From Mennonite Missionary Kid to AIDS Activist: Dan Shenk's Story

Dan Shenk (he/him) grew up the son of Mennonite missionaries in Tanzania, East Africa, spent his teenage years boarding at a mission school, and later found himself ordained as a chaplain working inside Rikers Island and the Virginia State Penitentiary. But it's what happened next that defines his legacy: as a gay man coming into his own identity in 1980s New York City, Dan became one of the co-founders of what is now known as Bailey House, one of the first organizations to offer supportive housing to people living with HIV/AIDS. He also helped establish the Bronx Harlem Needle Exchange Program, now New York Harm Reduction Educators Inc.In this episode, Dan takes us through it all: a childhood split between Tanzania and the USA, the loss of his mother in a plane crash, discovering his sexuality while isolated in a school infirmary, and the years he spent on the ground during the earliest and most devastating days of the AIDS crisis, organizing candlelight vigils, raising money through fish bowls on Christopher Street, and building community in the middle of unimaginable loss.Dan is the author of the memoir Search for a Blessing: A Gay Man's Journey from a Mennonite Missionary Childhood to the Streets of AIDS Activism. If his story resonates with you, we highly recommend picking up a copy.Content warning: this episode includes discussion of sexual assault.Note: We're on a every-other-week summer schedule and will return to weekly episodes in September. YouTube subscribers get episodes first on Mondays, with wide release on all other platforms Wednesdays.If this episode moved you, we'd love it if you left a rating or review, it genuinely helps other people in the deconstruction and ex-evangelical community find us.#religioustrauma #exvangelical #deconstruction #churchtrauma #proudlyonrecord #AIDSactivism #mennonite #queerhistory #chaplain