What the Church Needs to Know About Single Mothering and Fostering | Jamie Lam

How can the church truly support and uplift single mothers, as well as children and families navigating the foster system? What if our often limited understanding of family holds us back from doing so?

This episode of Hear Women welcomes single mom, ministry leader, and foster/adoptive parent Jamie Lam for a disarmingly honest conversation with Tara Beth Leach about single motherhood and what it really means to cultivate family in the body of Christ. Through Lam’s story of fostering and adopting children, serving families in the fostering and adoption community, and mentoring young adults, she unveils how God’s call to love and welcome those in need empowers us to confront and break through our personal and cultural assumptions.

This conversation explores Lam’s call to become a single foster and adoptive mom, as well as the challenges, joys, and surprises she has encountered as she continues to build her family. Her story of courage, hospitality, and openness to God’s leading shows us how the church can be a village that welcomes children, supports single parents, and reimagines what family can truly look like in God’s kingdom.

Whether you are a single mom, considering foster care or adoption, longing to become a parent, or know someone on this journey, this episode calls all of us to see, celebrate, and support single mothers for the good of every child, family, and the whole church.

This episode highlights the following themes:
✅ The courage and calling of single mothers in the church
✅ Real challenges and gifts of fostering and adoption as a single woman
✅ The importance of rethinking family beyond the nuclear mold

Links from this episode:
✅ Learn more about Jamie Lam (give.cru.org/0551103) and keep up with her through her ministry updates (www.ministryupdates.org/jamie_lam)
✅ Check out Households of Faith (www.ivpress.com/households-of-faith) by Emily Hunter McGowin for a fresh vision of family in the kingdom of God
✅ Discover more about Foster the City (fosterthecity.org/)
✅ Read the transcript here (drive.google.com/file/d/1N-SqpVn69vpp79yqC0oKk_EG9otziFK6/view)
✅ Learn more about Hear Women (www.ivpress.com/hear-women-podcast)
✅ Learn more about your hosts, Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young (www.ivpress.com/dorina-lazo-gilmore-young), Nijay Gupta (www.ivpress.com/nijay-k-gupta), and Tara Beth Leach (www.ivpress.com/tara-beth-leach)
✅ Read Redeemer (www.ivpress.com/redeemer) by Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young
✅ Read Tell Her Story (www.ivpress.com/tell-her-story) by Nijay Gupta
✅ Read Emboldened (www.ivpress.com/emboldened) by Tara Beth Leach

SPECIAL OFFER | Visit ivpress.com (ivpress.com/) and use the code IVPHEAR40 for 40% off and free shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

SPONSOR | Hear Women is sponsored by Northern Seminary, where thousands of women have been equipped to serve as pastors, practitioners, church planters, and ministry leaders across the globe. Explore your calling and visit seminary.edu (www.seminary.edu/) to learn more.

Credits:
✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo, Helen Lee, and Travis Albritton
✅ Research Assistants: Abby Lee and Jazmin Rose
✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts (honestpodcasts.com/)
✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne
✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard
✅ Theme Song: "Organica" by Artax

==== Time Stamps ====

00:00 – Introduction
01:56 – About Jamie Lam
04:04 – Friends, Family, and Facing Pushback
05:56 – Naming the Doubts, Embracing the Mission
07:28 – Embracing Singleness and New Family Models
09:14 – What the Church Gets Wrong About Supporting Single Moms
10:22 – All Ears: Expanding the Church’s Imagination of Family
13:00 – The Shape of Calling and Saying “Yes”
15:54 – Barriers, Limitations, and Trusting God’s Timing
18:37 – The Power of a Church “Village”
20:36 – Naming Assumptions and Raising Kids in Nontraditional Families
23:05 – What I’d Tell Myself (and Other Single Moms)
24:34 – What the Church Must Change

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.