Many months ago, I received a message from a woman in Poland.

She was a volunteer with a foster care organization, and she was helping put together a conference for social workers and others in the field.

She wondered if I would be available to come speak at their conference. I wanted to go so badly. I love Europe, I’ve never been to Poland, and how cool that a foster parent in the US had a chance to share her experiences with social workers in Poland!

Unfortunately, it didn’t work out for me to go (this time!)—I just started seminary this week, my kids are getting ready to go on Spring Break next week, we had company over the weekend, and the timing just didn’t line up for me to make a “quick trip to Poland.”

So we did the next best thing: I recorded a video for them. They added Polish subtitles and I got to be part of the conference after all!

The question they asked me to address was this:

When it comes to the testimony of foster parents, we are especially interested in what could make their life easier. You started your blog to help other fosters parents out there, can you tell us more about that? What type of resources do you wish had been available when you started your journey? How about resources you have used, are there any particular programs that you have found especially helpful? If you had unlimited funding, what program would you like to start to support children in foster care? How do you think organizations can help you help others?

They streamed the conference via Facebook Live, and I wanted to share it with you! If you don’t speak Polish, you might find it helpful to skip to the one part that is in English: my talk. After being introduced by a local foster parent, my video played. It’s toward the end of the four-hour-long conference, around 3:35.

I’m grateful for the opportunity to have been part of this, and I hope with all my heart that my message was helpful to my colleagues in Poland!