Vancouver Downtown East Side (Aaron White interview)

Vancouver Downtown East Side (Aaron White interview)

Kevin Rogers

Today on the podcast we are taking a virtual walk on the sidewalks of Vancouver’s Downtown East Side and having a conversation with Aaron White.

Aaron is a pastor, justice worker and prayer instigator in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver for the past 20 years, where he lives with his wife and four children in a community home. He’s part of the team at Jacob’s Well, an ecumenical Christian centre of hospitality where his job description is resident theologian.

He is the co-author of Revolution and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Kingdom of God; co-creator of The Creative Way Down discipleship resource; and author of his newest book Recovering: From Brokenness and Addiction to Blessedness and Community.

Along with one of my previous guests Dave Carrol (Captain Kindness), he co-hosts the Two Wise Fools podcast, a light-hearted and sometimes emphatically, truthful conversation about all things sacred and profane.

Links:

Recovering Book

https://bakeracademic.com/p/Recovering-Aaron-White/41667

Jacob’s Well

https://www.jacobswell.ca/

Two Wise Fools Podcast

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/two-wise-fools/id1547557549

From Fentanyl To The Soup Shack (Bobby Reaume interview)

From Fentanyl To The Soup Shack (Bobby Reaume interview)

Kevin Rogers

Three years ago, Bobby Reaume walked into my office and said, “Hey remember me?” It took me awhile before I would remember that he and his wife Grace attended the church briefly a few years prior. When Bobby walked in, he had been released from prison, returned to addiction, and was living in tent city. He came to see me with John Button the founder of Launch Pad Recovery Centre as he was entering into a Christian recovery program.

Today Bobby is working full-time, sober, spirit-filled and serving the homeless population in our city of Windsor with the Soup Shack, a trailer set up to distribute food and basic supplies to people on the street.

 Links:

Soup Shack organized by Feeding Windsor-Essex

https://www.feedingwindsoressex.ca/

Launch Pad Recovery Center

https://launchpadrecovery.org/

Healed Of Schizophrenia (Josh Tamblyn interview)

Healed Of Schizophrenia (Josh Tamblyn Interview)

Kevin Rogers

When it comes to medical conditions and healing, Christians hold a range of views from the intervention of doctors and medicine, alternative practices and healing that comes from God. I am not a doctor, so I would never give medical advice but would always encourage people to take a threefold approach to getting help.

First, we ask God for help in all things. Secondly, we investigate and utilize good medicine and thirdly we look at alternative methods when the first two are not yielding a result. Some will try alternative before mainstream and that’s their choice.

I bring this up today as we consider that the spiritual life of a person may be affected by physical and mental conditions. I believe that God heals, and today’s guest passes the test in my mind for a verifiable miracle from God.

Josh Tamblyn was healed of schizophrenia. We’re going to hear his story and also learn about his present involvement in ministry.

Links:

Mission Canada Profile Page

https://paoc.org/donate/joshtamblyn

University Christian Ministries

https://www.joinucm.org/

Serve Campus Network

https://paoc.org/serve-campus

Ministry Spotlight

https://youtu.be/LtTXs724Fpw

Mental Health In Ministry (Sath Arulvarathan)

Mental Health In Ministry (Sath Arulvarathan)

Kevin Rogers

Sath Arulvarathan is a Registered Social Worker who has experience working in community and hospital mental health organizations. He is also involved in church planting.

Sath is skilled in supporting individuals experiencing anxiety, depression, substance use, trauma, life transitions and relationship breakdown.

He believes that the relationship between the therapist and client is the foundation for any intervention to be effective, and works from a trauma-informed, strengths-based, and anti-oppressive perspective. A firm believer in the benefits of short-term counselling, Sath aims to support clients to develop the skills and self-understanding they need to live better.

Links:

Sath’s blog posts for Trinity Life Church, Scarborough

https://www.trinitylife.ca/people/sath-arulvarathan/

Toronto Church Planting Video:

https://vimeo.com/77222798