ISAAC Nor Cal Update (May 5, 2011)

May 5, 2011

Dear friends of ISAAC Nor Cal!

Happy Easter and Cinco de Mayo! I pray that you are experiencing the joy of the Lord regardless of your circumstances! ISAAC is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year, so we are eager to share with you what we’ve been doing since we started. We also want to unveil our hopes and aspirations for the next five years. So keep looking out for future updates. There are several important events and activities in this update. If you cannot participate, please invite your friends! – Tim Tseng

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1. Asian American Christianity: A Four Week Study (Sponsored by The Harvest Group’s Perspectives in World Christianity)
ISAAC is proud to offer this mini-course designed to help participants better understand and minister to Asian Americans!
Dates: Sundays, June 5, 12, 19 and 26 from 4-7pm.
Location: Community Baptist Church, 2215 Curtner Ave., Campbell, CA 95008.
Cost for the course is $88 (cash and checks only, register at the door).
To register on line go to:
http://www.theharvestgroupforgod.org/harvestGroup/classes.html [updated 5/17/11]

2. INTRODUCING….ISAAC Arts and Lectures?! (Not to be confused with City Arts and Lectures)

ISAAC Nor Cal will offer occasional talks and lectures on a variety of topics in the upcoming year. These talks will stimulate deeper reflection for Christian faith in Asian American contexts, but will not be so academic that only a specialized audience can participate. We call it our ISAAC scholar program!

First up is Dr. Amos Yong: Asian American Evangelical Theology: Its Legacy and Mandate
Thursday, June 16, 2011 • 7:30-9:30 PM
Location: Canaan Taiwanese Christian Church
4405 Fortran Drive, San Jose, CA 95134
To register, go to: http://conta.cc/jKCn45

Summary: The task of Asian American evangelical theology remains to be undertaken. This lecture explores the internal logic of North American evangelicalism, which minimizes the impetus toward theological thinking among Asian Americans, and suggests how Asian American evangelicals can remind their evangelical colleagues about the necessity of engaging contextual reflection for the revitalization of the evangelical theological enterprise as a whole. A shortened version of this talk was given at ISAAC’s Asian American Equipping Symposium at Fuller in February 2011. It can be viewed here: http://vimeo.com/20826365 (21:59).

About the speaker: Amos Yong is the J. Rodman Williams Professor of Theology and Director of Doctor of Philosophy Program at Regent University in Virginia. His research interests are in Global Pentecostalism, Theology of disability, Theology and Science, Political Theology, Inter-faith Dialogue, and in Asian American Theology. His books include Hospitality and the Other: Pentecost, Christian Practices, and the Neighbor (Orbis, 2008), Theology and Down Syndrome: Reimagining Disability in Late Modernity (Baylor, 2007) and The Spirit Poured Out on All Flesh: Pentecostalism and the Possibility of Global Theology (Baker, 2005). Prior to academia, Yong was a pastor in various churches in California, Washington and Massachusetts, the son of a pastor and missionary raised in Stockton. He is married to Alma and has three children. For more information about Amos click this link. He will be Canaan Taiwanese Christian Church’s English ministry retreat speaker on June 17-19.

3. Good news! The Doctor of Missiology cohort in the area of Asian North American leadership (through Fuller Theological Seminary’s School of Intercultural Studies) has been “green lighted” and is now accepting applicants for Fall 2011. Here is an opportunity to work with ISAAC scholars Young Lee Hertig, Tim Tseng, and others. Go to http://wp.me/p7DTu-i0 for more information.

4. Thank you for a great Beyond Tiger Mom event with Helen Lee!
More than 120 participants joined us at Grace Alliance Church (Milipitas) on March 19 to reflect on how parents can help their children develop missional values. Thanks to you, we also collected $455 for Japan Disaster relief via World Vision. To engage this topic further, go to http://themissionalmom.com/.

5. In the works….

(a) Nor Cal Asian American Pastors’ retreat to discuss practical theological issues related to Asian American contexts and to network and have fun!
(b) Forthcoming books: Worship on the Way by Russell Yee (a case for Asian American worship) and Asian American Young Adults Primer (title tentative), edited by Jennifer Ikoma-Motzko and Timothy Tseng (based on Five Cries of Asian American Young Adults and other authors).

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Whew! I’m glad you read this far. To reward you, here is a nice devotional reflection from E. Stanley Jones, mid-twentieth missionary to India and advocate for peace and justice…

Joy is a mark of maturity. The sad, morose type of person is immature. For that unhappiness is being caused, almost entirely, through inner conflicts and wrong attitudes toward life. When we get rid of inner conflicts and wrong attitudes toward life, we will almost automatically burst into joy. For we are made for joy – made for it in the inner structure of our beings. And when we are truly ourselves by being truly His, then we are joyous, constitutionally. Rendell Harris says: “Joy is the strength of the people of God; it is their chief characteristic.” Where there is no joy there is no Christianity, and where there is no Christianity, there is no joy. “So there was much joy in that city,” was said of the Samaritan city, because “Philip…proclaimed to them the Christ.” Christ and joy go together. Where He is, there is joy, and where He is not, there is sadness. “And he went away sadly” – everybody goes away from Christ sadly. For when you go away from Christ you go away from joy. He is joy – a fountain of joy. The Christian way is piety set to music. It is fun!

O Jesus, to know Thee is to know joy. And it is joy that is not spasmodic, but continuous. For as long as Thou art within, joy is within, and any little thing sets if off. I am joyous in the thought of Thy joy. Amen.

— E. Stanley Jones, Christian Maturity (Abingdon, 1957)

Asian North American Doctor of Missiology Cohort with Fuller Theological Seminary and ISAAC

Are you a leader seeking to focus on dynamic issues or burning questions within your context so that you can bring about change? We invite you to join us in this exciting program!

The School of Intercultural Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary is pleased to announce that an Asian North American Missiology Cohort is gathering interest for a Fall 2011 launch with an on-campus intensive tentatively scheduled for November 28 -December 8, 2011.

As a group of missional practitioners, the ANA Missiology Cohort will collectively unpack unexamined assumptions that dictate ministry practices in such locales as the immigrant church, the Pan-Asian American church, parachurch ministries, and various mission organizations.

With this four-year program, key leaders will continue their ministries in-context, attending a cohort-based intensive once a year for four years. Each intensive consists of an eight-unit tutorial and a four-unit methodological course that will move research forward.

Students will study with a cohort of scholar-practitioners as faculty, including Dr. Mark Hopkins, Director of the Doctor of Missiology and Assistant Professor of Leadership at Fuller Seminary, Rev. Dr. Young Lee Hertig, Southern California Regional Director of ISAAC (Institute for the Study of Asian American Christianity)/AAWOL (Asian American Women on Leadership), and Rev. Dr. Timothy Tseng, Executive Director of ISAAC, who will serve as the primary cohort mentor. Further faculty will be scheduled to address the specific needs and goals of cohort participants.

Interested? Add your name to the ANA Missiology DMiss cohort “gathering interest” list by e-mailing dmiss@fuller.edu. All cohorts require a minimum number of interested applicants to be launched. The launch determination deadline for the cohort is April 29, 2011.

For further information please visit our website at www.fuller.edu/dmiss or contact Dave Stutzman at 626.584.5299.

Invite your colleagues and friends to join you in researching how you can strengthen your ministry!