In this special episode, Rose J. Percy speaks with Puanani Rosario Poti Calvillo from a live recording at FTE’s Christian Leadership Forum. Puanani talks about her identity as a partner, teacher, mother, and spiritual director and how wearing a lot of different hats helps her connect with people. She lives out her call and ministry by creating spaces for BIPOC folx to lean into the wisdom of their own bodies.

Puanani is a proud Samoan Ilocana from Southern California. She is a spiritual director, facilitator, educator and weight lifter. She is a former elementary school teacher and co-led El Puente Community Church with her husband Jonathan in their beloved city of Santa Ana, a bilingual neighborhood ministry centered on healing, mentorship, accompaniment and community care. You can find out more about Puanani’s spiritual practice at puananirosario.com.

Rose J. Percy is a womanist theopoet whose work engages theologies of imagination, critical pedagogy, and Black literature to birth spaces for rest, belonging, and community care. She is the creator and host of the podcast, Dear Soft Black Woman.

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