A boy named Feston, "The Campfire Podcast," and a conversation about abortion
An opportunity to give testimony
In 2009, my husband, pastor and pediatric cardiologist Kirk Milhoan, MD, PhD, met a 9-year-old boy named Feston while serving at an orphanage in Malawi, Africa. Feston was a standout from the hundreds of kids at the orphanage. He knew the names of the kids. He knew their stories. He could serve as translator for Kirk, who was medically evaluating all the children for the growth retardation that can occur as a side effect of the social isolation of being raised in an orphanage. Kirk was convicted to help ensure Feston went to school. Support for school fees, uniforms, and books for elementary school became support for boarding school for high school and, eventually, his coming to live with us in Maui to go to college. The story has had its twist and turns, and ups and downs, including the loss of his student visa and a temporary return to Malawi, but, with the support of a lot of other people in our church community who were inspired to see him cross the finish line, Lord willing, he is in his last semester in college, now on Oahu, and about to graduate with a bachelor’s degree.
Feston and three of his friends (Reilly, Sander, and Isaiah) from our church have started “The Campfire Podcast,” where, in their own words, they share “conversations about the Bible, Life, and adventures” and explore who they “are in Christ and the moral values shaping [their] worldview.” I’ve listened to every episode and I am impressed. In Hawaiian culture, “hanai” refers to the informal adoption of one person by another. Feston’s mother lives as a subsistence farmer in Malawi, but his father is deceased. He is our hanai son, so you’ll hear him refer to us as his parents throughout these episodes. As his “parents,” we care about nothing more than for him to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. To hear him and these young men wrestling with and discussing that very thing is a reward this side of heaven.
For their last episode, they had Kirk and me on to discuss the topic of abortion. We took some tangents in this long discussion as it provided opportunity for my own testimony of transformation from pro-choice liberal planning to perform abortions as an OB/GYN, to Kirk’s and my history of taking care of children with heart disease through our international mission organization For Hearts and Souls, to even my opinions on controversial issues in the Bible regarding women.
I’m excited to introduce these young men (you can find them on Instagram). I share their hope and prayer that their conversations will be used to draw people into an initial or deeper relationship with Jesus Christ.
How beautiful, definitely will listen to the podcast! We helped a young man, who was sponsored by an organization that brought mostly students from Gaza, get settled in the area I live when he was accepted into a research-PhD program. He no longer had help because the organization saw him through 4 years of college and that was it. I never saw anyone work so hard to achieve what he has & it was a proud moment to watch him graduate a few years ago. We have stayed in touch, it’s a relationship of almost 10 years now. I don’t feel like we even did that much, except welcoming him into our home & life for a short time. He always stays in touch and we will visit him soon.
Listened late last night, what a good podcast. Loved all the perspectives!