Traumatic Beginnings
Maury Blair’s historical account as given by himself at Our City Windsor 2025. The retelling of the childhood trauma and the intervention of God’s grace.
Links:
Breakthrough Ministries
Our City Windsor
Shalom vs. Empire (Kevin Rogers)
It’s usually me interviewing someone else or bringing the content of others here to inspire and inform. On this episode, it’s my turn to speak. This was my session recorded at Our City Windsor 2025.
Empire is the human tradition of conquerors and ideologues wanting to build a world in their image. It’s the ninety-foot selfie of Nebuchadnezzar and the pinch of incense in worship of Caesar.
The nation of Israel was not satisfied to be led by a priesthood and wanted to have a king like the other nations surrounding them. Empire is about power and defense. It is the belief that what’s best for us should be enforced on the other nations.
Even churches can fall prey to empire building and miss out on the true intentions of God.
Shalom on the other hand, is the governmental structure of the Kingdom of God. It is the world as God intends it and is established with the love and power of God bringing about peace on earth. Shalom is dependent on the King of Kings and will not be fully realized until he returns. Somehow, we are to live as citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven while giving the Caesar what he is due.
Links:
Mission Canada Bio:
https://paoc.org/canada/about/staff/lists/mc-staff/urban-coordinator
Our City Windsor
Tools For Recovery In Street Ministry (LCHC team)
The team at Leamington Community Help Centre run an active mission for street-affiliated people. Part of this work includes addiction recovery services. At the Our City Windsor 2025 conference a group of recovered addicts shared their insights of ministry to this vulnerable population.
Robert Sandwith is the Manager of Recovery Care. Greg Poloz is the men’s recovery care coordinator. Mary Fehr is the women’s recovery care coordinator. Jason Kacsur is a recent success story of a person supported.
Leamington Community Support Centre
Disability And Faith 101 (Keith Do
Keith Dow, PhD, is a Canadian theologian, researcher, and writer exploring the beauty and complexity of human limits, care, and community. He works with Karis Disability Services (formerly Christian Horizons) and serves as a fellow with the Psychology Cross-Training for Theologians program through the University of Birmingham and Martin Luther University College. His research explores theology, disability, and the ethics of care, emphasizing the beauty and limits of human life in community. Keith is the author of Formed Together: Mystery, Narrative, and Virtue in Christian Caregiving (Baylor, 2021) and leads the Images of God research project supported by the John Templeton Foundation.
This session was recorded at Our City Windsor 2025.
Links:
Keith’s website
Karis Disability Services
Brandon Blake - Tear Off The Roof (The Chosen Version)
God's Mosaic Vision (Charles Hermelink)
Charles Hermelink brought this message at the Our City Windsor 2025 conference. In it he looks at how God is at work with the movement of people around the world and especially the relevance for us in Canada.
Charles serves as the New Worker On-boarding and Development Specialist, and Coordinator for Mission Canada’s Cultural Language Groups. His focus is to mobilize new workers and strategically see them positioned to reach newcomers to Canada, refugees, and those with various cultural backgrounds and worldviews.
Links:
Neighbours and Newcomers Network National
https://paoc.org/canada/workers/nnnetworknational
Mission Canada Cultural Ministries
Maury Blair At Our City Windsor 2025
At 87 years of age, Maury continues to be filled with light and hope. From recounting the horrible child abuse he suffered to the overflowing joy of his journey with Jesus, we leaned forward to soak up the wisdom.
Maury continues to have daily conversations with people in his community to tell them about his hope.
Links:
Breakthrough Ministries
Revisiting Child of Woe
More of the Maury Story
Entrepreneurs In Love (Mike and Lisa Difazio)
Michael Difazio and Lisa Shurrock are two young, successful entrepreneurs in Windsor Ontario. As they fell in love, they did not realize how God would appear in their lives to disrupt business as usual and surprise them with miracles.
Here’s my interview as they share the lessons they’re learning about trusting God with everything.
Links:
Michael Difazio
https://www.michaeldifazio.ca/
Elite Studios
The Nine Lives of Joe Ritchie
Joe Ritchie grew up with a history of trauma and abuse that nearly killed him. At age fifteen he was in a car accident that left him quadriplegic and without hope. After three times of dying and being resuscitated, it would be a vision of Jesus that would change his life trajectory.
Today Joe serves as part of the pastoral team at Windsor’s New Song Church. Listen as he shares transparently about his struggles with addiction and the journey to freedom.
Complex Trauma And RE/ACT (Tim Fletcher interview)
Tim Fletcher is the Founder and President of RE/ACT (Recovery Education for Addictions and Complex Trauma). He used his skills as a pastor and counsellor to develop a program to help the people he cared for overcome addiction. He realized the need for individuals to first become equipped with tools, and then put those tools into practice in a healthy, safe and loving environment - and herein lies his unique skill.
During his early years, he learned that everyone has a loved one who struggles with addiction, and many people struggled with unrealized addictions and unhealthy coping techniques. He found that 97% of addicts also struggled from Complex Trauma (C-PTSD) - corroborating the research of Dr. Gabor Maté. After researching C-PTSD which was identified as, “A series of events that occur where a victim feels unsafe, and as such, develops mental disorders which inhibit them from coping in stressful or harmful circumstances”, he concluded that research was showing that there is a physical difference between the brains of those who grew up in loving and nurturing homes and those who didn’t – before any addiction became prevalent.[1]
Links:
Tim Fletcher Website
Theo Von Interview
(language warning. Theo is a comedian and a spiritual seeker)
https://youtu.be/K60u6ObDsrI?si=_Oc2yXE9OfWqS7lf
Healing Spiritual Cataracts (Tim Meisenheimer)
Timothy Meisenheimer has spent decades on the streets with beatitude vision, first in Ottawa and now in Windsor, Ontario. This was his session at the Our City Windsor 2024 conference. Tim takes seriously the path of Jesus in his sidewalk vision of the Kingdom of God.
Links:
Urban Cry School of Mission
https://www.facebook.com/urbancryschoolofmission
Downtown Windsor Community Collaborative
Capital City Mission
https://capitalcitymission.com/
The Ottawa Mission
Receptivity To The Gospel In Canada (Brian Egert)
How receptive are Canadians to the Christian message?
Brian Egert is the director of Mission Canada, an agency that has over 50 workers across Canada to reach beyond the church walls. This episode features a plenary session at the Our City Windsor conference in March 2024.
Links:
Mission Canada
The Heaviness Of Loss (Kim Court and Mike Morency)
(Recorded at Our City Windsor 2024)
No one is exempt from the impacts of grief and loss. When serving others in community it is imperative that we learn to recognize when and how their grief is showing up. However, it is just as important to learn how our own grief impacts our ability to serve others. Kim Court and her husband Mike Morency help participants better understand grief and provide tips on how they can help others, and themselves.
For the past 25 years, Kim Court (M.S.W., R.S.W.) has provided a safe place for individuals and families to reflect and experience personal growth. She values the uniqueness of each individual’s journey, and supports people of all ages as they become empowered to reach their goals.
As a Christian counsellor, Kim is experienced in helping people with struggles related to trauma, separation/divorce, anxiety, depression, attachment, parent-child, and family conflict, all through the lens of evidence-based practice and the Gospel. She is a certified Grief Educator, and is trained in, Brief Solution Focused Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, and Collaborative Problem Solving.
Alongside her husband, and on her own, Kim provides engaging workshops and lectures on a wide array of topics.
Mike is Executive Director of Matthew House Refugee Centre which provides temporary shelter and settlement services for Refugee Claimants. He is a team pastor at New Song Church and a frequent speaker at conferences and retreats. Mike is passionate about helping the people of God find ways to “live out” Christ in the world.
He is also Lead Strategist for Synergistic Solution Groups where he assists churches and community charities develop effective strategies to increase their impact.
Additional resources:
Exploring the Companioning Model of Grief Care
https://youtu.be/pOlgifO9TEA?si=WcnesOUS2Q8uH9wS
My Grief
Back To The Shack (Bobby Reaume interview)
Bobby Reaume is the lead operator with Feeding Windsor-Essex’s Soup Shack. Every night from 7-9 pm he ensures that up to 140 people are served with food, snacks, clothing and personal care items. The food is prepared in the kitchens of Feeding Windsor-Essex, a charitable department of New Song Church.
This interview at the Our City Windsor 2024 Conference is filled with stories of hope and the continuing miracle of Bobby’s journey to recovery.
As an update, Bobby and some interested parties are attempting to start a charity of their own to provide a greater platform of services to Windsor’s homeless and street-affiliated population. The Soup Shack would be enhanced by a building where more than food would be served.
In the meantime, donations to help fund current operations can be sent to Feeding Windsor-Essex. Find out how at admin@feedingwindsoressex.ca
Links:
Feeding Windsor-Essex
https://www.feedingwindsoressex.ca/
From Fentanyl To The Soup Shack (Season Four, Episode 18)
Gospel Transformation In An At Risk Neighbourhood
For 10 years, New Song Church has been alongside one of Windsor’s more challenging neighbourhoods of social housing. What we affectionately call the Glengarry neighbourhood is a series of four high rise apartments, several rows of townhouses and an assisted living facility. It experiences the most tragic of life experiences as well as a quieter majority that are just trying to survive.
Through collaboration initially with The Downtown Windsor Community Collaborative and partnership with Windsor Essex Community Housing Corporation, we run a 4 day per week drop in centre, a community garden, the cafeteria contract in the assisted living facility along with a weekly Bible study and prayer meeting for residents with spiritual desire.
In this episode, Kevin Rogers interviews Kevin and Paula Saunders as well as Elizabeth Anderson.
Let Nothing Be Wasted (Ejay Tupe)
One of our podcast regulars, Ejay Tupe brought this message ‘Let Nothing Be Wasted’ at the Our City Windsor - Signs Of Hope conference.
His years of experience in urban ministry are informed by his reading of the Scriptures.
Ejay is an urban worker in downtown Toronto.
Link:
Signs Of Hope (Brian Egert)
Brian Egert brought this opening message at the Our City Windsor ‘Signs Of Hope’ conference in March 2024. One hundred people gathered at New Song Church in Windsor Ontario to reflect on the hope that Canadian churches can bring to their cities.
Brian is the Director of Mission Canada, an agency committed to raising up workers with a heart of hope for the nation of Canada.
Link:
Mission Canada
Restoring Women At Risk (Julie Hunter Interview)
Julie Hunter is the executive director for Windsor Life Centre, a residential, faith-based treatment centre for women recovering from drug and alcohol addictions. The Centre began 10 years ago on the property of Windsor Christian Fellowship under the vision and leadership of Cathy Ciaramitaro.
Windsor Life Centre aims to provide healing to the whole person, giving them tools to live out lasting recovery.
Grounded in compassion, we are designed to empower every woman to reach lifelong sobriety. We help women with their physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social wellbeing so they can live healthier lifestyles after graduating from the program.
Windsor Life Centre understands addiction is complicated and unique for each individual. We provide customized treatment plans as a key feature of our program by examining each woman’s strengths, treatment needs, and coping abilities. Upon admission to Windsor Life Centre and throughout the treatment stay, our team evaluates their progress and adjusts the treatment plan as necessary. We also offer 12 step facilitation, social activities, life skills training, and multiple forms of therapy.
Link:
https://windsorlifecentre.com/
Red Frogs And Zoe Manor (Nelly Latchman interview)
At sixteen years of age, Nelly Latchman was on a youth group mission trip to New Song Church. The days in Windsor were an opportunity to experience God at work in an urban context outside of her own neighbourhood. That initial experience would eventually culminate in moving to Windsor after graduating from Tyndale Seminary.
Today, Nelly is a Mission Canada worker that serves as part of the national Serve Campus Network with her focus on the University of Windsor. She is also a young adult pastor at Parkwood Gospel Church.
Links:
Nelly Latchman - Mission Canada profile page
https://paoc.org/canada/workers/nellylatchman
Serve Campus Network
Red Frogs Canada
Parkwood Young Adults
https://parkwoodwindsor.com/youngadults
Asylum Seekers And Homelessness (Mike Morency & Ejay Tupe interview)
Our guests on this episode are Ejay Tupe, director of Toronto Urban Mission Hub in downtown Toronto and Mike Morency, executive director of Matthew House – Windsor.
We will be talking about a story that began unfolding this past summer when over 200 refugee claimants from African nations found themselves sleeping on the streets. Many were outside a homeless support centre at 129 Peter St. in downtown Toronto. There seemed to initially be a funding stalemate between levels of government.
Into the crisis, three churches got involved directly by opening up their buildings to provide shelter, food, and support.
· Revivaltime Tabernacle
· Pilgrim Feast Tabernacle
· Dominion Church International
This story eventually leads to some of the asylum seekers ending up served by Matthew House in Windsor.
Links:
Ejay Tupe
https://paoc.org/canada/workers/ejaytupe
Oct 30th update from Ejay
https://youtu.be/-o4LVpanGmo?si=J11xqAhrKoEd_DPb
Matthew House - Windsor
https://matthewhousewindsor.org/
Our City Scarborough Conference
https://www.ourcitytoronto.ca/
News article:
Ejay Tupe
Mike Morency
Musicians On Mission (The Extreme Tour)
For thirty years, The Extreme Tour have partnered with community groups and clubs, civic organizations, churches, schools, government agencies and municipalities that are working charitably to meet the needs of the disenfranchised.
Collectively they have been in hundreds of communities scattered throughout 20 countries bringing music, art, spoken word, etc. They are musicians on mission and people that want to serve.
In mid-September they spent a week in Windsor, Ontario assisting New Song Church and Feeding Windsor-Essex. This is our round table conversation about who they are and the unique work that they are called to.
Links:
The Extreme Tour
https://www.theextremetour.com/
Danyelle Speaks
https://www.danyellespeaks.com/
Idiomz Da Prophesayer
Manny Hubbard (Flamuel)
https://www.youtube.com/@MannyHubbardMusic
Samuel Kislow (Salmon Friends)
