ISAAC National Update (Apr 28, 2010)

Are you feeling irregular these days? In the San Francisco Bay Area, the unusual spring weather has left many feeling irregular. Every time I start to anticipate a stretch of warm, sunny weather, we are interrupted by a couple of cold and rainy days.

Asian & Pacific Islander North America is just as unpredictable. Each new immigrant wave from a different part of Asia redefines us. The diversity of our second-fifth generation responses to Asia, North America, and the Pacific also makes it difficult to “pin down” what it means to be API. Some believe that we have assimilated so much that we harbor nativist attitudes towards new immigrants. Others are determined to preserve our ethnic identities or build a strong pan-ethnic niche in a society that still discriminates against API people.

The irregular and unpredictable nature of API existence is a challenge for anyone who wants to work with them. Every community with API Christian participants will be confronted with this reality. But because there are no straightforward ways to do ministry in these settings, effectiveness can only be developed in dialogue between practitioners and scholars. Scholars are equipped with tools to interpret the API experience within national and international landscapes. But some of the most valuable insights come from ministry practitioners who engage scripture and theology with a careful reflection on the cultural contexts of their ministries.

ISAAC wants the conversation between academia and ministry to be relevant, effective, and on-going. Your participation will help us develop effective tools for equipping one another, future leaders, and scholars to serve faithfully and relevantly in API contexts.

May you be renewed this Easter season!

Timothy Tseng Ph.D.

Executive Director
Institute for the Study of Asian American Christianity
* * * *
Interim English Pastor
Canaan Taiwanese Christian Church, San Jose

UPDATES

1. Audio-videos, presentations, and other resources from ISAAC’s events this past year will be made available soon. We are revamping the ISAAC home page so check there soon to find out more about the Asian American Equipping Symposium at Fuller, the various lectures and talks in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Asian American Women’s art festival in Southern California, the Pacific Northwest Symposium in Seattle, etc.

2. ISAAC East Region: Rev. Dr. Andrew Lee (ISAAC’s East Regional Director) met with the Princeton Forum for Asian Indian Ministries on February 20. This group seeks to promote work among Asian Indians in the United States and recently published Pilgrims at the Crossroads: Asian Indian Christians at the North American Frontier (see below for more information on this book or to purchase a copy). There are a number of similarities in the situations that Asian Indians face with that of other Asian American Christians. Rev. Lee became a member of the Forum’s Working Committee with responsibility in the area of theological education.

The 2010 ISAAC Summer Internships in the New York/New Jersey Metro Area for high school youth and college students considering full-time vocational ministry were awarded in April.  The recipients are Jennifer Consomer (Rutgers University), Lauren Lee (Liberty University), Winnie Lee (Binghamton University), and Dan Lin (Wheaton College). The participating churches are New York Chinese Evangelical Free Church in Brooklyn, New York Chinese Baptist Church in Manhattan, and Chinese Christian Church of New Jersey in Parsippany. The interns will begin serving at their churches and having weekly meetings with Rev. Lee starting in the middle of June.  Rev. Lee can also be reached at andrewlee@isaacweb.org

3. ISAAC Southern California: Rev. Dr. Young Lee Hertig (ISAAC-SoCal Regional Director) reports that the Asian American Women on Leadership (AAWOL) manuscript, Telling Hidden Stories: Biblical and Asian American Women, has been accepted for publication by WIPF & STOCK, with a tentative publication date of fall 2010.

ISAAC-SoCal sponsored an Asian American Continuing Education seminar at Fuller Theological Seminary on April 24, as a follow up to the Asian American Equipping Symposium held at Fuller in November. Upcoming initiatives include a May 19 planning team meeting for the pilot Asian American Summer Institute, which will feature an experiential pedagogy to bridge urban and suburban experiences and will be co-sponsored with the Mosaic Center and other partners, including seminaries, churches, and parachurch organizations.  Rev. Hertig will also be teaching an intensive course this summer (June 14-18) on Asian American Pastoral Theologies and Pastoral Leadership at Logos Evangelical Seminary.
The second AAES (Asian American Equipping Symposium) has been rescheduled for February 7-8, 2011, due to the Lausanne meeting in October in South Africa.  Please contact Rev. Hertig at younglee@isaacweb.org with suggestions for the symposium theme or for more information.

4. SANACS (the Society of Asian North American Christian Studies) invites submissions for the next journal under the theme of Asian American Biblical Interpretation. In addition to professional Biblical scholars, those working in other fields are encouraged to submit papers on this topic. Given the focus of this journal, papers ought to demonstrate relevance to Asian North American Christianity. The due date for submissions is Sept 1, 2010. All articles should follow the SANACS Manuscript Submission Guidelines with the following change: rather than sending the paper to Russell Yee, email submissions to Bo Lim at Seattle Pacific University 3307 Third Ave West Seattle, WA 98119 206.281.2347 Email Bo Lim

5. ISAAC Nor Cal will co-sponsor a free workshop, The Art of Preaching in Asian American Settings, for pastors, seminarians, and interested persons on Thursday, May 13th (9:45 AM – Noon, followed by a free lunch) at Chinese Church in Christ, North Valley (Milpitas). The workshop features Rev. Dr. Daniel L. Wong, Assistant Professor of Christian Ministry at Tyndale University College in Toronto, Canada. For more information and to register on-line click this link.

6. Resources: For a limited time only! You can get a 10% discount on ISAAC resources ordered through Lulu.com. Visit the ISAAC Cafe at this link, select your resources, and enter code “SHOWERS” at checkout. You can choose to receive $3.99 credit towards shipping cost instead by entering code “FREEMAIL305.” These discounts expire on Apr 30 & May 1, 2010.

If you are not yet an ISAAC member, please consider joining this year. Go to: http://isaacweb.org/a/support.htm for more information.**

** Give a gift of $120/year and you will automatically be enrolled as a 2010 ISAAC AND SANACS member. Members receive complimentary issues of the 2010 SANACS Journal and special discounts for ISAAC resources and events. Those who give $500 or more will receive complimentary copies of all publications and resources created in 2010.

Workshop: The Art of Preaching in Asian American Settings (Nor Cal)

What lessons have you learned about being an effective communicator among Asian American Christians? How can we equip one another and future pastors to preach faithfully and relevantly to the Asian American contexts? ISAAC believes that the most valuable insights come from practitioners who engage Scripture and theology with a careful reflection on the cultural contexts of their ministries. So join us and share your ideas at this free workshop!

The workshop features Rev. Dr. Daniel L. Wong, Assistant Professor of Christian Ministry at Tyndale University College in Toronto, Canada. Daniel grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. He was a full-time English Ministry pastor at the Toronto Chinese Baptist Church and then at the Scarborough Chinese Baptist Church for a total of 18 years. Over the past 10 years he has been teaching preaching as part of his course load. His D.Min. and one of his Th.M’s are in the preaching area. For more information, see Daniel’s website at www.tyndale.ca/~dwong/ and check out his article “Preaching in a Multicultural World.”

Please register on-line to give us an accurate count for lunch! Go to: http://bit.ly/d6aq24

Where:
Chinese Church in Christ – North Valley (Milpitas)
399 South Main Street
Milpitas, CA 95035

When:
Thursday, May 13, 2010 at 09:45 AM – 01:30 PM

Schedule:
· 9:45 AM Gather, register, snacks
· 10:00 AM Welcome, devotionals, and introduction
· 10:15 AM Daniel Wong presentation: “Current Trends in Homiletics with Implications for Preaching in the Asian American Church”
· 10:35 AM Pastors’ conversation about the art of preaching in Asian American settings (facilitated by Daniel Wong)
· 11:20 AM Break
· 11:30 AM Lessons learned and concluding thoughts
· 12:00 PM Catered lunch
· 12:45 PM Optional time to continue conversation or fellowship with one another

SANACS Journal Call for Papers: Asian American Biblical Interpretation

The Society of Asian North American Christian Studies Journal (SANACS)

Call for Papers

“Asian American Biblical Interpretation”

SANACS invites submissions for the next journal under the theme of “Asian American Biblical Interpretation.”  In addition to professional Biblical scholars, those working in other fields are encouraged to submit papers on this topic.  Given the focus of this journal, papers ought to demonstrate relevance to Asian North American Christianity.  The due date for submissions is Sept 1, 2010.

All articles should follow the SANACS Manuscript Submission Guidelines with the following change:  rather than sending your paper to Russell Yee, email submissions to Bo Lim at the information below.

Bo H. Lim
Seattle Pacific University
3307 Third Ave West
Seattle, WA 98119
Email Bo Lim
206.281.2347

Easter Sunday: April 4, 2010

Today’s Texts: Exodus 12:1-14; Isaiah 51:9-11; John 1:1-18; John 20:19-23

Reflection on John 20.19-23

And the end of a weekend conference, a student came up to me and declared, “I must not be very Asian.”

The first words that came to my mind was: Is she crazy? She was clearly Korean-American, not only in looks but also in custom and culture. But the words that came out of my mouth were more pastoral: I asked her why.

She said, “Well, I don’t suffer from a lack of self-esteem and I don’t have issues with my parents. So I must not be very Asian.”

It’s too easy for Asian Americans to define ourselves by our weaknesses. In our cultures, it’s easy to be tough on ourselves. It’s instinctive to counter an offer of praise with a retort of self-criticism. It’s natural to focus on the one bad grade on a stellar report card. And this very inclination may cause us to emphasize Good Friday at the expense of Easter Sunday.

Good Friday can almost feel cathartic, right? I can come to the cross with my faults and sins. I can ask for forgiveness. And it has been taken care of on the cross. It’s all about my weaknesses. And rightfully so. But Easter? Often, the resurrection is just proof that Good Friday worked. Since Jesus rose again, then our sins are truly forgiven.

But Easter is also so much more. It’s an invitation to life! The Scriptures say we died with him, for “we have been crucified with Christ.” With his resurrection, “we also live with him.” We actually live with Christ, and Christ lives in us. We participate in both Christ’s death and resurrection. And so, we don’t merely look back at what Christ has done for us, though we’re deeply thankful. On Easter, we also look forward to the new life God is springing up in us.

Because he lives, we too can truly live.

* * * *
Dr. James Choung is a second-generation Korean-American, serving as national director of InterVarsity Asian American Ministries. He has also written True Story: A Christianity Worth Believing In and its companion booklet, Based on a True Story (both InterVarsity Press, 2008) to provide a simple way to talk about the big story of God. He is a frequent church and conference speaker, and enjoys teaching seminary courses in leadership and evangelism. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two sons, blogs at www.jameschoung.net, and his work has been featured in Christianity Today.

Holy Week Devotional: Apr 3

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Today’s Texts: Psalm 31:1-4, 15-16; Lamentations 3:1-9, 19-24; 1 Peter 4:1-8; John 19:38-42

A Burial Fit for a King (John 19:38-42)

Crucifixion was an effective deterrent against insurrection in ancient Rome because of its inherent indignity in a culture that operated on the basis of honor and shame. Not only were the criminals hung naked to die a slow and public death, they were also denied a proper burial. By the time the vultures were done picking off the corpses there would hardly be any recognizable human being of which to speak. Such might have been the fate of the crucified Jesus with the sign King of the Jews above his head. Yet Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, two formerly “shadow” disciples, chose the most dangerous of times to come into the light and declare their allegiance by asking (bribing?) Pilate for Jesus’ body. They gave Jesus a burial fit for a king – a newly hewn tomb, an exorbitant amount of spices, and proper treatment in full accordance with Jewish customs – unabashedly proclaiming the truth about Jesus, that indeed Jesus was – and still is – King. Their honor of Jesus hearkened back to Mary’s anointing in chapter 12, where Jesus interpreted her action as an act of devotion that foreshadowed his death and burial. In honoring Jesus, Mary faced disapproval and Joseph and Nicodemus risked life and reputation. In the grand scheme of things, even their heroic gestures paled in light of the salvation brought to us by Jesus’ self-giving sacrifice on the cross. What about us? How much are we willing to risk for the sake of Jesus’ honor?

* * * *
Diane G. Chen is Associate Professor of New Testament at Palmer Theological Seminary in Wynnewood, PA. She is a member of Narberth Presbyterian Church.

Holy Week Devotional: Apr 2 (Good Friday)

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Today’s Texts: Psalm 22; Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Hebrews 10:16-25; John 18:1-19:42

Room Enough For All Generations (Isaiah 52:13-53:12)

Ministry is messy because people are messed up. Everyone who has served in any church or ministry knows that. And we know it well in the Asian American churches where we have wrestled with our identity and purpose, especially with regard to the next generations. Whether it is found in generational or cultural tensions, or paradigm shifts of church ministry in a postmodern era, we must not scapegoat one generation for another. Neither should we blame the increasingly hostile post-Christan society for our deep unease about ourselves. As much as we tend to point our fingers at another to shift the blame, during this Good Friday season, God is basically saying the buck stops at the cross.

As we reflect on this famous servant song in Isaiah 52:13-53:12, we should be gripped by the miracle and scandal of God’s acceptance of and love for unacceptable people through the finished work of the cross. There is indeed nothing in us, if we are truly honest to ourselves, that should make Him love us. We are loved by Him simply because of who He is. We are not loveable; yet we are loved by God. Get the difference? So if I didn’t earn His love; if I didn’t pay for it or deserve it, then get this – we must build our lives, ministries and churches on the bedrock of this unfathomable love of God. It is this simple, changeless message of the Good News that seems to be drowned in the noise of our struggles to discover and develop our identity and purpose. Perhaps we need to take a closer look at the cross again on this Good Friday. We are freed by God’s unconditional love, and we are therefore now free to accept and love one another.

The finished work of the Servant at the cross is both redemptive and reconciling. As much as He redeemed us through the cross, He reconciled us to one another. The generational and cultural diversity in our Asian American churches should indeed mirror the unifying grace of God at the cross, where all barriers are broken down (Eph. 2:11-22). We belong to God, and therefore we belong to one another. While generational and cultural differences will not go away, we must think through these differences through the accomplished work of the cross. No generation is less valuable to God. No generation is beyond the reach of God’s love. There is indeed room enough at the cross for all. The question remains if there is room enough for different generations in our churches. If we allow Christ to be the defining reality of our identity instead of our cultural preferences, and if we all take up the Servant’s burden, there will be room enough for all.

Another implication for leaders in Asian American churches is the obvious example of a servant-leader. Asian American churches are blessed with the innate DNA of servanthood, given the collectivistic emphasis of group goals and community before self. If we allow this innate servant quality to emerge and be patterned after Christ’s example of genuine servanthood, the challenges we face will be better met through leaders who will lead well by serving others through empowerment and enablement. As servant leaders, our paramount goal is the best interest of those they lead, and our concern is for spiritual significance rather than earthly success and recognition. It is obvious from the apparent short-term failure of the Servant’s ministry that Jesus is the Servant leader par excellence, who willingly submit to do the Father’s will by going to the cross for our sins. Just as the Servant is determined to obey God at all cost and leave the outcome of His service to the Father, so must we. Such is the call for a generation of leaders in Asian American churches today. There are no easy paths to take to address out ministry challenges. Instead many have been wounded and scarred by the messiness of our ministry contexts. Others have been discouraged to try serving and leading in Asian American churches. We need to be prepared to leave the outcome of our servanthood in Asian American churches in God’s hands. It is a call for perserverance for the long haul – a call for faithful servants who willingly and sacrificially obey and do the Father’s will. There would be room enough for all in our churches if we have room in our hearts to be shaped by the Servant’s way.

* * * *
Peter Lim was born and raised in Singapore. He has served in churches in Singapore and the USA, as well as ministered cross-culturally in many countries in Asia since 1989. With the completion of his D. Min. dissertation, “Family Ties that Build, Family Ties that Bind,” Peter hopes to apply his work to help strengthen Asian American churches through the work of ISAAC, where he is Director of ISAAC Pacific Northwest Region and Project Director of the Greater LA Chinese Church Research Project. He is married to Karen, who will be teaching in the Marriage and Family Therapy program at Alliant International University (Irvine).

Holy Week Devotional: Apr 1 (Maundy Thursday)

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Today’s Texts: Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19; Exodus 12:1-42; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Reflection on John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Listen to Audio

Have you ever felt betrayed? Was it with someone who was close to you? What did you experience mentally and emotionally? Unbelief? (This can’t be happening … I thought we were friends) Anger? (This isn’t right!..How can they do this to me!) Gut-wrenching pain? (Words are inadequate) What did you do? Did you “stuff it” or  become passive-aggressive? Let me just say that I write from experience.

Reflecting on this well known passage we often recognize the humility and example of Jesus washing His disciples’ feet. Yet this time I was struck by the contrast of  the number of times Jesus refers to Judas and how He knew his close disciple would betray Him (13:2, 11, 18-27, 31). Yet Jesus loved him (13:1b), He did good to Judas, He served Judas by washing  his feet, He spoke with him without anger in His voice and Jesus was going sacrifice Himself for him. The Lord gave him opportunity after opportunity to turn to him, even at the betrayal event itself  He called him “friend”(Matthew 26:50). Jesus was emphasizing how he loved all his disciples (13: 1b), and how he set the example of costly love, and wanted them to love each other (13:34, 35) even to the extent of loving the one you know would betray you.

Have you ever felt betrayed? May we love, through Christ’s power in the way Jesus loved Judas.

* * * *
Steve Quen is joyfully married to Esther for over 30 years and has 4 young adult children. He has served on the staff of Bay Area Chinese Bible Church for 22 years, 13 years as the Senior Pastor.