S1: E6 - Montreal: Jenna Smith

S1:E11 - Vancouver: Dena Nicolai

Welcome to the Urban Gems Podcast, a companion to the new book Urban Gems: Ministry Perspectives on the Global City and its People.  My guest on this episode is Dena Nicolai. Dena works in the areas of refugee resettlement and refugee sponsorship (associated with Canada’s Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program) in Vancouver, British Columbia, connecting with newcomers throughout Metro Vancouver and with refugee support groups across Canada. She has an M.A. in Theological Studies from Regent College (Vancouver, BC) and has been deeply shaped by her time in the cities of Edmonton, Alberta (where she was born and raised), Cairo, Egypt (where she lived after university), and Vancouver, BC (her current home). Dena is also the author of Chapter 9, titled “No Debt to Repay”: Refugees and the Welcome of God  in the new book “Urban Gems”   Urban Gems: Ministry Perspectives on the Global City and its People, published by SacraSage Press, is available as an eBook or paperback: eBook: Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/ya52w24h [https://tinyurl.com/ya52w24h]  or  BN:  https://tinyurl.com/3f232jfj [https://tinyurl.com/3f232jfj]  or Google Play: https://tinyurl.com/yfj5vb87 [https://tinyurl.com/yfj5vb87] Paperback:  BN: https://tinyurl.com/bkzvxfcz [https://tinyurl.com/bkzvxfcz]  or Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/mr22cv7v [https://tinyurl.com/mr22cv7v]   Urban Gems Cover Art: Neighborhood Church by Scott Erickson (scottericksonart.com). Used with permission from the author.   Theme Music: Urban by EwaySound [https://tunetank.com/artist/ewaysound/] Royalty Free Music from Tune Tank (https://tunetank.com/track/2090-urban [https://tunetank.com/track/2090-urban])

S1:E10 - Guatemala City / Grand Rapids, MI: Joel Aguilar

Welcome to the Urban Gems Podcast, a companion to the new book Urban Gems: Ministry Perspectives on the Global City and its People.  On this episode my guest is Dr. Joel Aguilar-Ramirez.  Joel holds a PhD from the University of Pretoria in South Africa, a master’s degree in Global Urban Ministry from Bakke Graduate University, and a bachelor’s in theology from the Central American Theological Seminary in Guatemala. Joel is the author of the book A Human Catechism: A Journey from Violence and Collective Woundedness to Peacebuilding, and several other publications. He also publishes a substack called A Human Catechism. Joel has worked for two decades in connecting the non-for-profit and academic worlds through leadership and youth development in the slums of Guatemala City. Joel  teaches courses in theology and mission at Bakke Graduate University and the Community of Interdisciplinary Theological Studies. Joel is an ordained member of the Street Psalms community, where he currently serves as the Director of Fellowships. Joel is also the author of Chapter 8, titled A Guatemalan Experience Of Planetary Urbanization in the new book “Urban Gems”   Urban Gems: Ministry Perspectives on the Global City and its People, published by SacraSage Press, is available as an eBook or paperback: eBook: Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/ya52w24h [https://tinyurl.com/ya52w24h]  or  BN:  https://tinyurl.com/3f232jfj [https://tinyurl.com/3f232jfj]  or Google Play: https://tinyurl.com/yfj5vb87 [https://tinyurl.com/yfj5vb87] Paperback:  BN: https://tinyurl.com/bkzvxfcz [https://tinyurl.com/bkzvxfcz]  or Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/mr22cv7v [https://tinyurl.com/mr22cv7v]   Urban Gems Cover Art: Neighborhood Church by Scott Erickson (scottericksonart.com). Used with permission from the author.   Theme Music: Urban by EwaySound [https://tunetank.com/artist/ewaysound/] Royalty Free Music from Tune Tank (https://tunetank.com/track/2090-urban [https://tunetank.com/track/2090-urban])

S1:E9 - Kansas City: Kurt Rietema

Welcome to the Urban Gems Podcast, a companion to the new book Urban Gems: Ministry Perspectives on the Global City and its People.  On this episode our guest is Kurt Rietema. Kurt is the Senior Director of Youthfront Neighborhood at Youthfront. Kurt lives and works in a neighborhood called Argentine in Kansas City, Kansas, that may be short on money and status, but rich in culture. Kurt’s work includes youth social entrepreneurship, short-term mission, community development, and creating just housing and lending partnerships for immigrants. Kurt has an MA in Global Development and Social Justice from St. John’s University and is the co-author of To Mend the World: A New Vision of Youth Ministry. Kurt is also the author of Chapter 10 , titled “Foreigners There”: Privilege, Wilderness, and the Search for Belonging in the new book “Urban Gems”   Urban Gems: Ministry Perspectives on the Global City and its People, published by SacraSage Press, is available as an eBook or paperback: eBook: Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/ya52w24h [https://tinyurl.com/ya52w24h]  or  BN:  https://tinyurl.com/3f232jfj [https://tinyurl.com/3f232jfj]  or Google Play: https://tinyurl.com/yfj5vb87 [https://tinyurl.com/yfj5vb87] Paperback:  BN: https://tinyurl.com/bkzvxfcz [https://tinyurl.com/bkzvxfcz]  or Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/mr22cv7v [https://tinyurl.com/mr22cv7v]   Urban Gems Cover Art: Neighborhood Church by Scott Erickson (scottericksonart.com). Used with permission from the author.   Theme Music: Urban by EwaySound [https://tunetank.com/artist/ewaysound/] Royalty Free Music from Tune Tank (https://tunetank.com/track/2090-urban [https://tunetank.com/track/2090-urban])

S1:E8 - Seattle, WA: Sparrow Etter Carlson

Welcome to the Urban Gems Podcast, a companion to the new book Urban Gems: Ministry Perspectives on the Global City and its People.  On this episode, we are talking with Sparrow Etter Carlson. Sparrow has spent more than 22 years in community with her unhoused neighbors. She is the Founder and Co-Executive Director of Sacred Streets and previously co-founded Aurora Commons, the Safe, Healthy, Empowered (SHE) Clinic, and the Green Bean Coffeehouse, a nonprofit café. Each initiative emerged as a community-rooted response to the isolation and social death experienced by people living without housing. Sparrow believes that every community can co-create constellations of care and belonging with unhoused neighbors, strengthening the fabric of collective wellbeing and flourishing Sparrow is also the author of Chapter 4 , titled Our Communal Despair and the U.S. Homelessness Crisis: Remembering Our Belonging Is the Medicine We Need in the new book “Urban Gems”   Urban Gems: Ministry Perspectives on the Global City and its People, published by SacraSage Press, is available as an eBook or paperback: eBook: Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/ya52w24h [https://tinyurl.com/ya52w24h]  or  BN:  https://tinyurl.com/3f232jfj [https://tinyurl.com/3f232jfj]  or Google Play: https://tinyurl.com/yfj5vb87 [https://tinyurl.com/yfj5vb87] Paperback:  BN: https://tinyurl.com/bkzvxfcz [https://tinyurl.com/bkzvxfcz]  or Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/mr22cv7v [https://tinyurl.com/mr22cv7v]     Urban Gems Cover Art: Neighborhood Church by Scott Erickson (scottericksonart.com). Used with permission from the author.   Theme Music: Urban by EwaySound [https://tunetank.com/artist/ewaysound/] Royalty Free Music from Tune Tank (https://tunetank.com/track/2090-urban [https://tunetank.com/track/2090-urban])

S1: E7 - London, ON: Kenny Wallace

Welcome to the Urban Gems Podcast, a companion to the new book Urban Gems: Ministry Perspectives on the Global City and its People.  On this episode, I talk with Rev. Dr. Kenny Wallace.  Kenny is an African American Choctaw Pawnee from the United States living in Canada. He holds a doctorate in Worship Studies from the Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies with a focus on ethnodoxology, the study of how people worship around the world. His passion is to help others experience worship in the fullness of their being, giving glory to God with all that we are. Kenny is also the author of Chapter 5, In the Secret Garden: Liminal Spaces as Formation Agents, in the new book “Urban Gems.”   Urban Gems: Ministry Perspectives on the Global City and its People, published by SacraSage Press, is available as an eBook or paperback: eBook: Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/ya52w24h [https://tinyurl.com/ya52w24h]  or  BN:  https://tinyurl.com/3f232jfj [https://tinyurl.com/3f232jfj]  or Google Play: https://tinyurl.com/yfj5vb87 [https://tinyurl.com/yfj5vb87] Paperback:  BN: https://tinyurl.com/bkzvxfcz [https://tinyurl.com/bkzvxfcz]  or Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/mr22cv7v [https://tinyurl.com/mr22cv7v]   Urban Gems Cover Art: Neighborhood Church by Scott Erickson (scottericksonart.com). Used with permission from the author.   Theme Music: Urban by EwaySound [https://tunetank.com/artist/ewaysound/] Royalty Free Music from Tune Tank (https://tunetank.com/track/2090-urban [https://tunetank.com/track/2090-urban])