. They go get human traffic. It's unbelievable. And so if the church went back to the basics and helping the kids, being there for them now, there's so much more history of where this came from. But it doesn't matter now what else there is that I could tell you on an informational level, what I want to do is now help break down where. Where's the solutions level. You know, we have approximately 500,000 churches that are healthy on Nick's kind of barometer, healthy enough to actually take a child. And what's crazy is, we're not really talking about it that much. We're only talking about it as a thing out there, or I think I know someone who's done that. But that's not for me, where it's not about a transactional church growth mentality that should be applied. It's a qualitative discipleship mentality to say, hey, I'm, not going to be a foster mom. I'm not going to be a foster dad. but I want to help our local foster mom or foster dad. And yes, you can, absolutely foster and adopt without being married. Some people have some preconceived ideas, that you need to be married to be a foster parent. And so what if a church realizes, oh, if we start cooking meals and helping them and even just taking them around in a car to help them with transport, it gets really busy when you've got two or three foster kids and you've got, the biological parent visits, you've got the medical doctor, you've got the psychologist, you've got the school meetings. So many things in between. It's a heavy, heavy lift. Now, if God hasn't called you to do it, you better not do it, because you should anyway. You should not do it unless God called you to it. But we're all called to come around the people who actually can make the needle move. And if we came around the families that are called and commissioned to do what God's called them to do. You know, it doesn't seem a big lift for me from the outside looking in to be able to flip this around. And me and my wife Jessica, we're getting ready to also adopt a baby. We already have four beautiful children, and God blessed us that we could conceive no problem. Praise God. So many people are, are having a lot of problems trying to conceive. I'm not telling you now you need to adopt. I'm not telling you that you do what God tells you to do. But we feel called to pick up a baby out there, and we don't know which baby that is. But I think we all need to be understanding that it's not who's in the White House that makes the difference. To tell you the truth on this, it's not about budget, it's not about policies, it's not about systems. It's all about the body of Christ and what we can do together.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: And Nick, to see you sitting there saying that you have four babies, you're adopting, you are just a poster child. God has used your life to show what can happen with a willing heart. And this is. This is something I feel so passionate about for me as a pediatric nurse. I remember way back early in my teaching career, I worked on a grant, actually, here in Texas, and we worked with families whose children had been removed from their homes and by CPS and placed into foster care. And what we did was we took teams of interdisciplinary students into their homes and tried to give them classes and resources and everything that they could to reunify, because the children, they want to be reunified with their parents, if that's at all possible. A lot of times that is not possible. And you and I both share a heartbeat for people who are in human trafficking. And one of the fastest growing sectors of people who are victimized are those who are in the foster care system. Because when traffickers realize that this is a group of kids who are highly victimized, who are highly traumatized, they're easy to manipulate, they're easy to groom. They're desperate for connection and even for resources, like just having food, on their table and shelter. And then they can get paid by the state to do that. These are things that are very real, and it can be really hard. And just like you're describing kids arriving with trash bags. I have seen that happen with my own eyes. They arrive, they have nothing. They have nothing but just hollow looks on their face. And they're so abandoned, so rejected. They have an attachment wound that is really significant, just like you were talking about. 17 homes in two years. That's not uncommon. And that really impacts their ability to attach, which is the primary foundational developmental task of childhood. But the hope in all of this, Nick, is that there's something that we can do. So one thing I want to ask you about is your really good friends, film directors who, as Joshua and Rebecca Weigel, who direct our directors, their husband, wife team, they did a movie called the Sound of Hope, the Story of Possum Trot. Now, this is a 2024 movie. M. It came out last year. The story of Donna and Reverend WC Martin and their congregation at Bennett Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Possum Trot, Texas. And I know you have interviewed the Weigels about this movie. Tell us about that and how we can get a message of hope that something so miraculous is possible.
>> Nick Vujicic: Yeah, and before we get there, there's one more stat that's probably never been said are in American media. 5% of domestic violence cases that are reported against the men are false. Three of those men are committing suicide every single day because they're giving up the fight to fight to get their kids back around half of those, if I can say half of those, then do not go back to the mother, but they actually go to cps. So imagine these kids who have a drug addicted or false accusatory mother who's not fit to be a mother for whatever kind of reason. And the father separated from the kids, and the kids separated from the father and the mother in this case, I mean, it's just unbelievably painful. And East Texas, believe it or not, has a big, big struggle, with, with, with poverty, deep East Texas, and in that, in some pockets out there. And it's the most beautiful pocket of Texas in my point of view. I've had a beautiful property out there, tall pine trees and everything, on Sam Rayburn Lake. We love that. And around that area, actually there was a church where the pastor got up and said, listen, there are, I think it was 77 children waiting for a home. And he doesn't want any child waiting on that list. And so the church stood up with the Reverend and said, hey, let's do what we can. He did a pulpit message and one lady said, pastor, I'll take one. And it was such a move of God that they actually at that moment took every child over those, over that journey, each of the foster kids to put him in a home. And it's a raw depiction of what it looks like and the courage and the faith through it to do it. But unfortunately I know that the Weigels actually as well were really disappointed in the church's responses in it. And so I love the Weigels. We've done another film together with me in 09 called the Butterfly Circus. And that was a fantastic short film. But what I want people to understand is when a church rises up and they, they take, they take that as their mission, their commission. Who of us churches are not allowed. Sorry, let me say it again. who of those churches are not part of the Great Commission in helping everyone? You know, people always ask me, Jessica, what's God's purpose for my life? Be with the widows, be with the orphans, go visit those in prison. it's abc really quickly find people who have no food, food. And I think we've just lost the basics of being a Christian. And we really believe that it actually can light a fire that really goes across the country.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: It really is so inspiring to see that, to see what the church can do and looking at the potential there for the church to really engage and respond.
Nick: What is your call to the church in all of this
And you've talked a lot about that, about how some of the government programs have just come in and really diminished the impetus for the church to act. So what is your call to the church in all of this? For champions, for the brokenhearted, for all of the initiatives, and especially that for the orphans. What is your call to the church? Because you just said you were disappointed in the response of the church. Where do you see that deficiency? And where do we need to step up?
>> Nick Vujicic: I think what we need to do from the pulpits is actually ask from the pulpit. Is there anyone interested in the foster care ministry? That doesn't mean that they're going to become a foster mom or dad. They want to learn more about it, have a class about it, have someone talk through it, find a local foster family and share their story and share. Have them share their fears and preconceived ideas. And so when you actually hear of another miracle and you see someone else doing it, you're like, okay, they were just like me as well, because we have this preconceived idea. I'm not good enough. I can't do it. What about this? What about that? They had the same fears that they conquered one at a time. And so, you know, there's always. Listen, there's always 1% of everyone on the pews who really are called to it. They just haven't been asked, and they haven't been shown an educated table to say, okay, let's try this, let's learn this. Let's see this. What are your questions? What are your fears? And actually, as a community, embracing that, there's 1% of everyone in the pews who is called to widows or bullied or veterans or the disabled, whatever it is. And so we just got to start communicating as a family. What has God placed in your heart? What would you like to learn more about? If you could just. That opportunity to talk about it is the beginning.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: That is the beginning. And it's so important to do that. And I think about what we can do. In previous shows that we've had, we talked with Terrence Campbell from who works with CarePortal, and you can catch that July 23rd, if you're going back and looking for it. We've also talked with a, foster care expert, Summer Colbert, because there are so many intricacies that are involved, just like you said that you shouldn't foster until you pray about it, if God calls you to. But there's so many other ways that people can Be equipped and people can come alongside this ministry. I think about it when I go and talk about human trafficking, Nick, which I've done quite a bit. And always when I go and talk, I may be in a room of hundreds of people, people. I may be in a room of thousands of people. But my mindset is, honestly, no, I'm here for one person. I know that in this group there is one person, sometimes maybe a handful, maybe more, depending on how big the group is. But I know there is going to be one person who comes up to me afterwards and says, my heart is on fire. Like, what can I do? I've been waiting for this. I've been waiting to be equipped. I felt this passion stirring within me, but I didn't know what to do. And I. And that is exactly what you are trying to do with Champions for the Brokenhearted is to equip. And so if you go to nickvministries.org you can learn all about all of these ministries. And right now I'm looking at the page for the orphan, and what you'll see on here is a Champions for the Orphan interview. And you can see that video there. You'll see a message straight from Nick to the orphan talking about that. And you'll see so many resources of support for the orphan. I'm looking at this. There's a biblical support book. There are crisis lines, there are phone numbers, there are more stories, there are links to become a champion for the caregiver, training, all kinds of ways to get involved. There is no shortage of, There's no shortage at all of resources there for you. And when you look at the champions, you'll also see other things that might spark your passion. We've talked about the trafficked, we talk about the unborn, we've talked about the disabled, the prisoner, and now we're talking about the orphan. You can go back and listen to those shows and go online and see what you can do. There is a great curriculum here, especially if you're working in a church setting, for you to be able to use this to equip your church members to engage in their community. Much of what we heard happened in part awesome trot. And the other ones that we still have yet to talk about are the widow, the abused, the addicted, the suicidal, the bullied, the veteran and the poor. When we come back, we'll talk about the summit that just happened in Dallas and what God is doing to lift up this cause. I also would love for you to go to nickvteam.com. you can see Nick has written many best selling books and learn more about the movie about his life that is coming out. You can go to nickv team.com, see the trailer that is there and learn about helping to spread the word of this miraculous journey that God has given to Nick V. Don't go away. We'll be right back with more from Nick V. Ministries. Nick Vujicic. I'll see you on the other side of this break. And my father, your great grandfather fought in World War II. Really? He was a gunner on the big ship out in the Pacific ocean. Wow. Your great grandmother did her part too. Was she on a ship? Oh, no, she stayed back. She and a lot of her friends worked really hard in a factory because the men had gone off to war and they held scrap metal drives to help in the war effort. The folks back home were heroes too.
>> Jeff Chamblee: Here at the American Family association, we consider you the heroes back home as you fulfill your responsibility of caring for your family day to day. Your partnership with us is crucial as we fight the enemies of freedom in America. Thank you for your commitment to the American Family Association. Grandpa, what's a scrap metal drive? Let's get some cookies and I'll tell you all about it.
>> Good God Almighty by Crowder: Good God Almighty. I hope you'll find me praising your name no matter what. Come. Cuz I know where I be without your mercy. So I keep praising your name at the top of my l. Tell me, is he good? He's good. Tell me, is he God? He's God. He is good God.
Nick Vujicic has a movie coming out about his life
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back, friends. That is Good God Almighty by Crowder. And we are talking about how good God is. I am here with none other than Nick Vujicic Nick V. Ministries. You probably know him from the book Life Without Limbs. Maybe you've seen him on this surfboard. I'm holding it up on the video Unstoppable. Maybe you've seen him in this book be the hands and feet. But he has a movie coming out about his life. It is going to be a big time studio release. October 3rd. Mark your calendars now. You will not want to miss it. You can go to nickvteam.com that's nickvteam.com see the trailer for this movie. And Nick, you have an invitation for us for how we can help you to get the word out about this incredible story of your life.
>> Nick Vujicic: Yeah. Thank you so much. We're so excited to inspire everyone of all, ages, but especially the young people who are, wondering, how could God use me? Well, if God can use a man without arms, and legs to be his hands and feet. Then God can use certainly any willing heart. And so the film no Limbs, no Limits is coming out. And at nickvteam.com, you'll see the trailer. And then if you opt into the text updates, we'll also update you if you want to participate, on a crowd fund engagement coming up in the next 30 to 45 days, where we'll be, fundraising, a marketing budget that we all can, be a part of.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, I am definitely going to be a part of that. I've got my phone right here, Nick. I'm signing up for the text messages. I want to know all the things nickvteam .com and again, if you've missed Nick's testimony and story, go back and listen to the previous shows where he has shared his incredible story of being born as a man without arms or legs, but having no limits. And God got a hold of his heart and he has walked more miles to share the gospel than most of us will ever in our lives. I know he's been, just recently in South America preaching to hundreds of thousands with millions listening. God has used his life and his testimony. And God is using Nick to raise up hearts for champions for the brokenhearted. We know that the Lord is close to the brokenhearted. He is close to those who are crushed in spirit. If you want to know more about these ministries and go to nickvministries.org and find out about each group. And we're talking this month in May, specifically about the orphan. Now, this is more than just we want to pray for them. Of course we do. That is really important. But as Nick has said over and over, this is about being the hands and feet of Jesus and reaching out with tangible supports. There are actions that are needed.
Nick: Churches can use champions for the brokenhearted to make a difference
So, Nick, I want you to talk about what the church can do, what you want people to do with those practical supports through Care Portal or whatever it is, how they can be equipped through champions for the brokenhearted to really make a difference in their community.
>> Nick Vujicic: Yes. So first go to nickvministries.org look at the champions for the Brokenhearted series. Maybe, you know, a foster care or a child that's been adopted, or maybe you get to, minister to the needs of those in a facility somewhere near you. I actually have recorded a video, a message, that would empower them, encourage them, and, and really bring them to the Lord Jesus Christ. I preach the gospel to the foster kid and the, the child waiting to be adopted or the adopted ready. And so number one is their heart, their mind. number two, there's so many other people groups that you'll see that we feel to help see broken hearts healed. and look, it's not just if you're being a foster parent or adopting or you can encourage a family of sorts, but also you and your church can actually be in a preventive model before kids get called into cps. Some daily examples are like there's a single moment she's got a car, she's got a job, she's got three kids, the car breaks down, she doesn't have the money, 300 bucks to fix up the car. and then she loses the kids to CPS because she didn't have 300 bucks to fix the car to take the kids to school. So your church on a heat map, interactive live real time. If you look up care portal, you'll actually see what you and your church can do in your community to actually prevent things like this. There's other unifications of mechanics on mission. There's 700 mechanics who are doing this, helping single mothers, helping single dads. Because we don't want to see at all costs if it's just, if it's just a money issue, we, we want to make sure that that family stays together. The church should have been there to prevent it as well. So there's so many things that you could look into and research. but you know, go out there, ask the questions. It's not going to be handed to your lap. And go look for it, Go seek and knock and you'll find.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Well and I'm looking at the, the resources that you have on the website here there. If you go to nickvministries.org and you'll see the champions there. Click on the orphan and then you'll see Hope for the Orphan ebook. Now this is completely free. You can click on it and download it. It is immediately available for you. So for example, if you're a church leader, if you are working in church ministry and you have families in your church who have experienced foster care placement, you're caring for those kids. At least go on and look at the manual. You'll see things about rejection, abandonment, identity, anxiety, abuse, recovery and hope. And give you some perspective and some biblical wisdom and insight. Insight to really meet these families where they are, meet them at their point of need. And you know Nick, I see God raising up champions all over the country and all over the world, in fact. And just recently I came to see you in Richardson, Texas, just outside of Dallas, for a summit that you hosted on Champions for the Brokenhearted. You had very powerful advocates, well known advocates who are established in their ministries, who came all to share about all of these champions. And you know, I've shared with you, Nick, since then. While we were there, God did a work in that space. The Holy Spirit was just present and his presence really overwhelmed that place. And I know that God is at work. What has been, tell us about the summit? What has been your response to it and how, how have you been thinking about it? As, as we reflect back on what God did.
>> Nick Vujicic: Look, there's. There's no shadow of doubt in my mind that that was one of the best summits ever in the United States of America. When we're talking about a diverse people group from Native Americans, to, to representing the poor, to representing veterans, you know, and, and the bullied, we know as well Mighty Oaks. Jeremy from Mighty Oaks is one of the greatest nonprofit organizations out there for veterans. And, and unfortunately he wasn't there for this one. But, but we have these experts that know what they're talking about. They know the magnitude of this lift together and the red alarm bells. You know, when the Bible says that, that God looks at the world and he weeps over what he sees and he asks, whom shall I send? It's that moment where we realize, wow, this is how many people are really broken. This is how many people are really suffering and are isolated. And if the church don't do it. No, and certainly not in the way that God would have us do it. And it is our responsibility, it is our mandate, walking away from it. We know that we had a first class presentation in Summit and it's interesting because unfortunately @ this time, Dr. Jessica, we are offering it as an educated self directed certification. Everything's there on the website, within. In your spare time, you can go and do counseling at your church. You can go to the pastor and say, hey, I'm now a specialized, certified, one on one counselor. Because I went through the caregiver training, the champions training. If there's anyone here that's bullied, that's my certification. If there's anyone here who's a foster kid, I'm now certified to do one on one counseling. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of people who are in a position that is passionate about it, educated, got it under their belt, got a pastor that would mention it and then have the time to do it and then find the ones to be administered to. And so, it's quite a lot of barriers to entry. And we feel that maybe this is a calling that we could even set up potentially an entity for missionaries, and actually see that the church subsidizes the counseling. I mean, it really should be something that the church is doing that they're not doing. and so how do we, you know, empower the church to be a part of it, to subsidize it and to get the word out? I think, unfortunately, getting the word out is one of our big priorities. And we're just so thankful that you can help us get the word out and let the Holy Spirit convict people along the way that you can get certified, you can be a one on one champions, caregiver, of the heart. And so we want everyone to know, God's got your giftings and talents. And if this is something of passion or interest, please go check it out. And all the things are there on the website.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: They are. And when I was at the summit, I was able to meet with Dr. Eric Scalise, who is a licensed professional counselor and a licensed marriage and family therapist and helped to write the curriculum for this. So to be clear, Nick, so my listeners understand, what we're talking about is lay counseling. What we're talking about is equipping the church to respond to the needs, which for now, a lot of people do out of the goodness of their heart. But sometimes the truth is they cause unintentional harm because they say something, because they're just not. They don't understand that world or they don't understand, you know, some of the things that people have gone through or what might be helpful or what might, might not be helpful. And so what Dr. Scalise has done is say, hey, look, we have a mental health crisis in this country. We need qualified licensed mental health care providers, of which he is one of them. And he provides a lot of that. There is space for that, but there is so much need. And as the conversation about mental health increases, which if you look at these champions for the brokenhearted, there's so much intersection with mental health crisis. Because if you're trafficked, if you're disabled, if you're a prisoner, if you're an orphan, if you're a widow, if you're abused, if you're addicted, if you're suicidal, if you're bullied, if you're a veteran, if you're poor, you are going to have an intersection with mental health needs. And what I see, Nick, as a, as a healthcare provider, is that the demand is so great. And sometimes people have to wait months to go and see someone. Sometimes they can't afford to see someone, even if they're told to go see someone because they don't have insurance or this provider doesn't take their insurance. What Champions for the Brokenhearted does is fill in that gap. And it helps to better equip lay leaders, lay church members, to step in and to be therapeutic, but also to be practical, just like you were talking about with Careportal, to meet them at their point of need, to give them that perspective. And I think that's really exciting to be able to do that, to say, we have these resources. We can meet you where you are. Because if you're not intentional about it, Nick, if you're just trying to figure out in the moment. I've seen a lot of people who have been harmed by a church in that way because they walk in and it's clear, oh, you weren't expecting me. You didn't think I would show up? You weren't ready for me. You don't know how to respond to me. You don't know what to do with me. But if you know, okay, yeah, we know. We know the path that you're walking, and we have somebody who can walk it with you. That is really exciting. And so what. What would you give as a closing call, Nick, to encourage people to take action, to say, hey, I've had this on the heart. Just like we were talking about. There's one person out there whose heart is burning, and they're saying, oh, my goodness, Nick V. Is back on Jessica's show. He talked about this last time. I'm really convicted. Here it is again. This is your sign. I'd love for you to give them a compelling altar call. Here, Nick. Call him in.
>> Nick Vujicic: Yeah. Thank you, Jessica. Listen, we are called to be the hands and feet of God, to set the captives free, to open up the prison bars of the suffering, of the isolation. And you don't need a platform nor write a book to be, counted in God's army to heal one brokenhearted. If you can just take time to just focus in on one person, and actually make a difference in one person. That's the whole epiphany, that when you don't even get a miracle, you can still be a miracle for somebody else. And it doesn't mean that, you know, that you're necessarily even a widow to talk to a widow. When you go to the self directed academy at Champions, you'll actually see what it means. And lots of videos from Eric and myself and Haley to encourage you in what this is and for, for people wondering where is this on the scale of authority in the psychological world of America, academically and responsibly. Well, we want you to know that you could actually with this training, speak a bit about up to 95% of all other practitioner licensed counseling matters. I have a lot of friends, Jessica, who went through a lot to get their education, a lot of debt to get their education to then only be employed by somebody that says Jesus is a swear word. for the core and an expertise. It's only a few hundred dollars for you to be self directed through it all. and, and let God lead you to start, starting to heal the brokenhearted day by day. And it's not out of just the overflow that you help. It's actually incredible because you start seeing the miracle of someone broken slowly starting to mend because you gave to God.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Amen. Nick V. Thank you so much for joining us. He will be back next month. I cannot wait. We will talk about the widow next month in June. If you want to know, go to nickvministries.org Again, there are free resources and then there is a pathway to really get some intensive training. Go back and listen to the other ones. May the Lord bless you and keep you and make his face shine upon you. I'll see you right back here tomorrow.
>> Jeff Chamblee: The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.
