211 – Gena Thomas, Author of Separated by the Border: A Birth Mother, a Foster Mother, and a Migrant Child’s 3,000-Mile Journey

Seminary Dropout

Content provided by Shane Blackshear: Interviews with N.T. Wright, Christena Cleveland, Greg Boyd & More!, Shane Blackshear: Interviews with N.T. Wright, Christena Cleveland, and Greg Boyd. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Shane Blackshear: Interviews with N.T. Wright, Christena Cleveland, Greg Boyd & More!, Shane Blackshear: Interviews with N.T. Wright, Christena Cleveland, and Greg Boyd or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

6y ago 1:04:39

MP3•Episode home

Fetch error

Hmmm there seems to be a problem fetching this series right now. Last successful fetch was on June 12, 2025 16:02 (6M ago)

What now? This series will be checked again in the next day. If you believe it should be working, please verify the publisher's feed link below is valid and includes actual episode links. You can contact support to request the feed be immediately fetched.

This Week on Seminary Dropout…

Gena Thomas is a writer and speaker who works at a nonprofit that empowers others through holistic development. She served as a missionary in northern Mexico for four years, holds a master’s degree in international development, and is the author of A Smoldering Wick: Igniting Missions Work with Sustainable Practices. She lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee, with her husband, Andrew, and their two children.

In 2017 five-year-old Julia traveled with her mother, Guadalupe, from Honduras to the United States. Her harrowing journey took her through Mexico in the cargo section of a tractor trailer. Then she was separated from her mother, who was held hostage by smugglers who exploited her physically and financially. At the United States border, Julia came through the processing center as an unaccompanied minor after being separated from her stepdad who was deported. Gena Thomas tells the story of how Julia came to the United States, what she experienced in the system, and what it took to reunite her with her family. A Spanish-speaking former missionary, Gena became Julia’s foster mother and witnessed firsthand the ways migrant children experience trauma. Weaving together the stories of birth mother and foster mother, this book shows the human face of the immigrant and refugee, the challenges of the immigration and foster care systems, and the tenacious power of motherly love. -From the Publisher

Subscribe/Rate/Review Seminary Dropout in iTunes

100 episodes

#Religion #Christianity #Christena Cleveland #Greg Boyd #Shane Blackshear: Interviews with N.T. Wright