Plain Values Podcast

In this episode of the Plain Values Podcast, Marlin sits down with Brian Troyer of Hope Bridge for a conversation about fostering communities and how Brian’s life led him into foster care ministry.
They begin the conversation talking about Brian’s upbringing in a Hartville Mennonite family. At the age of 21, Brian lost a friend in a tragic softball accident. This experience woke him up to the life he was living, and he soon found himself breaking up with his girlfriend and requesting time off from his place of work to join Reach, a mid-term missions program. 
Brian’s time with Reach was formative to say the least. It was there that he met his wife, Brittany, and later where they together saw the huge need for foster care in the world. When they moved back to Hartville after five years with Reach, they immediately began their journey with fostering. They fostered for seven years and are now working with Hope Bridge who builds up fostering communities in Ohio.

One common rejection of foster care is how it may negatively affect a family’s other children. For Brian, he has seen the opposite effect in their son, Malachi. He loves to tell people he has 14 siblings and that his favorite day ever is the day they adopted his younger brother. 

Not everyone should foster, but everyone should do something. Everyone can be involved in some way. Fifty percent of foster families drop out after the first year, and 80 percent after the second year, with the number one reason being lack of support. When a foster family has a supportive community around them, the chances of the family lasting over two years rises to over 95 percent. This is why Hope Bridge exists. This is the call to the church. 
What can you do to support a foster family in your community today?
Learn more about Plain Values at https://plainvalues.com

🔵 Guest Bio and Links …
https://hopebridgeohio.org

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🎵 Hold My Hand - Sam Burchfield
Recorded Live - Plain Values - Winesburg, OH
Learn more about Sam: https://www.samburchfield.com/
🎵 Other music - Soundstripe

#plainvalues #hopebridge #fostercare #fostercommunity #reach

In this episode of the Plain Values Podcast, Marlin sits down with Rachel Baker of the 99+1 Foundation. Rachel grew up in Holmes County but now lives in Oklahoma where she works for a foundation caring for young people who are aging out of the foster care system. 
If a child enters the foster system above the age of ten, there is a very low chance of being adopted, and a very high chance of them ending up homeless, in prison, or dead within three years of aging out of the system. The 99+1 Foundation exists to change that story.
The Foundation cares not only for the young aging out, but also for widows who may be in need of a place as well. This creates a beautiful dynamic of the older mentoring the younger. 

Neurofeedback is an exercise for the brain that helps calm the central nervous system. Rachel uses Neurofeedback to work with young and old people who have experienced trauma and has helped correct anything from poor sleep to seizures. 

Like George Mueller, the ministry often runs on prayer alone. Meals show up out of nowhere when needed. Buildings get renovated. Needs are met. The heart of the Father is not to disregard the broken, but to take what is there and restore it to something beautiful. This is the story of the 99+1 Foundation. 

If you want to learn more or support this ministry restoring the Kingdom, go to www.99plus1.foundation. 
Learn more about Plain Values at https://plainvalues.com

Timestamps:

00:00 - Intro
00:48 - Rachel's Backstory
03:29 - Hardships of Aging Out of Foster Care
07:02 - Education Challenges for Foster Youth
10:02 - Unconditional Love and Trauma
11:46 - Neurofeedback and its Huge Benefits
17:00 - 99 Plus 1 Foundation: Restoration and the Father's Heart
22:35 - Coffee Shop Initiative: Job Skills and Community Outreach
24:31 - Trusting God Just Like George Müller Did
26:15 - Don't Forget the Wise Older Generation
27:29 - 99 Plus 1 Today
28:29 - How to Support 99 Plus 1
29:42 - How Can We Pray for You?
🔵 Guest Bio and Links …
https://99plus1.foundation
🔷🔹🔷🔹🔷🔹🔷
A great way to show support is to hit LIKE / SUBSCRIBE on this video, and most importantly, join the conversation in the COMMENTS below. We’d love to hear from you.

👉We have a beautiful magazine called Plain Values, sent quarterly ($49/year): https://plainvalues.com/pv-magazine-yt
👉To receive our FREE Plain Values emails: https://plainvalues.com/
👉To find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/plainvalues/
👉To find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/plainvalues/
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🎵 Hold My Hand - Sam Burchfield
Recorded Live - Plain Values - Winesburg, OH
Learn more about Sam: https://www.samburchfield.com/
🎵 Other music - Soundstripe

#plainvalues #fostercare #agingout #neurofeedback #restoration

In this Minute With Marlin, Marlin is joined by his friends, Jerry and Lynn Wright, all the way from “the bad half of Washington.” They met at a homesteading event a few years ago and hit it off quickly once they realized they had something in common—they both had loved ones with Down syndrome. 
The golden nugget of wisdom in this episode comes from Jerry as he shares what his father told him when he was a young teenager, “Dad said he was going to be getting dumber over the next few years, and then in my twenties he’d be getting smarter again.” 

Looking back at the words his father spoke into his life during those “dumb” years, Jerry found this to be true. His dad never became dumber or smarter, but his perspective of the wisdom he shared changed over the years and impacted him differently.

Do you have people in your life you’ve found to get smarter as you grow older? 
Learn more about Plain Values at https://plainvalues.com

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A great way to show support is to hit LIKE / SUBSCRIBE on this video, and most importantly, join the conversation in the COMMENTS below. We’d love to hear from you.

👉We have a beautiful magazine called Plain Values, sent quarterly ($49/year): https://plainvalues.com/pv-magazine-yt
👉To receive our FREE Plain Values emails: https://plainvalues.com/
👉To find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/plainvalues/
👉To find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/plainvalues/

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In this episode of the Plain Values podcast, Dawn Combs joins Marlin for a conversation covering all the Big Corps–Big Ag, Big Food, Big Pharma, Big Chemical, Big Tech and beyond.
Being practically neighbors with Scott’s and Nestlè corps, Dawn says she lives “ in the belly of the beast.” Then, just on the other side of Columbus sits Licking County which has drawn the attention of Big Tech. Data Centers drink up to 50 million gallons of water a day and the large aquifers there have them drooling for the land. Dawn’s husband Carson happens to be the sitting City Planning Director within Licking County. Being a Christian man and advocate for holistic, regenerative ag and stewarding creation, Carson believes he has an opportunity to show the world how we can move forward alongside technology in a responsible way.

Ethnobotany is where folklore and science meet. It’s the study of how certain cultures made use of the indigenous plants in each region, with the aspect of understanding the science behind why it worked. Due to its pagan nature, it’s not a subject many christians find themselves in, but Dawn has been drawn to it all her life, seeking the truth within the lore.

Marlin and Dawn dive deep into the subject of the western infertility world which Dawn experienced for three years before she fired her doctors and diagnosed herself. Treating herself with herbs and teas, she went on to naturally have two children. Not only did she heal herself, but she healed a broken generational pattern within her family. Dawn explains, “Our best healing remedies mimic God’s design… in the western mindset it’s all about controlling the body and making it do what you want it to.” They continue discussing western medicine and processed foods and the “treadmill” these keep us running on.
Big Ag and Big Fertility are essentially doing the same thing. They are forcing infertile soil to produce life beyond its capacity. They are bypassing God’s design and forcing their will upon it, without any thoughts of the repercussions. Dawn says there’s a better way, and she’s dedicated her life to discovering it.
Learn more about Plain Values at https://plainvalues.com

In this episode of Minute with Marlin, Marlin traces the origins of the podcast all the way back to when his dad died, 15 years ago.

A few months after Marlin’s dad passed, he, his brother, and his mom visited Arthur, IL for a large family reunion. Inevitably at some point, the stories of his dad began to flow, and Marlin wished the day would never end.
Marlin’s vision when he began the podcast in 2025 was to recreate that day of storytelling and connection, so stories and moments like those could live on. It became wildly clear how real that vision was soon after he sat down in the studio with his uncle “Monk” along with some cousins to record a four-hour conversation. Unexpectedly, just three weeks later, they lowered Monk into the ground and said goodbye.

This is why the Plain Values Podcast exists. Capturing the stories for the next generations. If you have a story worth capturing, send us an email at reachout@plainvalues.com.
Learn more about Plain Values at https://plainvalues.com