March 19-20, 2012; At Fuller Seminary (Pasadena, California)

The third Asian American Equipping Symposium will address the crucial yet often overlooked issue of Asian American family systems.  To bring “healing of memories,” several concerns will be dealt with during this symposium.  Both external and internal push and pull factors inflict conflict and wounds.  The external factors include immigration, worldview conflict, and cultural dislocation.  The internal factors include lopsided power dynamics in family relationships: between husband and wife and between parents and children.  Yet, the essential needs of healing for families and churches are hijacked by exhausting tasks and demands for numerical “success” in ministry.  Therefore, the objective of the third AAES is to create space for healing by uncovering wounded memories to re-member them.  Program includes understanding the impact of traditional Asian traditional values on family systems and the conflicts between eastern and western values.  Workshops, facilitated by experienced Asian American therapists, will serve as an integral component in personal healing of ministry leaders.

Link to event schedule and registration:

https://epay.fuller.edu/C20772_ustores/web/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCTID=147

Academics! We’re excited to see you at ISAAC (Institute for the Study of Asian American Christianity) is celebrating its 5th anniversary. Tim Tseng (founding and executive director) will share about ISAAC’s achievements, and will discuss its future opportunities. Russell Yee, editor of the SANACS (Society of Asian North American Christian Studies) Journal, will introduce its latest issue and lead a discussion with its authors. (SANACS is a program of ISAAC).

A highlight video of the experience:

And here’s a link to our old blog detailing some highlights of the first symposium, in Nov, 2009: Highlights of AAES I

Thanks to the Fund for Theological Education,  ISAAC East Internship program has been in full operational mode again this summer!  The interns for this year are all serving in New Jersey.  As pictured left to right, David Cheng (Maranatha Grace Church, Ft. Lee), Preston Chang and Sebastian Yip (both at Chinese Christian Church of New Jersey, Parsippany).   (Jason Lee, one of our 2009 interns joined us also for this picture!  He is the second to the left.)

David is a graduate of UC Berkeley and was attending Law School at Columbia University.  He has sensed a higher call and has enrolled at Westminster Theological Seminary for the fall.  David is assisting in all aspects of pastoral ministry this summer.  His home church while growing up was the Chinese Baptist Church of Orange County.

Preston will be a senior at Rutgers University majoring in engineering.  This has been a summer of exploration for him as he serves in his home church.  He is actively involved with Campus Crusade at Rutgers.

Sebastian will be in his second year of seminary studies at Moody Theological Seminary and Graduate School in Chicago.  He attended CCCNJ before his family relocated to the west coast when he was in his early teens.  Sebastian graduated from UCLA before attending Moody.   He returned to New Jersey this summer to serve at CCCNJ.

Thanks for making the event such a great success!

Sponsored by ISAAC East Region and AAWOL, co-authors Young Lee Hertig & Joy Wong will be  presenting on the newly-released book,Mirrored Reflections: Reframing Biblical Characters at various locations throughout NJ & NYC this July.  Book events will  feature an introduction to the book, chapter presentations by authors, Q&A, and book discounts.  All — both women and men — are welcome and encouraged to attend!

SCHEDULE

• Wed 7/6 , 6:30-8 pm: City Seminary of New York 2204 Frederick Douglass Blvd (119th St), New York, NY
• Thu 7/7, 7:30-9 pm: Chinese Christian Church in Somerset 758 Hamilton St., Somerset, NJ
• Fri 7/8 , 6-7 pm: Church of Grace to the Fujianese 133-135 Allen St., New York, NY
• Sun 7/10, 10:30 am:  Bethany Presbyterian Church 293  West Passaic Avenue, Bloomfield, NJ (Young Lee Hertig will be preaching)
• Sun 7/10 , 1-2 pm: Chinese Christian Church of New Jersey (Room: Upper Grange)  232 South Beverwyck Road, Parsippany, NJ

Find out more about the book—> <http://aawolsisters.com/books/>

As a sequel to the Second Asian American Equipping Symposium (AAES): “Asian American History—The Lost Coin” (Feb. 7-8, 2011), Theological Education by Experience (TEE) is scheduled for June 27-30, 2011 with partnership among various churches. TEE is designed to provide opportunities for Asian American leaders to experience the resilient AA stories and legacies by visiting historical sites in Los Angeles. The site visits include the multicultural birthing narratives of Olvera Street, Little Tokyo, Chinatown, and Koreatown. Asian American scholars and pastors will facilitate dialogue for theological reflection and ministry implication in both plenary and small group formats. More details and on-line registration at: http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=xxcjbvcab&oeidk=a07e3o3sbkq78aed5a2

Key Questions
1) What connections do another Asian ethnic groups’ experiences and histories affect my own?
2) How does race explicitly affect my ministries/leadership?

Program Goals
1) Formation of culturally and theologically grounded leaders
2) Development of Asian American identity
3) Reduction of attrition rate for leaders.

Pedagogy: Historical tour, small group fish bowl exercise, and plenary

Thursday, June 16 (7:30-9:30 PM)
Canaan Taiwanese Christian Church
4405 Fortran Court
San Jose, CA 95134

We had a wonderful time with Dr. Amos Yong!  Thank you all those for coming out!  Kiem Le also gave a great response as another theologian, and Grace Hsiao gave one as non-scholar working out how things play out on the ground.

“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.”

Amos’s talk: We hope to get a transcript or an Mp3 of Amos’ talk to you soon!  Until then, feel free to enjoy an abbreviated version of his talk from this year’s Asian American Equipping Symposium (AAES) at Fuller Seminary in February (video) here.  Grace’s two-page summary on this particular AAES talk is (pdf) here.

Kiem’s response (pdf) is here.

Grace’s response (pdf) is here.

Amos Yong is the J. Rodman Williams Professor of Theology and Director of Doctor of Philosophy Program at Regent University in Virginia. For more information about Amos click the following link: http://www.regent.edu/acad/schdiv/faculty_staff/yong.shtml.

Kiem Le is a PhD candidate in systematic theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Illinois. His current research is on divine action and panentheism. Kiem is actively serving as the assistant pastor at Grace Alliance Church, Milpitas, a Vietnamese Christian Missionary Alliance congregation. As an aspiring pastor-theologian, Kiem’s future interests include teaching theology, involvement with Asian American theology, and reflection on diaspora missiology. Kiem and his wife Grace, have three children and they currently live in Milpitas.

Grace Hsiao is the Interim Director of Operations and soon-to-be the ISAAC Northern California Regional Director. She received her Masters at Regent College (Vancouver, BC) and her B.A. at Stanford University. She has worked for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and interned at City Church (San Francisco).

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)