Growth & Impact: Reflecting on Season 2 and a Season 3 Preview

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:00:10

Alright. Here we are the end of 2023, the last episode of season 2, Sixty episodes since we started 2 years ago, and here we are, Wendy.

Wendi Park [: 00:00:23

Oh my goodness. This last year has just Flowing by. I can't believe we're we're here at the end of the year already.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:00:30

Yeah. It's been quite a journey. And, apparently, like, this is a podcast that After 2 years is when your podcast really starts to take off.

Wendi Park [: 00:00:39

And Alright. Alright. I'll take it.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:00:41

There's gonna be a 3rd Season coming up. This is the last one. So here we go. We are on a trajectory to explode.

Wendi Park [: 00:00:48

And honestly, Johan, I feel like the best is yet to I don't feel the fatigue of podcasting. I feel like there's so many conversations. We have not had a problem Filling in each episode. And we've ramped up how many episodes we've been putting out this past year, and that's been new. But I just feel like the best is yet to come. These conversations are just flowing, and I'm excited for 2024.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:01:12

And I don't know how we stumbled into it. Actually, I do. Like, we were going once every 2 weeks. Mhmm. And that was quite a quite a task.

Wendi Park [: 00:01:20

That was a commitment. We didn't know if we could do it.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:01:22

And then we got into the flavors of care and realizing, wow, a 9 episode series that going every 2 weeks is gonna take us a

Wendi Park [: 00:01:31

very got The best of me and and I got excited about that one, and so did apparently our audience. And so we just kept going stronger.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:01:38

But doing that every 2 weeks seemed Ridiculous. So we decide, okay. We'll do it every week for this series, and then sure enough, once you get going every week, you got the momentum and you can't stop. So we just Had to keep going every week.

Wendi Park [: 00:01:52

And you know what I'd love to hear, Johan, from our audience? Just a little bit of their feedback because we've been seeing audience grow. We've been seeing people share more and more downloads, and that's exciting. But what we don't always hear is the feedback on each episode or Or what their experience is, because we read each one of those. We respond to each one of those. It shapes what we do and what we're gonna be doing in 2024. We've got a lot of Exciting things lined up for 2024 already, but I would love to hear our audience feedback.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:02:24

And that's one of the hardest things in podcasting is actually getting audience feedback. So, yes, we do value anything that we can get. In fact, We've made a few adjustments here and there based on the little bit of feedback that we do get. Like, we went from 50 minute episodes to 30 to Forty, and we're going weekly. So already a few changes there. Yeah. We wanna get these stories out. We believe they're important, but we also wanna make sure that it's It's hitting the right spot that we are encouraging people and not overwhelming them.

Wendi Park [: 00:02:58

And we're following our analytics and then And reading the crowd in the sense of what people are listening to, what gets shared. And, Johan, I think you have, some statistics on what our top podcast episodes have been for 2023. Do you wanna share those?

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:03:15

Yeah. So for season 2, I'm gonna share our top Five episodes.

Wendi Park [: 00:03:20

This is all throughout 2023. Right?

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:03:22

2023, which is actually season 2 because that's when we started season 2. Yes. Okay. So and and what's really in the show notes if you haven't listed them because they're all good episodes. So number 1 is my interview with Jared Ross. Actually, the 2 episodes. It's a 2 parter, but only 1 of them got on the top 5 here for some reason. From Trauma to Freedom, a story of healing and and redemption.

Wendi Park [: 00:03:45

That was so good. I you know what I liked about that one? Well, both of his episodes, I hope people go back and listen to it Because that is timeless. He was so genuine, so authentic. He wasn't creating a glossy story. I really felt Like, I was sitting there with him and, in an experience that, I'm just so grateful for for what he and and so rightly so, people have been listening to it. People have spoken.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:04:12

And he was raw. Mhmm. He didn't hold anything back from that story. So I was so encouraged by even doing that interview. For those That want an update, he's back at Bible College in Regina now

Wendi Park [: 00:04:24

Mhmm.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:04:24

Doing really well. So just wanted to throw that out there.

Wendi Park [: 00:04:27

Yeah. And it it also speaks to our audience what people are looking for, and this is what we've been noticing over the the last year and a half. People are looking for the raw authentic. Not a glossy story. They wanna hear the reality of people's lives and God's redemption shining through that, and that that was so evident in his Sorry. But go on. What was next?

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:04:47

Alright. Number 2, the power of relational philanthropy with Doris Olofson. And this

Wendi Park [: 00:04:52

was Wendi you did. Doris, My heart goes out to you. I love you, Doris. Yeah. Doris has been coaching me throughout 2023. She is a ray of sunshine in my life and for CareImpact and really Helping dreams come true in helping us connect with people who believe in our mission, and just hearing her Story as a little child going through poverty and what that's like and her reasoning for helping other people in philanthropy. Yeah. People don't wanna miss that one.

Wendi Park [: 00:05:21

It it was just so powerful.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:05:23

Alright. Number 3, learning every day a powerful father son's story of reconciliation and prayer through dance. That's a long title. And that was with Rain and his father, Kevin Harris?

Wendi Park [: 00:05:34

Yes. I remember doing that episode in Oklahoma City and watching him dance with his fancy dance. And what a powerful Story, a father son story, which we released on the National Day For Truth and Reconciliation that Wendi. And people were listening. And I I I was just impacted that people would hear that story because sometimes, let's face it, the church Isn't quite sure what to do with reconciliation. People feel fearful or have some trepidations about it and Don't wanna say the wrong thing, and I really love their story. It really broke some ice and and some really good feedback on that. So I hope people Relisten to that.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:06:17

Yeah. I heard a lot of good feedback on that one. Number 4, the settled stranger, the stranger among us with guest, Lynn Dick. So this is part of Tires? Right?

Wendi Park [: 00:06:27

Yeah. And so I know Lynn, and we've had these conversations before. But one of the things that I heard feedback to me Is that people who know him, he's a leader of a Mennonite denomination, and and many people know him. However, they haven't really heard his personal story And his story of fostering, his story towards reconciliation as a a white settler here in Canada. And so I really appreciated his Integrity and also just sharing his story of how he's working these things out and what it means to him, very powerful.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:07:02

Okay. So last, and this is a tie please. This is a tie for 5th place. And oddly enough, It's the 2 episodes that

Wendi Park [: 00:07:14

It's the bring your parents to work day, Yohan. We did it. Our parents got on the top five. They tied. Can you believe it? And they were

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:07:21

Back to

Wendi Park [: 00:07:22

back episodes. Love them. Everybody wants them as mom and dad now. I don't know. I I kinda like them myself.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:07:29

So we got inspired hospitality beyond the welcome mats with Al and Anita Kahler. That coincided with our cookbook Campaign Mhmm. Which if you want 1 still, you I think you could still get 1.

Wendi Park [: 00:07:41

Right? It's it's gone over really well. We experimented. We weren't sure if people would, donate for a cookbook, and people have been loving it.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:07:49

Awesome. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. And the one my parents is on, Fostering Healing and Love, A Journey of Faith and Purpose with Orville and Regina Heinrichs. So they talked about their journey into getting into fostering, some of the challenges with that, navigating that whole world of bringing children into your home, really encouraging.

Wendi Park [: 00:08:12

Yeah. It was a it was a really powerful good feedback on that one as well. But would you have ever imagined that our parents would have been in the top 5 in podcasting. This is probably their 1st episode ever. Do you it was for my parents. I'm pretty sure.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:08:24

No. And it's not just a nepotistic thing here. We're we're just promoting those episodes. Like, these are hard numbers. Right?

Wendi Park [: 00:08:31

Vote for. These are hard numbers. Yeah. So I'm just proud of our mom and dad for this Bring your parent to work day. It worked out.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:08:38

Yeah. So those are our top 6 episodes. And if you wanna listen to those, They will be in the show notes. Just go click on them, and it'll take you right to the episodes. I encourage you to do that over the holidays because You would get a 1 week break before the next season starts.

Wendi Park [: 00:08:53

Yeah. You put in those Bluetooths in your ears and Get that laundry done. Get that Christmas tree cleaned up, and just binge listen. And I I guarantee you, you will be encouraged.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:09:05

And then share them if you like them because it's kinda boring not to share podcasts. Podcasts are meant to be shared

Wendi Park [: 00:09:10

You know what I noticed, Yohan, is that The best followers are the ones that heard about it through word-of-mouth. Somebody knew somebody and shared this episode, and then they follow. And And and it's not just about we're not here. We actually didn't start the podcast to become podcast noteworthy. We wanted to share the stories. And if you wanna impact your community, an easy way to impact the family and friends, your church that you would love To inspire, to love the community in greater, ways, it's about sharing sharing the link to to some episodes. And it's amazing what kind of conversations come around the gathering table or in the church pew, just having some some stories to share in common.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:09:57

And it gives you conversation starters. In fact, that's why we wanted to start some podcast meetups. We did 1 this past year as an experiment, and we hope to continue that experiment into the next year. And this is something that we wanna open up to our listeners, not something that we're hosting all the time because These conversations are conversations everyone in the church should be having.

Wendi Park [: 00:10:19

That's right. We we tend to if you've been following us for throughout the last year, We've decisively taken on some spicier topics, not to be provocative in itself, but things that people are wanting to talk about. Stories that matter. The things that we may not be hearing from the pulpit, we may. But people wanna talk about it, and so we go there.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:10:41

I'm sure you've got a bit of feedback that is negative there too. Right?

Wendi Park [: 00:10:45

I don't know. I I think some people don't wanna be Comforted. I'm I'm the queen of discomfort. It's just a little bit of my challenge. It's not because I'm trying to get people on edge. I just care fiercely. And these are topics that matter to me, and I love fiercely. And I don't mind asking those questions, and I find people who I've been interviewing Haven't minded as well.

Wendi Park [: 00:11:09

This actually is an outlet to talk about the things that are deep on their heart and to to probe into some of these things, and it's been amazing. So often, I'll enter into a podcast episode hosting it With a few show notes, but I actually don't know. In each of them, I could say it equally. I actually don't know what the truths, What the things that we're gonna unearth. It's just like pulling strings and just asking deeper questions and seeing what comes out. And we've unearthed some beautiful gems, some Some poignant statements from people, some beautiful stories that have impacted myself and and and our audience as well. Yeah. And and for some people, it might be a little too much, and that's okay.

Wendi Park [: 00:11:50

They don't have to listen. Some people may think, Wow. Dude, does Care Impact really do they hate the church? No. We love the church. We absolutely love the church fiercely So much so that we we wanna challenge us iron sharp sharpening iron. We are part of the church too. Right? And as part of the church, we want To have that prophetic apostolic vision and speak life and truth and and bring out stories that will edify us To to pursue God with excellence and to love our neighbor as ourselves. And I think we're called To help each other and to edify each other to to grow closer to God.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:12:32

And we don't wanna put on a fake persona. We want the real stories that are gonna Connect our hearts that are going to provoke us to to change, to

Wendi Park [: 00:12:42

Yeah.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:12:42

To movement. I I've said this before. Another way of saying Being too much is the same as more than enough. So

Wendi Park [: 00:12:49

Uh-huh. So I'm more than enough. I've been told I'm not too much. I'm just more than enough. And you know what? Honestly, that's what gets me up in the morning. I love coming to work with my team even though we all work remotely and whatnot. But we work together As a team, and we are all not looking for a plastic Christian organization to do good things. We wanna do good things with authenticity.

Wendi Park [: 00:13:15

So what you hear on this podcast and what you see when you encounter us is the real deal. We're not pretending.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:13:24

Although some of those interviews that you do go an hour and I have to cut them down. I'm

Wendi Park [: 00:13:28

so sorry.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:13:30

50% sometimes.

Wendi Park [: 00:13:31

I can't help it. There's just some good stuff there. And poor Johan, you have been a trooper to to actually make the episodes Shorter to the point because some of these conversations just co could go on, and they do.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:13:44

And it's not editing for the sake of Getting out content we don't agree with. It's getting out the stuff that is just going to keep us engaged. Yeah. Pretty much.

Wendi Park [: 00:13:56

I'll I'll take that. I'm learning.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:13:58

That being said, hey. We're coming up on 10,000 downloads in 2 seasons. You can't really compare that to other podcasts because successes are different for podcast to podcast, but that's that's great for me. I mean

Wendi Park [: 00:14:14

I I think that's amazing. It's 10,000 listens that we otherwise wouldn't have had had we not taken this initiative.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:14:22

Yeah. So 10,000 to me means there's potentially impact 10,000 different times, whether it's the same people listening, which it's not because 10,000. We don't have that many people listening yet. Like, my hope is that after Season 2, that's when you're supposed to see more growth in the podcast. So we double our listenership for the next year. And like you said, the best way of doing that is word-of-mouth, not even Not even posting on social media, which is which is good too, but telling people, hey, I was impacted by this episode. You should listen to it. And you get them to pull up their phone and you say, here's the podcast, and then you subscribe for them.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:15:02

That's the best way to do it.

Wendi Park [: 00:15:03

You know what? I'm actually thinking out loud here, but there are people that are part of a a small group bible study, And they're trying to figure out, oh, no. What are we gonna do in the new year? You know what a great way is is to go through a series or or pick a podcast episode. People could listen to it ahead of time or or have it right there played while they're sipping their coffee, eating their ice cream, and then have a discussion around it. Because all of it, there there's so much biblical truth. There's so many things that could be unpacked that people could do that.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:15:37

Yeah. And that's a good segue into what to look forward to in the next year. So if you've been following along every week, you might have seen the Highlight episode for our journey with prayer initiative. Mhmm. So this is gonna be a follow-up podcast episode for each episode that we do in the new year Where it's gonna be like a 5 minute devotional on a Wendi, that is a follow-up from the previous episode, and it's taking you through a contemplative Prayer journey on the topics discussed in that episode, not necessarily having anything to do with the guest itself, but the content That was discussed in that episode. Really bringing it into your prayer life and into your daily journey so that it's really transformative because we wanted to go from just informational head state to the heart where it's gonna actually transform the way we walk and interact with others and interact with The Lord. So this is where I believe we're gonna see more impact in the coming year. So really looking forward to that.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:16:34

It's gonna be an episode that comes every Monday. So

Wendi Park [: 00:16:37

Yeah. I'm looking forward to that too, and and we'll put the link in the show notes of the the sample one that we did put out in November. Really Positive feedback. And and, Johan, this is part of your background too. Even though you are a producer of the podcast, you have so many other gifts and talents. Part of your background is in in as a prayer missionary, and so we're excited about that leadership that you're bringing us and and our listeners into Really leading us, journeying us into prayer, I think, is gonna be a helpful way of application. That contemplative, Bringing some of these cognitive into our own lives and letting the Holy Spirit work within us and illuminate our eyes to what it is We are called to in response.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:17:23

And I think it'll help us stay on track too. Like, we don't wanna just be provocative to the church, Church, and we don't wanna just have these hard conversations for the sake of being different or being hard, and we're being provocative. We want Transformation and prayer is what's gonna do that.

Wendi Park [: 00:17:37

That's right.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:17:38

Making sure the Lord's at the center of these conversations and that We're not just having conversations for the sake of more knowledge and and trying to be provocative. We really wanna bring it into our prayer lives, Into our everyday life.

Wendi Park [: 00:17:52

And Care Impact has been privileged and blessed to have many connections. It's networking is what we do, and And that was part of the the reasoning for the podcast because we were having these rich conversations. What would it be like to invite other people to be listening at our table? And we are a praying group too. We we continue to pray into these things. So, again, we're inviting you to our prayer table On how we are praying for the church, how we are praying for our nation, how we are praying into some of these things and these topics, some divisive topics, some some hard topics, some Encouraging topics, but how we are praying, we are inviting you to join us at our prayer table, every Monday, And I'm looking forward to that.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:18:34

Also looking forward in the next year, and this is something you might have noticed. Some people might not like it. Some maybe Don't mind it at all because it's kinda normative in podcasting is bringing on sponsorships. But, again, like, we are a charitable organization, And podcasting costs money.

Wendi Park [: 00:18:52

Mhmm.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:18:52

It does. There's hosting, and there's a lot of fees that are associated with doing these online interviews and all this stuff, and it has to be paid for, and we're a charity. So we're just so grateful for people like Phil Kavy who came in. DG inspired is our latest sponsor. Just being able to help us continue to put out these episodes and these stories. And, obviously, in the new year, we will be looking for more sponsors, not necessarily more to add to each episode. Like, we just wanna keep it Pretty simple, 1 sponsor per episode. And we just wanna highlight some of these organizations that also care along with Care Impact and what we do.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:19:30

So sponsorship's a good way of doing that?

Wendi Park [: 00:19:33

We believe that everyone is called to care. And whether you're an accountant or you're a graphic designer, you run a business, or you're You're a a neighbor who who loves to make an impact, but you're maybe not that foster parent or you're not working in a nonprofit capacity like we are at Care Impact. We believe that everyone is called to care, and this is one way of influencing not just your neighborhood and if friends and family, your church area, You could actually impact the nation by sharing these stories and allowing us to put these stories out there so that other people can join us on this Journey. So I know there's other people who have been impacted that would love to pay it forward, so to speak, to carry it forward. We wanna invite you to consider sponsorship. It's a easy way. We'll do the work, but we want to partner with you to share some of these stories. And, boy, I can't wait to, bring out some of the voices that we have lined up for 2024.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:20:32

So you talked about these organizations that are aligned with Care Impact, and that's why they're supporting the podcast. So maybe there's some People listening or organizations that don't necessarily know Care Impact very well, but they know the podcast. I mean, they would have heard snippets here and there throughout the podcast. Wendy, maybe you wanna tell us a little bit about Care Impact, what we're doing right now, where we're going in the next year.

Wendi Park [: 00:20:56

Yeah. So Care Impact is an organization that my husband and I founded. The reason we we start embarked on this journey Was because we saw that there was a need between frontline social services and nonprofits where we came from in in the the prison systems in community development in the Salvation Army, we were heavily involved in that. But we saw a gap between that and the local church. How it could the local church Be more engaged in their community in a relational way because we realize that there's so many good social services and and nonprofit organizations And initiatives in the community that are doing good things, but very disconnected from the church. And the church doesn't know where the needs are on a day to day basis. And so as a way to step in the gap, CareImpact really does that. We connect and equip churches.

Wendi Park [: 00:21:45

That's our main focus, To connect and equip the church, we love the church. If you haven't heard over these podcasts, we love the church, and we wanna edify her To be able to be equipped, competent at the front door in these places of need at a timely and in appropriate way. And so how we do that, we have 3 things basically. The the care portal, you've heard me talk about this. It's an online connecting technology That really connects the needs within the community, those children and families, those people in hard places that a service provider knows. They're working with them, And they can put those needs into the the portal, and the partnering church that is working with us is able to respond to those needs in real time. And what we're saying is this isn't a transaction. This isn't just about the bed so that a family could be this isn't just about a couch so that that youth aging out is is supported as he ages out into his 1st apartment.

Wendi Park [: 00:22:44

It's so much more than that. It's it's building connection. It's meeting a tangible need. Yes. It's not just wishing them well. But it's really saying, hey, we're in the neighborhood, and we care for you. And not only that, we're finding that the the social service providers, they're feeling cared For their feelings seen, and we just love building this ecosystem. It's it's collective impact at its finest using Technology.

Wendi Park [: 00:23:09

This is the way the nation is going, and and we get to be the lead in in bringing this technology across Canada. And so that's one thing. The other thing, obviously, is this podcast. It's it's about sharing stories. It's about edifying. It's it's helping people to hear What the lives of other people, what they're going through, and some topics that matter that help influence how we care in our community. So this is a vital part. It's probably our Best engagement way I've noticed over the last year and a half for people really to catch on what it is that we're we're working on.

Wendi Park [: 00:23:43

And thirdly, we have the Care Impact Academy, and that is really our training team. And we do a lot of trauma training. Think this last year, over 500 people have been impacted through our trauma care team, going through some various kinds of trauma training at conferences or Online, in person, we've been been training nonprofits and churches and individuals. And we have a trauma training Masterclass coming up in this new year, which we're excited about. That is really equipping people to know how to care for people in vulnerable situations. It's not enough to have good intentions, but are we informed in our compassion? How do we integrate what we believe In our faith, and how do we integrate that in appropriate ways in the here and now, in our context, in our society so that we can really bless And bring life and hope and good news into their situations that God is calling the church to serve in. And I guess overarching all of that, the stuff that I get to do behind the scenes that people won't be seeing is I've been able to have some rich conversations, rich conversations with city officials, with child welfare professionals and authorities, With indigenous leaders and people that are part of these major systems of how care is happening, It's been a privilege to CareImpact get to sit at these tables and have these conversations to listen, to see where are the needs, How could the church be more informed? How could the church be part of the solution? Not not doing it better or not competing with these things, these initiatives, but how could the Church come alongside in community, and we're having some really good, unprecedented, I will add, Conversations about doing care differently across Canada.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:25:38

And 500 through the academy, that's just a drop in the bucket.

Wendi Park [: 00:25:41

Like, Oh, I know.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:25:43

We are so small, but we have big dreams, and we wanna see this expand so much more because we believe the whole church needs it.

Wendi Park [: 00:25:52

We're that little engine that could you know, we're chugga chugging up this huge Mount Everest. Maybe the Rockies is more appropriate. We are a small team, And yet, god is doing big things, and it's not easy being trailblazers. But I think we've got a robust team That is energized by an apostolic team that loves to do new things, not just for the sake of doing things new, but we need To think differently about how we care forward. And let's face it, children's lives, Parents' lives, youth's lives, social workers' lives, church members' lives are being changed, are being transformed as they interact. There's this This collective transformation that is happening when we bring people into connection, because we are created for community, and we get to be on the front lines not just Theoretically, ideologically talking about these things, we're actually being able to make these connections happen. It's like these neurons In the brain, connecting and firing, and and everybody wins when community gets better. And so that is what we're about, but we are that little engine, And I know God is gonna do more, and I know God is gonna add more people in partnership with us and add more people to our team because Lord knows we need it because we're going forward.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:27:11

Which is why our listeners are so important to us too. When I hear someone who shared the podcast or I get a bit of feedback, I'm like, you're part of our team. You're one of the people that that care about what we're doing. You're Sharing the podcast. So that means so much to us as a smaller organization that has a huge heart for the church and really wants to see the church Trauma informed and the communities cared for and collaboration happening between the churches is It takes more than more than just our small team, so we are so grateful.

Wendi Park [: 00:27:44

I wanna give a shout out to 2 of my aunties. They have gone out and invited more people to partner with us. And just the way they have extended their hospitality in their communities, they are part of our team. So it's not just the social worker. It's not just the the full time ministry professional. If my auntie Joyce and my auntie Cathy, and I I say hi to you and thank you, If they can go and help reconciliation happen through the work that they were doing with us, I know many more people can And Will and they have been inspired themselves. They have told me how encouraged they are to share this and and to help their community get better together.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:28:24

Okay. So just as we wrap up here so just to reiterate the coming year, we're looking forward to the podcast meetups. We got Journey with Prayer coming on Mondays, so a whole extra 5 minute podcast coming to you to start your week off right. The importance of sharing the podcast, like, thank you listeners, and we thank you that you are sharing it. We just encourage you to keep doing that. And if you don't wanna miss an episode, if you wanna get the highlights, if you wanna find out what care impacts up to in the community, in In doing trauma care training, care portal, make sure you get on our newsletter. You can go to CareImpact dotca Or journey with care dot c a either will get you on the newsletter, and we'd love to hear your feedback. It's important to us.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:29:11

It's encouraging for us How these stories have impacted you. And we're looking forward to season 3, which will be airing January 12th, and I will be bringing on Danica, who is our adopted daughter. So we'll talk about a bit of a journey on bringing an adult into your family as an adopted Child, so that will be a very interesting conversation. I look forward to that. Wendy, do you have any final words that you wanna leave our listeners with for the end of the year?

Wendi Park [: 00:29:39

I just wanna say thank you. Thank you for wanting to care. You wouldn't be here if you weren't desiring to impact your community, and I wanna just say thank you. It's not always easy, but we're here with you, and we wanna encourage you and come alongside you and be a blessing across this nation of Canada. And so thank you for listening. Thank you for partnering with us, And we look forward to the the year ahead. I'd love to end this year with a Franciscan prayer And and just an encouragement to all of us to keep staying curious, keep pressing in, keep asking those questions, keep leaning into Christ, And I'll I'll conclude with this prayer. May God bless you with discomfort, easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, that you may live deep within your heart.

Wendi Park [: 00:30:31

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people So that you may work for justice, freedom, and for peace. May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer pain, Rejection, hunger, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain to joy. And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world so that you can do what others claim cannot be done, To bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor. Amen, and god bless.

Johan Heinrichs [: 00:31:11

Thank you for joining another conversation on Journey with Care. We're here to inspire curious Canadians on their path of faith and living life with purpose in community. Journey with Care is an initiative of Care Impact, a Canadian charity dedicated to connecting and equipping the whole church to journey well in community. Visit our website at journey with care dot c a to connect with Care Impact, find the latest updates on our weekly episodes, details about our Coming events, meetups, and information about our incredible guests. You can also leave us a voice message, share your thoughts, and connect with like minded individuals who are on their own journeys of faith and purpose. Thank you for sharing this podcast with your friends. Together, we can explore ways to journey in a good way,