Episode 399 - The Only Way Forward Is Back with Jackson TerKeurst

The Nothing Is Wasted Podcast

Davey Blackburn and Aubrey Sampson

Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.9 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 16 October 2025

⏱️ 68 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How do you move forward after a life marked by trauma and pain? Can looking back be the very thing that helps you discover your purpose in God’s plan?As a young orphan in war-torn Liberia, Jackson TerKeurst could never have imagined the path his life would take. After years in an orphanage surrounded by the devastation of conflict, Jackson was invited to join a group of children on a tour across the United States—sharing stories of resilience and hope born from unimaginable suffering.But in the midst of that journey, Jackson received heartbreaking news: he would not be returning home. His country and the orphanage he once knew had been overtaken by violence and chaos. Stranded and grieving, Jackson faced an uncertain future.Yet God was writing a greater story.Through a series of divine appointments, Jackson met the TerKeurst family, who would eventually adopt him and his brother. Today, Jackson is an entrepreneur, a husband, and a father. He reflects on his journey and how God's hand was evident through it all in his new book,The Only Way Forward Is Back: A Story of War, Adoption, and Finding Your Purpose in God’s Plan.In this powerful and heartfelt conversation, Davey sits down with Jackson to explore the deep wounds of growing up in a war zone, how revisiting the past has been key to Jackson’s healing, and why serving others plays such a central role in his story.If you’ve ever been hesitant to look back at your own pain, this episode will remind you: sometimes it’s in looking back that we find the very path God has prepared to move us forward. Website: www.jacksonterkeurst.comInstagram: www.instagram.com/jacksonterkeurst_Facebook: www.facebook.com/jackson.terkeurst/Book: The Only Way Forward Is Back: A Story of War, Adoption, and Finding Your Purpose in God’s Plan Wondering where to get started on your journey towards healing? Join Davey on our next FREE, live Zoom call and find out how you can begin to take back your story and how Nothing is Wasted can help. Sign up today at: www.nothingiswasted.com/starthere Looking for help in navigating the valley of pain and trauma? Our Nothing is Wasted coaches can help: www.nothingiswasted.com/coaching Want a pathway through your pain? The Pain to Purpose Course can lead you through all you've been through: www.nothingiswasted.com/paintoppurpose Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Nothing is Wasted podcast, where we meet you in your pain and help you discover a pathway through.
0:09.6	No matter what you've faced or what you're walking through now, we believe your story isn't over.
0:15.0	Each week, you'll hear powerful conversations with people who've partnered with God to reclaim their stories of trauma, loss, and heartbreak, and we'll chat with Christian experts who offer wisdom and
0:26.2	practical tools for healing. This is a place of hope, redemption, and the reminder that
0:31.5	even in your darkest moments, God is still writing your story, because with him, nothing is wasted.
0:38.8	I'm your host, Davey Blackburn.
0:50.3	Well, hello, welcome to the Nothing is Wasted podcast.
0:53.9	Thank you for joining us again this week for another great conversation.
0:58.1	Today, I have joining me a new friend, Jackson Tirkhurst, and he's going to be discussing his new book, The Only Way Forward is Back.
1:06.7	Now, if that name sounds familiar, it's probably ringing some bells for you.
1:10.3	He is the adopted son, or one of the adopted sons of beloved author, friend of the podcast, Lisa Turkhurst.
1:17.7	And Jackson is stepping up and sharing his story about childhood trauma that he experienced.
1:24.1	You know, many of us are never going to, by the grace of God, or never have,
1:30.7	face the horrors of war like Jackson has. But we each have our own wounds from past seasons.
1:37.9	We have our own traumas, our own pain, and it's futile to compare pain. However, I did find this
1:43.6	very helpful to hear from Jackson
1:45.3	and be able to hear a story of someone who lived through and has had to go back and relive,
1:53.8	for the sake of his healing, the horrible atrocities that were done, unimaginable things that he
2:00.3	had to experience in his childhood.
2:02.9	In this book, it's both raw, it's hope-filled. However, he's chronicling his childhood
2:08.9	of growing up in war-torn Liberia and his journey through orphanages, adopted into the U.S.,
2:16.1	the restoration that he's experienced through
	...

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