At the time of this recording, Josie had been home from her mission for only eight months. Her feelings are raw and poignant as she shares the ups and downs of her mission. She struggled adjusting to mission life and would frequently call her mom to connect and feel better (which wasn't allowed). She developed chronic stress hives and frequently felt like she wasn't a successful missionary despite all the service she was doing. Josie eventually decided to go home which was another adjustment for her. She suffered from some PTSD and had a hard time with church and mission related stuff. She went to therapy which helped her process a lot of what she was feeling. Josie is still working through much of the emotions and feelings of an early return, but she is also moving forward with her life in productive and healthy ways. This is a great episode for anyone else experiencing the raw emotions of an early return, looking to know that they are not alone, that things WILL get better, and that God absolutely still loves them!

Amanda Evergreen--also known as the One-Footed Phoenix--joined me to share her story of hope and healing after having her leg amputated below the knee after getting hit by a car on her mission. Amanda walks me through her struggles with mental illness on her mission before getting hit by the car, the negative response she received while on her mission when she couldn't continue to work, and then a 3.5 year struggle with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome before the decision to amputate was made. Amanda spent some time very, very angry with God for letting this happen and wondering why He had allowed this to happen. However, as she's healed, she has been able to see blessings come into her life as a result of being an amputee. She now has a platform where she can regularly help other disabled individuals and share her faith and testimony. While she still has hard days, she sees the Lord's hand in her life still and is grateful that she is still able to reach out and help others and bring them to Christ.

Amanda's Information
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1qNp7VyV-hJ5E4iNUVZ4Wg
Instagram: @one_footed_phoenix
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/One-Footed-Phoenix-100075115887812/

Cody endured bullying in childhood and in his teenage years at school and at church. Despite this, he has a deep love for the gospel and still desired to serve a mission. He served in the south and it was a very difficult mission--not only because he was serving in the Bible belt of America, but because he dealt with narcissistic abuse from many that he worked with. He was sent home after dealing with a lot of gaslighting, fear tactics, and demands of "perfect obedience."

Upon returning home, Cody felt like a failure and began also dealing with health problems for which he met with many doctors. He suffered a lot of emotional (and subsequently physical) turmoil for years before he learned about empaths which helped him reach a hopeful turning point. He learned a lot about narcissism, how to identify it, and to protect himself against it and he shares his thoughts and some solutions in this episode. Cody and I also discussed church and mission culture and what changes/improvements ought to be considered and made to help Cody's experience not to be repeated by others in the future.