Operation Christmas Trouble

Show open

The produced intro runs: 'Live from the Pathway Studios in Johnston Proper. You are live from the path,' followed by the live show start welcoming listeners to the Pathway Studios. No topic discussion; it is the cold open.

Guest intro and tonight's agenda

A host introduces in-studio guest Jake Brand, a senior in high school who previously spent a week in Ethiopia with the hosts and is heading back to Ethiopia and Uganda. The rundown for the night: a blog post critiquing Operation Christmas Child, pope-style advice from Boova, Dear LFTP letters, the first of Matthew Loftus's ten theses on the Bible, poverty, and justice from Mere Orthodoxy, and a game of Secular vs. Solomon.

Proverbs pants and reading to know God

Banter about a host's 'Proverbs pants' - the joke that he wears special pants while reading Proverbs - turns into an earnest point: reading Proverbs and Psalms to 'get something' from them left the text flat, but reading to know God better made the Proverbs 'jump off the page.' The bit closes with jokes about the pope hierarchy and what a stepped-down pope would be called.

OCC blog: the gift boxes cost the receivers

• When we pack Operation Christmas Child boxes, what actually happens to them in-country, and are they genuinely helpful?

A host reads from a March 2017 Bush Baby Colvin blog post about Operation Christmas Child in Zambia: the $7-per-box shipping only reaches the central warehouse in Ndola, and churches in Mansa had to raise 8 kwacha (about $4) per box for 5,000 boxes to receive their shipment - with 'those who do not pay will not receive.' The hosts discuss OCC's stated rationale of avoiding unhealthy dependency and how the mandatory in-country fee effectively turns free gift boxes into sold goods.

Is our giving actually helpful? Ethiopia lessons

The hosts weigh whether gift boxes are effective relief: a $30 box could instead buy 60,000 liters of potable water, 100 kg of maize meal feeding a family for four months, school fees and uniforms for six kids, or breeding goats in rural Zambia. They share Ethiopia lessons - $300 feeding an orphanage for months, donated goats nobody could store, toothbrush sticks - and argue American givers solve problems through an affluent lens instead of asking recipients what they need. It closes with the caution that people in poverty cultures will sit through a gospel presentation for free stuff, so givers should be prudent about what God's money actually does.

Complaint line and Jake's Ethiopia/Uganda trip

The hosts plug the complaint line - (515) 517-0085, call or text - asking listeners to send actual complaints for a change. They make the line the contact point for listeners who want to help guest Jake Brand return to Ethiopia and Uganda with his team; Jake describes the Kecenay orphanage and the girls there.

Pope-style advice: listen, repent, walk with God

Addressed as Boova on-air, speaker-3 gives the pope-style advice. After three months of dating a seven-year friend, constant fighting had both partners privately considering a breakup; on the eight-year anniversary of his mother's death, sitting in hospice with a dying neighbor made him realize he had been neglecting his girlfriend and giving half effort. He then sat and listened to her for ninety minutes without rebuttals, and prayed with her - the first time he 'sincerely held one of God's daughter's hands and prayed to him about her.' His advice: a God-centered relationship is daily walking like Enoch, not mountaintop highs and valley lows.

Responses: spiritual highs and filling up with Jesus

Jake responds with his own testimony: a cycle of week-long camp spiritual highs since sixth grade, a friend's suicide in February, Ethiopia and two camps over the summer, and a recent Hidden Acres retreat where he led his small group with confidence for the first time - 'if you're filling yourself up with Jesus, that's what you're gonna pour out.' A host affirms that consistent, obedient daily reading and prayer beat check-in/check-out religion.

'I'm addicted to you, Jesus' and PBR

The 12-step 'one day at a time' analogy becomes a joke pitch for an 'I'm addicted to you, Jesus' rap music video, then a Christmas album and a vinyl release. The bit drifts into a sidebar: Pabst Blue Ribbon is brewed and packaged entirely in a Miller facility, Miller no longer wants the contract, and PBR has no factory of its own.

Secular vs. Solomon game

A host reads ten proverbs and players Boova, Jake, Dan Hudson, and Mike must call each one 'Secular' (naming a country of origin) or 'Solomon' (naming the Proverbs chapter). Rounds include 'Stolen water is sweet' (Solomon, Proverbs 9:17), 'the bull will never give milk' (secular, Ukraine), the goat's-beard/stallion's-tail (secular, Ireland), the revenge elephant (secular, Nepal), and 'don't bargain for fish still in the water' (secular, India). Jake wins with 75 points; Dan finishes at negative four. The host admits he grabbed the Solomon proverbs by clicking through chapters 9 through 19 just before air.

Dear LFTP: the nine-year-old and the cell phone

• Our nine-year-old son makes perfect grades and his friends all have cell phones - should he get one, or is my husband old-fashioned for making him wait until he is a teenager?

A listener asks: her nine-year-old makes perfect grades, his friends all have cell phones, and she thinks he should get one; her husband says wait until he is a teenager and more responsible - is she wrong or is he old-fashioned? The hosts side with the dad: none of their own kids need phones, a phone is a want not a need, middle school is the practical line, and a smartphone is a gateway to the whole world that parents must carefully gatekeep. The 'Secular' answer is read: give the son a flip phone for emergencies.

Dear LFTP: bariatric surgery and the new job

• I had bariatric (gastric sleeve) surgery five months ago - should I tell my new employer or HR about the operation?

A listener had gastric-sleeve surgery five months ago, left her old job over changed treatment, and does not want her new employer or coworkers to know; her boyfriend says tell HR in case of medical issues. The hosts say no: medical history is your own business, HR has no use for it and no pipeline to emergency personnel, and a past surgery is not a persistent condition - tell the doctor, not the employer. The 'Secular' answer agrees: report complications to HR only if and when they occur.

Sign-off

Out of time, the hosts defer Matthew Loftus's theses to next week (doubling up), thank Jake, and repeat the complaint line at (515) 517-0085. The sign-off line: 'be faithful in the means. God will handle the ends.'