Radical Healing

It’s been a long time since we’ve released an episode but we’re grateful to share this one with you, featuring Professor Gerry Yokota ( @gerryyokota ), Professor Emerita of English and Contemporary Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies at Osaka University. Gerry shares about her experience organizing a Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimage in Osaka in April, her commitment to nonviolence as a Quaker, and more. M...

The history episode: A conversation with J, a colleague of Erika here in Chicago, discussing her experience as an Assyrian American and her family's history. We learn about the Assyrian people, Western missionaries' attempts to restore the Assyrian church, the Assyrian genocide, and the resulting diaspora. This conversation feels particularly relevant now as we are witnessing the ongoing g...

The one where Erika talks about her trip back to Japan this summer. There's a lot of laughing, 2 separate times Erika starts crying on air, and many random memories from childhood. (Note: In this episode, Erika mentions a member of the Nojiri community, Mark Ramseyer. Ramseyer is a Professor of Japanese Legal Studies at Harvard Law School who continues to publish right-wing historical revision...

In November of 2022, Tells Law, the law firm that handled the abuse investigations at CAJ, organized a retreat in Colorado Springs for alumni survivors and for school and mission representatives. This was commissioned by CAJ and the cooperating missions, per the recommendations of the investigation review panel. There, siblings Jan (who we spoke with in Season 2 ) and Rudy Engholm delivered Impact...

Although she's not a CAJ alum, we knew that we HAD to have Chami Nagai on our pod. Chami is a global nomad, yoga teacher, musician, and now mother. Chami shares about her experience growing up as a Japanese missionary kid in Papua New Guinea, grappling with identity in Nagano, expanding and deconstructing and reconstructing her spirituality as she journeyed from Canada, to the slums of Cambodia, t...

“Being me is not a sin” We were so happy to talk to Natasha Takahashi, who attended CAJ from 2006 to 2019. Natasha shares about their experience attending CAJ as a dyslexic, queer person. We chat about how an 8th grade essay prompt to compare Mao and Jesus kickstarted Natasha’s questioning of Christianity, about their decision to leave CAJ and attend UWC in Wales, and their journey towards self-ac...

"Is it possible for Christians to hold their religious belief that God does not affirm same sex marriage and also support the rights, safety and dignity of LGBTQ people?" This is the critical question that Sofia Olson ('97) posed to her Christian friends on FB as a sort of experiment to see what responses would emerge. We unpack this and more in our first episode of Season 3. (Note: we recorded th...

In Season 2, we’re interviewing CAJ alumni who are working on bringing to light abuse that occurred some decades ago at CAJ. Content warning: child abuse. For more information about the investigation into abuse at CAJ, please see our website  here. Happy Pride! (Episode recorded June 26th, two days before the the 53rd anniversary of the Stonewall Riots).In this episode we wrap up Season 2 with a r...

In Season 2, we’re interviewing CAJ alumni who are working on bringing to light abuse that occurred some decades ago at CAJ. Content warning: we will be discussing various types of abuse experienced by children in these episodes. For more information about the investigation into abuse at CAJ, please see our website  here. Note this episode was recorded in December 2021. Apologies for the poor audi...

In Season 2, we’re interviewing CAJ alumni who are working on bringing to light abuse that occurred some decades ago at CAJ. Content warning: we will be discussing various types of abuse experienced by children in these episodes. For more information about the investigation into abuse at CAJ, please see our website  here. In this episode, Jon Rodgers, class of 1971 shares his story. Jon talks abou...

In Season 2, we’re interviewing CAJ alumni who are working on bringing to light abuse that occurred some decades ago at CAJ. Content warning: we will be discussing various types of abuse experienced by children in these episodes. For more information about the investigation into abuse at CAJ, please see our website here. In this episode, Paul Corwin (class of 1970) shares about his experience bein...

In Season 2, we’re interviewing CAJ alumni who are working on bringing to light abuse that occurred some decades ago at CAJ. Content warning: we will be discussing various types of abuse experienced by children in these episodes. For more information about the investigation into abuse at CAJ, please see our website here.   In this episode, Jan Engholm, a CAJ abuse survivor and advocate, shares her...

In Season 2, we’re interviewing CAJ alumni who are working on bringing to light abuse that occurred some decades ago at CAJ. For more information about the investigation into abuse at CAJ, please see our website here. PART 2/2 Content warning: description of sexual assault of a minor. In this two part episode, we hear from Simon Riis Christensen, one of the first survivors to speak out about his a...

In Season 2, we’re interviewing CAJ alumni who are working on bringing to light abuse that occurred some decades ago at CAJ. Content warning: we will be discussing various types of abuse experienced by children in these episodes. For more information about the investigation into abuse at CAJ, please see our website here.   PART 1/2 In this two part episode, we hear from Simon Riis Christensen, one...

In Season 2, we’re interviewing some members of a group of CAJ alumni who are working on bringing to light abuse that occurred some decades ago at CAJ. Content warning: we will be discussing various types of abuse experienced by children in these episodes. In this episode, we spoke with Janet Pape Oates ('63) who has spent the last several years reaching out to survivors, helping share their stori...

PART 2/2 In Season 2, we are doing something a little different. We’re interviewing some members of a group of CAJ alumni who are working on bringing to light abuse that occurred some decades ago at CAJ. Content warning: we will be discussing various types of abuse experienced by children in these episodes Here’s a quote from a 2019 statement from the CAJ Concerned Alumni Committee: "On February 6...

PART 1/2 In Season 2, we are doing something a little different. We’re interviewing some members of a group of CAJ alumni who are working on bringing to light abuse that occurred some decades ago at CAJ. Content warning: we will be discussing various types of abuse experienced by children in these episodes Here’s a quote from a 2019 statement from the CAJ Concerned Alumni Committee: "On February 6...

WE DIDI IT! WE FINISHED 10 EPISODES!  P.S Be sure to subscribe to the podcast if you don't want to miss future episodes. For more of Radical Healing, follow us on Instagram, @radicalhealingpod Listen on Apple Podcasts Spotify Stitcher Google Podcasts This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit radicalhealingpod.substack....

The one where we interview Trace, who was in the grade above us at CAJ. Although Trace was at CAJ for only two years, he made a lasting impression on both of us. Trace talks about navigating different cultures as a mixed Japanese+Brooklyn Jewish American kid, about the impact of Christian homophobia, in both casual comments and direct attacks, and healing from toxic beliefs. We unpack the paternal...

A special episode because we got to talk with two of our very own classmates from the CAJ class of 2010, George and Ryosuke!  We chat about Chicago and activism, cultural identity, American competitiveness, the benefits of Biblical literacy in studying western civilization, unlearning toxic beliefs, Ryosuke's love for Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series (and how they were a no-no...

The one where we talk about PURITY CULTURE! In this episode we interview Krysta Carrick Byrnes, a nurse practitioner and our friend who also attended the Christian Academy in Japan. Krysta shares about the gradual evolution of her worldview and self-understanding  after leaving CAJ. In our conversation we focus on purity culture in particular, unpacking its harmfulness, and also brainstorm what th...

Content warning: The episode includes mention of death by suicide of a loved one (timestamp 1:11:15-1:12:40) The one where we talk about college campus ministries. Shifting our focus from the CAJ/Japan missionary community experience, in this episode we interview Keren WuRohe, Jeweliann’s friend from college. Keren shares about her spiritual journey post-college and unpacks her complicated experie...

In this episode, we talk to Makoto Seely, an alum from the CAJ class of 2008. Makoto went to CAJ from kindergarten through 12th grade. Both their parents were CAJ staff members and they are a third generation missionary kid. Makoto’s parents had a very positive influence in the CAJ community and played a role in both of our lives personally. Sadly Mrs. Seely passed away in 2018 from brain cancer....

The one where we talk with Mary Somers-Harris about disability in the church, charismatic evangelicalism, and the abuse problem at Youth with a Mission (YWAM). Mary shares about her experience growing up as a missionary kid in YWAM Japan, her experience at YWAM’s discipleship training school (DTS) and the ableist and spiritual abuse she experienced here.  YWAM is a major missions organization with...

The one where we continue our conversation with Nashe, one of the writers of the call to action letter (ep.3). Nashe shares about her experience growing up at the Christian Academy in Japan and not fitting in more ways than one as a Sri Lankan/Zimbabwean queer kid raised with liberation theology. Topics include navigating secular spaces after CAJ, sex ed, the joys of exploring anarchist geography...