I’m sitting here in a hotel on the campus of Trinity International University in Deerfield, IL. I’m here for a Theology and Ministry Consultation, which is a fancy way of saying, “Not a conference.” It’s more like a working group to discuss various issues facing Asian North American (ANA) churches from both Canada and USA. (Looks like we don’t have any Asians from Mexico here.)
I just heard a great sermon by a Pastor Dihan Lee of Open Door Presbyterian Church in North Virginia. An noteworthy point about his ministry is that he leads the English Ministry (EM) in a church that apparently works very hard to keep multiple generations and languages together. Very inspiring story of a church, and a wonderful sermon.
I’ve also met a bunch of friends here, some that I haven’t seen in a while.
John Chung – Minister of Missions at Park Street Church (Boston)
Joseph Tsang – Pastor of Vision Church (New York City)
Ted Law – Pastor of Houston ACCESS
Irene Cho – fellow classmate of mine at Talbot who is now at Fuller Youth Institute (I haven’t seen this sister for almost 10 years!)
Dickey & Mary Kay – I may have misspelled their names, but they let me stay in there basement a few years ago. I only met them that one time three years ago and we had a great conversation. What a wonderful couple.
Though I’m glad to be here, I really miss K and the boys. But I was able to see both Debby (sis-in-law) and SamO (her husband) before I left for Chicago.
Going to bed soon. Looking forward to reflecting and learning from these brothers and sisters in Christ about ministry and theology around Asian North American churches.
19/05/2009 at 4:04 am Permalink
sounds interesting.
your british counterpart from bcec uk sends his greetings.
19/05/2009 at 9:44 am Permalink
Bert! Good to hear from you.
Actually, British ministry among Asians came up in my discussions just yesterday. Someone was commenting on how Asians like Thai and Vietnamese could learn much from the experience of Korean and Chinese churches. I agreed in general, but pointed out some big differences. While many Chinese churches have professionals and middle class workers, many Thai and Viet churches are struggling economically. I then compared Chinese churches in the US and the UK. Many Chinese churches in the US have professionals and the income and skills accompanying such jobs. But in the UK, most Chinese workers have lower income jobs and the struggles accompanying that. So while other immigrant groups could learn from the experience of the Chinese and Korean churches in the US, there are some pretty big differences to keep in mind.
Just thinking and praying about ministry in the UK and you specifically!