Dream Brave

Dream Brave with Wai Jia, as she addresses the self-doubt and fear we all have to unlock the audacious faith we need to live out our God-given dreams, big or small. More encouragement on Instagram @drwaijiatam and YouTube @Kitedreams. Purchase Wai Jia’s latest book Dream Brave, available where books are sold.

What Prayer Does to Your Brain (with Jo Hargreaves) 08/03/2026

Permission to Hurt: Healing Without Losing Your Faith (with Pastor Benny Ho) 07/14/2026

Permission to Hurt: Healing Without Losing Your Faith (with Pastor Benny Ho) Have you ever been in pain and someone tried to explain it, rebuke it, cast it out, or pray it away… before simply sitting beside you? Have you ever been told you just needed more faith—when your body was exhausted? Or left a healing space feeling more ashamed than whole? I think in many church spaces—especially in Asian culture—there can be so many voices telling us what God is saying. What our pain means. What we should do next. And somewhere along the way, we quietly lose permission to simply hurt. But what if healing sometimes looks like: permission to lament. permission to wrestle. permission to seek therapy or medicine. permission to discern. permission to not be instantly fixed. In this week’s episode of Tender & Wild, I sit down with Ps Benny Ho — founder of Faith Community Church in Perth, mentor to church leaders across Asia and beyond, and honestly, one of the safest leaders I know. He's the kind of person who carries authority without ego, wisdom without harshness, conviction without control, and somehow makes you feel safe enough to exhale. Together, we explore what trauma-informed, integrated faith can actually look like — and what happens when pain is mishandled in church spaces. We talk about: • Why trying to “fix” pain can deepen trauma • Why faith is not measured by visible outcomes • Prayer, therapy and medicine working together • Boundaries, agency and spiritual safety • Why some suffering cannot be quickly explained • What apology can look like in church leadership • And why you are allowed to walk away from unsafe systems If church hurt you in the middle of your pain—I really hope this conversation feels like a balm to your soul. You are not weak. You are not rebellious. You are not faithless because you are still hurting. And you do not have to choose between faith and safety. You deserve both. /episode/index/show/f5d26b9c-0df2-4e15-ac73-8f842f9db342/id/42041810

The Ache Beneath Achievement: When My Body Quit | Season 4 (Tender & Wild) 07/01/2026

The Ache Beneath Achievement: When My Body Quit | Season 4 (Tender & Wild) At the peak of my life, my life ground to a halt. I found myself in the ICU after major spine surgery through my neck. Back then, I was working a medical job, running a nonprofit, writing my book, preaching on weekends, clocking 20 miles a week, going to the gym once to twice a day, cooking all our meals from scratch… I FELT LIKE A MACHINE. We’d made epic plans for me to quit work in a month, relocate to Tanzania in 3 months, and launch a brand new book in the States in 4 months. Then everything changed. The neurosurgeon told me I would not run, lift, or work like I used to for a very, very long time. And on the exact day I was supposed to return to normal living, my left knee meniscus was torn during physiotherapy. During those months of rehab, I struggled with chronic pain — pain that not only escalated, but spread to my other arm, chest, and left me sleepless night after night. As the pain drained me out, I slowly lost the will to live. But it didn’t end there. The harder part was not finding hope to recover from pain. It was failing to understand why I was spiraling from fear, grief, people-pleasing, performing, pushing through — and calling it faith. In medical spaces, my pain was reduced to “just anxiety.” In some spiritual spaces, my pain was called “lack of faith” or “all in my head.” But it was only through moving to Tanzania, stepping away from some unhealthy dynamics, and eventually discovering trauma therapy, that I realized: My pain had a story. And so did my body. That is how Tender & Wild was birthed. This first episode is a glimpse of my story. And as the season unfolds, I’ll be sharing some of the most tender parts of my life that I’ve never shared publicly before. How I slowly came to leave a spiritual community I had once called home for 18 years. How I disentangled faith from fear, honor from control, and submission from self-erasure. How complex trauma, emotional flashbacks, chronic pain and nervous system dysregulation are far more common than we think. How childhood wounds shape our reactions, relationships and lives more than we realize. This season is for the one who has ever felt: your reactions feel larger than they “should” be exhausted from carrying baggage from childhood with no one to turn to uncomfortable in spiritual spaces but unable to pinpoint why hopeless and struggling with chronic pain physical or emotional challenged trying to reconcile faith with therapy, science with prayer, healing with agency This is a season of conversations with experts, clinicians, survivors and thinkers from around the world — exploring trauma, chronic pain, spiritual harm, coercive relationships, emotional neglect, complex family dynamics, nervous system healing, faith, discernment and hope. Some guests are Christians. Some are not. And that’s intentional. My hope is to create a space where science meets soul, where psychology and faith can walk hand in hand, and where we gently untangle spiritual truth from spiritual twisting. To anyone who has been scarred by family dynamics, disillusioned by those you trusted most or hurt by the church—I hope this space feels like an invitation. This isn’t a substitute for therapy, of course. But it is a reminder that you are not alone. You can heal. You can trust God. And you CAN dream bravely again. Join me and some of the most insightful voices from around the world as we explore what it means to break free from cycles of harm and rebuild lives that are both tender and wild. Because true healing is not a return to who you were before the pain. It is the audacious becoming of who you were always meant to be. Welcome to Tender & Wild. /episode/index/show/f5d26b9c-0df2-4e15-ac73-8f842f9db342/id/41925140