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UNLIKELY GIFTS

      

“Unlikely Gifts” is a podcast for anyone looking for hope amid difficult circumstances. Life can be beautiful, unexpected, and, at times, profoundly difficult. It helps to hear from others who have grown from life’s challenges and joys. That’s why Leonard Mbonani and Cynthia Bauer are sharing how their experiences working with families impacted by disabilities in Africa have taught them about life’s most amazing gifts and its hardest tragedies.

HOPE

4/9/2023  |  43 minutes

In our sixth and final episode of season 1 of “Unlikely Gifts,” Leonard and Cynthia, to discuss the role that hope plays in their mission to families impacted by disabilities. Listen as they explore the sometimes painful origins that give rise to hope, how it compares to optimism, what it means to hold it for others, and how it can be a driving force towards new and life-changing opportunities.

GRIEF

4/3/2023  |  35 minutes

In our fifth episode of “Unlikely Gifts,” Leonard and Cynthia, as they explore their connections to a grieving world, particularly in their work with families impacted by disabilities. Listen as they discuss the forms grief takes on, what this grief represents, and what universal applications there are to navigate through it.

HEALING

3/27/2023  |  42 minutes

In our fourth episode of “Unlikely Gifts,” Leonard and Cynthia discuss the topic of healing. Listen as they describe common expectations versus actual experiences of healing in the communities impacted by disabilities they serve. And hear how a greater understanding of healing’s various forms can liberate people to be more powerful vehicles of “Kupenda” or “love” towards others.

SUFFERING- PART 2

3/20/2023  |  48 minutes

In our third episode of “Unlikely Gifts,” Leonard and Cynthia continue their discussion on how they experience suffering, both in their own lives and in those of the families impacted by disabilities that they serve. Listen as they discuss how to “live the questions” that suffering brings and build meaningful connections from that place.

SUFFERING- PART 1

3/14/2023  |  43 minutes

In the second episode of “Unlikely Gifts,” Frank Boswell sits down with Leonard Mbonani and Cynthia Bauer to discuss the topic of suffering–how it is experienced, what meaning can be drawn from it, what is helpful, and what it means to “suffer well.”

LOVE

3/13/2023  |  36 minutes

In the premiere episode of “Unlikely Gifts,” Frank Boswell sits down with Kupenda for the Children co-founders, Leonard Mbonani and Cynthia Bauer, to discuss the topic of “love.” The word “Kupenda” in Swahili means “a constant state of loving.” Listen as these two individuals share stories about demonstrating love to children and families impacted by disabilities, how they have seen this love take root and grow in various communities, and what they have learned in return.