The LDHR Podcast

In this episode, host Beth talks with Wilma Tan about growing a thriving global community despite distance—emphasizing shared purpose, intentional connection, and using digital spaces to belong across cultures and time zones.
They offer practical tips like praying before reaching out, asking open questions, staying intentional with follow‑ups, and listening well, and highlight benefits such as encouragement, shared learning, and stronger teamwork. Reach out to someone new this week to strengthen your global ties!
 
Leading with Questions with Bob Tiede
BPMT with Ben Sparkman

Mike Maney and the host explore why people are drawn to caring roles in ministry, the emotional weight and hidden costs of carrying others' stories, and how serving can become an unhealthy part of identity.
They offer practical steps for tending your own soil—establishing rhythms, setting healthy boundaries, receiving care, and finding safe people to process with—to help caregivers thrive long-term.

In the first episode of the Healthy Soil series, counselor Brian Boecker and host Beth explore the roots of loneliness and the deep human longing to be seen, known, and connected.
They discuss biblical examples, practical steps for leaders and missionaries to build mutual relationships and healthy team rhythms, and how Jesus meets us in our ache while inviting us toward renewal and flourishing.
 
Restoring the Soul
Questions? Comments? Contact us at llama@cru.org

Have you ever wondered what helps people not just survive in ministry, but truly flourish over the long haul? Just as healthy plants need healthy soil to take root, grow, and bear fruit, people need nourishing environments, relationships, teams, and rhythms that support their well-being.This episode explores loneliness, the hidden cost of caring for others, the power of community, creating healthy teams, finding the right place to grow, and cultivating a sustainable life. For those in ministry, it invites intentional ways to tend the soil around people and within ourselves so we can grow, thrive, and continue serving with joy.

In this LDHR Podcast episode, Beth interviews Ben Sparkman about BPMT (Building Powerful Ministry Teams) — a practical model for teams to choose cooperation and achieve exceptional results. Ben explains the six components (common purpose, clear roles, accepted leadership, effective processes, solid relationships, and excellent communication) and how they help teams grow, especially across cultures.
Listeners will gain simple, actionable steps to start aligning their teams around a clear purpose, improving processes, and building trust. For next steps and resources, visit LDHR.org, contact your LDHR leader, or message us at llama@cru.org.

Barbara Culwell shares her journey with Cru and her work as a strengths coach, explaining how CliftonStrengths and the CoreClarity framework help people recognize their gifts, deepen their sense of purpose, and serve more effectively in ministry.
She offers practical steps for listeners: take the CliftonStrengths assessment, revisit your top five, consider coaching to unpack results, and intentionally apply your strengths in teams and relationships.
Embrace Your Strengths with Barbara Culwell
Clifton Strengths Assessment 
Want to find out more? Write us at llama@cru.org. 

Welcome to the LDHR Podcast, where ministry leaders grow together. In this episode, Gina Butz discusses why moving beyond surface snapshots to examine our stories matters for leadership and spiritual growth. She shares practical tools—like life maps, journaling worksheets, attachment insight, LEAF coaching, and transformational prayer—and emphasizes emotional self-awareness, community, and compassionate curiosity as pathways to deeper healing and freedom.
 
Make Sense of Your Story
The Place We Find Ourselves Podcast
To Be Told
How We Love Awareness Worksheet
The Emmanuel Promise
Landscapes of the Soul
 
And Gina's Book: Making Peace with Change
 
Contact us at llama@cru.org 

In this episode, Roger Osbaldiston (35 years with Cru, now leading a church network in New Zealand) introduces Patrick Lencioni’s Working Genius — a simple, practical framework of six “geniuses” (Wonder, Invention, Discernment, Galvanize, Enablement, Tenacity) across ideation, activation, and implementation to help teams work together better.
Listeners will learn how Working Genius explains behavior, reduces guilt and judgment, maps team strengths and gaps, and equips leaders to be self-aware of the “wake” they create. A simple next step: ask your team what work gives life and what drains it.
For more info, write llama@cru.org.
The Working Genius

On this LDHR Podcast episode Beth interviews Dennis Metcalf about the Career Path Planning tool — a God-centered process to help ministry workers discern calling, clarify strengths, and plan growth. Dennis explains the three-part Career Pathway Map (Know, Discern, Grow) and the Five E’s of development (Expose, Equip, Experience, Evaluate, Environment).
The episode emphasizes listening to God rather than rushing decisions, practical next steps for leaders and staff, and how the tool creates space to make faithful, fruit-bearing choices in vocational ministry.
 
Career Path Planning
Career Pathway Map
Bringing Clarity to Calling

Welcome to the LDHR Podcast, where ministry leaders grow together. This episode explores the Myers‑Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) as a tool for self‑awareness and healthy leadership. Steve Morgan shares his personal journey, explains the four preference pairs of MBTI, and illustrates how understanding type can improve personal growth, team dynamics, and stress management.
Listeners will learn practical next steps for discovering their type, how to use MBTI as a doorway to deeper self‑knowledge (not a label), and how to apply insights to lead and serve others more effectively.
 
16 Personalities Test
Would you like to find out more about MBTI and a coach? Write the llama at llama@cru.org!