The Defender Podcast

Rick Morton and Herbie Newell sit down with Dr. Sharen Ford, director of foster care and adoption at Focus on the Family, who spent 30 years in Colorado's state child welfare system. Sharen describes her calling and what real collaboration between the church and government requires. She offers practical ways to encourage overworked caseworkers, and ways to get involved, from CASA volunteering to t...

Rick Morton and Chelsea Sobolik welcome Rachel Medefind, who leads the Institute for Family Centered Healing and Health at the Christian Alliance for Orphans and is the author of When There Is Crisis. Rachel shares her story, from growing up as a missionary kid in the Philippines to building a family through birth, adoption, and foster care. She explains why healing and formation come through smal...

Rick Morton, Herbie Newell, and Chelsea Sobolik welcome attorney and advocate Palmer Williams, a partner at Holtzman Vogel and former general counsel of the ERLC. Palmer traces her heart for vulnerable children from her own childhood experience of need, through summers and a gap year serving at a children's home in rural South Africa, to the adoption of her brother. She talks about approaching com...

Over 3,400 children are in foster care in South Carolina, and some are staying in government offices because no homes are available. Rob, Herbie, and Ford discuss the need for families for teens and sibling groups, how to discern a call to foster, and practical ways to support foster families. South Carolina has 3,432 children in foster care, and about 2,800 entered care last year, more than seven...

Rick Morton, Emily Richards, and Herbie Newell sit down with Greyson Holt, a Lifeline family therapist in North Carolina, who is also a foster and adoptive mom and grew up as a sibling in an adoptive family. Greyson shares how a third-grade calling grew into a career, why the community around a family makes saying yes to a placement possible, and why counting the cost is faithful rather than faith...

On this episode of The Table, host Dr. Rick Morton and the full panel, Chelsea Sobolik, Emily Chapman Richards, and Herbie Newell, welcome Lauren McAfee, founder and CEO of Life Collective, PhD student in ethics and public policy, and adoptive mom of three.  Lauren shares how her passion for life and adoption began at a family birthday dinner, where an empty seat at the table prompted her and her...

Simon Benn was adopted at five weeks old in 1967 and grew up in England always knowing his story. At 40, an unexpected burst of anger during a horse whispering course brought buried feelings about his birth mother to the surface. Nine years later, a letter in his adoption file changed everything. Rick Morton talks with the founder of Thriving Adoptees about the primal wound, why adoptive parents s...

Katie Adams, manager of Lifeline's expat adoption program, joins Dr. Rick to trace her path from a childhood on Fort Benning through a faith awakening in high school, a major shift from nursing to social work at Samford, and a season of service with kids with special needs. She shares how a global pandemic redirected her toward Lifeline, how she fell unexpectedly in love with India's adoption prog...

In this episode of the Defender Podcast, Executive Director Herbie Newell and Ford sit down with Tommy DeRamos of Shades Mountain Baptist Church to talk about Heritage Builders, a Lifeline-created, church-run mentoring program for teens in foster care. Tommy shares how a small monthly meeting with fifteen kids grew into a five-year ministry teaching life skills like budgeting, job interviews, and...

On this episode of The Defender, Rob, Herbie, Karla, and Ford unpack the newly released 2025 intercountry adoption numbers, down to 973 children from 1,172 the year before. They break down why the drop isn't about declining need but about a harder process: older kids, sibling groups, more complex needs, and mounting bureaucratic delays. The team talks through what Lifeline is doing in response (fo...

Vikram grew up in a leper colony in Rajasthan before being taken in by a Christian orphanage that eventually became home to over a thousand kids. On this episode of What's Your Story, he shares his journey from orphan to Bible college graduate to houseparent over 450 children, and how a wandering season away from faith ended when God put a church next door to his home. Today Vikram serves as Lifel...

This summer Lifeline had sixteen kids come to the US for two weeks through the international hosting program, most of whom had already been passed over by families both in Colombia and abroad. On this episode of The Defender, Karla shares what happens from the airport arrival to the hard goodbye, including the story of two brothers where the older boy gave up his own shot at adoption so his little...

Rick Morton sits down with sisters Ava and Lily Bamberg, both adopted from China and now students at Auburn University, home to the nation's only collegiate power soccer team. Ava and Lily share how they found their way to Auburn, what power soccer looks like on the court, and what it took to become one of the most dedicated teams in their division, including a championship season that moved them...

This episode features Herbie Newell, Ken Norwood and Ford Reasons with guest Miguel Zayas, Senior Director of Global Orphan Care at Lifeline, to unpack how Lifeline serves orphaned and vulnerable children worldwide without exporting an American model. Miguel explains the GOC network's three pillars (biblical foundation, clinical best practices, organizational strategy) and how in-country facilitat...

Rick Morton sits down with Pastor Rafael Kajjubi of King Jesus Church in Busega, Uganda, a longtime friend and ministry partner of Lifeline Children's Services. Rafael shares his story of growing up in the aftermath of civil war and the AIDS crisis, his early exposure to the prosperity gospel, and the years of searching, from Dubai to London to the United States, that led him back home with a conv...

In this lighthearted episode of The Defender Podcast , the team shares the heart behind Lifeline’s annual Run for One , a fundraising event supporting global orphan care and mobilizing the Church to care for vulnerable children around the world. Along with plenty of humor, they encourage listeners to join in person or participate virtually, emphasizing that every step can help bring hope, care, an...

In this episode Lifeline Children’s Services Vice President of Domestic Programs Christy McSegers shares her personal journey to adoption ministry and provides an overview of Lifeline’s domestic adoption program. Listeners will hear how Lifeline supports women facing unexpected pregnancies through compassionate, non-coercive options counseling, while also equipping adoptive families to serve both...

This episode of The Table by Lifeline Children's Services serves as Part 2 of the team's reflection on their 19 States in 19 Days journey. While sharing some funny, some behind-the-scenes or just a few favorite memories from the road, the hosts focus primarily on how they witnessed churches and individual believers caring for vulnerable children and families across the country. The conversation hi...

Herbie Newell, Rob Ingram and Ford Reasons reflect on their recent 19-day road trip through 19 states, where they visited Lifeline ministry partners and pregnancy resource centers across the country. They share memorable and humorous experiences from the journey, including racing across a Colorado ranch, driving through severe storms and tornado warnings, and enjoying countless laughs together on...

Miss Mississippi Anna Leah Jolly (Part 2): Adoption, Emotional Intelligence Tools & Gospel-Centered Connection | The Table In Part Two of The Table (Lifeline Children’s Services), host Rick Morton continues his conversation with Anna Leah Jolly—Miss Mississippi, dance studio owner, author, and adoption advocate—about using her adoption story and the Miss Mississippi platform to point to “God c...

How an epic road trip is helping 153 million orphans! Thats what happens when 3 guys try to visit all 19 states where Lifeline has a physical office in just 19 days!  On this episode of the Defender Podcast, Herbie and the team pull back the curtain on the most ambitious road trip in Lifeline's history. It all kicks off June 7th at Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, the very church where...

Summer is here, and Lifeline has a full lineup of ways to engage, serve, and celebrate what God is doing on behalf of orphans and vulnerable children. In this episode, host Ken Norwood is joined by Lifeline President Herbie Newell, Ford Reasons, and Rob Ingram to walk through everything you need to know to make this the most meaningful summer yet. They cover the China Reunion on June 27th in Birmi...

DESCRIPTION Is international adoption still a viable path for Christian families? In Episode 2 of the Defender Podcast, host Ken Norwood sits down with Herbie Newell (President & Executive Director, Lifeline Children's Services), Carla Thrasher (VP of International Programs), and Ford Reasons to unpack the real story behind international adoption — the challenges, the changes, the calling, and...

The Defender Podcast is officially rebooted. Hosted by Rob Ingram, Ken Norwood, Herbie Newell, and Ford Reasons, we're back with a simple mission: give you practical, gospel-rooted tools to defend the fatherless in about 10 minutes a week. In Episode 1, we introduce the new crew, unpack the biblical vision behind this podcast rooted in Isaiah 1:17, and give you a first look at Lifeline's biggest i...

In this episode of The Table, Rick Morton is joined by Chelsea Sobolik and Emily Richards to discuss the nuanced and often messy realities of child welfare, foster care, reunification, and community engagement. They explore how relational poverty and community connections impact vulnerable children and families, emphasizing the importance of humility, creativity, and long-term thinking for the chu...