What do you do when the work you’ve devoted your career to suddenly disappears? In this episode, Pastor Matt Rittle speaks with two former staff from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the federal agency that provided humanitarian aid across the world for 64 years before it was abruptly dismantled in 2025. Debbie Kaliel and Maury Mendenhall each spent over a decade in the HIV/AIDS office at USAID — Debbie partnering with local institutions to fight the epidemic and Maury specializing in orphans and vulnerable children.
When USAID was shuttered, global programs lost funding overnight and people living with HIV lost access to medications and support. Debbie and Maury didn’t walk away. Instead, they founded Crisis in Care, a volunteer initiative that connects organizations on the ground with the resources they need to sustain their work. Please consider donating to support Crisis in Care.
A conversation about loss, purpose, and what it means to keep showing up when the structures around you fall apart.
Learn more and take action:
- Crisis in Care – an urgent fundraiser to help fill the gaps in global HIV/AIDS funding
- Aid On The Hill | Grassroots Foreign Aid Advocacy – let your representatives know that you support foreign aid
- Into the Woodchipper – a first-hand, whistle-blower account of the last days of USAID
In this episode, we learn about the experiences of families affected by the deportation crisis as Pastor Josiah Ludwick is joined by OEP’s Educator and Organizer for the Deportation Defense Response (DDR) team and a church member integrally involved in the work of supporting our new neighbors. The mass deportations sweeping our country are rooted in fear, and Josiah and his guests discuss concrete ways we can all show up for our immigrant neighbors with the love that casts out all fear. This conversation builds on Pushing Back, a previous Dunker Punks episode highlighting DDR’s work.
- DDR Webpage: Deportation Defense Response Team – On Earth Peace
- Donate to the Legal and Mutual Aid Fund: Legal and Mutual Aid Fund Donations
- Apply to the Legal and Mutual Aid Fund: Immigrant Legal and Mutual Aid Fund – On Earth Peace
- DDR Toolkit: COB DDR Toolkit – COB-DDR – Google Drive
- Subscribe to the DDR Newsletter (Newsletter: Migrant Justice): Join – On Earth Peace
- Learn more/Volunteer with Indiana AID
- Signal App Tutorial: How to use Signal App – Beginner Tutorial
- Contact for questions/setting up a conversation or presentation: migrantjustice@onearthpeace.org
What can the experience of peacemakers in Northern Ireland teach us about our own cultural conflicts and tensions? Today Anna Lisa Gross, co-pastor at Beacon Heights, sits down with Calvin Brown, a Manchester University student who recently returned from a Brethren Volunteer Service placement at Corrymeela, a peace and reconciliation center founded in 1965 in Northern Ireland. Built on the idea that a community can commit to respectful relationship across difference, Corrymeela has supported thousands of people from different backgrounds in living well together.
Have you ever felt discomfort over which Bible verses get confidently cited and which get overlooked? For example, Romans 13:1, “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities,” has been cited throughout American history to justify compliance with oppression. And yet, the two verses preceding urge: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:20-21)
In this episode, Jason Haldeman, Pastor of Faith Formation at Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren, and Julia Baker, Poet and Hospital Chaplain in Maine, reflect on how scripture is selectively emphasized to support preexisting beliefs, and how faithful readers might respond with curiosity instead of certainty. Three additional ministers, John David Bowman, Liz Bidgood Enders, and David Leiter, join the conversation, widening the lens. Throughout, Jason and Julia model the kind of grounded, open-handed engagement with scripture that just might be an antidote to our current polarization.
What does it mean to choose Anabaptism rather than grow up in it? Lily Kennedy and Emily Keefer reflect on their journeys to finding Anabaptism and share how their faith has transformed through their life experiences. Shaped by this faith, Lily now works at a Washington DC-based nonprofit, while Emily recently finished a term with the Mennonite Voluntary Service and will start her Master of Divinity at Duke this fall. Tune in for an honest conversation about faith formation, vocation, and finding your way to a tradition.
As we recognize signs of a rise in authoritarianism in the US (deploying the military domestically, leaders refusing to give up power, blaming outsiders for our problems, and weakening of democratic processes), why is it important for people of faith to make our voices heard? How can we as Anabaptists make a difference? Check out this episode as Rhonda Baker (Kingian Nonviolence, HOPE-PV and Freedom Trainer), Ewan Benjamin (Nonviolence Organizer at On Earth Peace), and Matt Guynn (Executive Director of On Earth Peace) discuss faithful and practical resistance.
The Authoritarian Playbook 2025 – the source of some of the information provided on the podcast about what authoritarianism is and what it looks like in action.
On Earth Peace – OEP is an independent nonprofit organization and a recognized agency of the Church of the Brethren. Its goal is to develop leaders for justice and peace using the discipline of Kingian Nonviolence.
Join us as Brigitte Zawadi and Hannah Nelson draw on their experiences to share ways we can cultivate peace in our communities and our daily lives – to live peacefully, simply, together. Brigitte is an intern at the Office of Peacebuilding and Policy, and master’s student in Peace Studies at Bethany Seminary, from the Church of the Brethren in Rwanda. Hannah is a Brethren Volunteer Service volunteer at the Office of Peacebuilding and Policy.
Check out additional resources at:
- OPP website: https://www.brethren.org/peacebuilding/
- Creation care page/sign up for Rooted: https://www.brethren.org/peacebuilding/creationcare/
- Sign up for action alerts: https://www.brethren.org/peacebuilding/legislator-lookup/
Pastor Josiah Ludwick speaks with Rev. Founa Badet, Church of the Brethren Director of Intercultural Ministries, about her work with the Deportation Defense Response (DDR) Team. She shares ways you can get involved in that work and how your faith community can meet this moment to support human rights.
- Red “Know Your Rights” Cards mentioned in the episode
- Other Know Your Rights and immigration resources and video
- DDR’s Welcome Toolkit
- If someone close to you needs legal assistance contact the DDR Coordinator- (561) 647-8981 or ddrcobcoordinator@gmail.com
- To request an educational session contact DDR Educator & Migrant Justice Organizer migrantjustice@onearthpeace.org
- More information about DDR’s Mutual Aid and Grant Fund
- To support DDR Financially congregations and individuals are encouraged to donate to the Legal & Mutual Aid Fund. Checks payable to: “Atlantic Southeast District” with “DDR” in the memo line may be mailed to:
Atlantic Southeast District 64954 Orchard Dr. Goshen, IN 46526
In this episode we listen to Rachel Johnson and Anna Schweitzer, the coordinator and assistant coordinator for the Church of the Brethren National Youth Conference (NYC). They share their plans and thoughts as they prepare for NYC 2026 in Colorado. NYC is a week-long event held every four years for high school-aged youth. The 2026 theme is “Light Within us.”
We invite you to take a listen!
National Youth Conference will be held July 18-23, 2026 at the YMCA of the Rockies. Registration opens on January 5, 2026 on the NYC webpage!
Visit our webpage at https://www.brethren.org/nyc/.
Facebook: Church of the Brethren Youth and Young Adults OR National Youth Conference
Instagram: brethrenyouth
Womaen’s Caucus 2025 Annual Conference programs featured Jennifer Keeney Scarr, Denise Kettering Lane, Laura Stone, and Lindsay Wenger sharing wisdom about individual and collective trauma. This DPP episode highlights conversations from a follow-up webinar, exploring the interplay of trauma and violent language.
The initial panel presentation at Annual Conference and a longer version of the podcast are both available at: https://www.womaenscaucus.org/resources/trauma
Read Ocean Vuong’s poetry at https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/ocean-vuong
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Womaen’s Caucus 2025 Annual Conference programs featured Jennifer Keeney Scarr, Denise Kettering Lane, Laura Stone, and Lindsay Wenger sharing wisdom about individual and collective trauma. This DPP episode highlights conversations from a follow-up webinar, exploring the interplay of trauma and violent language.
The initial panel presentation at Annual Conference and a longer version of the podcast are both available at: https://www.womaenscaucus.org/resources/trauma
Read Ocean Vuong’s poetry at https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/ocean-vuong