In this series of video clips with Pastor Kevin Doi, he talks about Epic Church’s pilgrimage from being planted by a Japanese American church to recent years as they settled into a location in Fullerton, California and became engaged in the diversity of that context. This raises all kinds of issues, some of which are listed below –

1. Location, Diversity, and Meals
2. Inclusion, Exclusion, Power
3. Preaching, Feelings, Connections
4. Power Distance Ratios

One of the series of video clips was recorded with Pastor Ken Fong of Evergreen Baptist Church, Los Angeles:
1. Disruptive History – Japanese to Japanese-American
2. First Steps to Being an Asian American Church
3. Transition Beyond Asian American

Tom noted 3 contributions from the next generation:

1. Global Engagement - This student generation thinks and engages globally… The world has become smaller to this student generation
2. Communal Collaboration - there is a collaborative spirit
3. Entrepreneurial Action

Tom also identified 3 challenges:

1. Current financial model of American missions is unsustainable
2. Learning how to empower and walk alongside global church partners, rather than race ahead with our own agendas
3. Increasingly dangerous persecution and violent global anti-Americanism

Read the entire transcript from his talk over at Mission America and his postscript at his blog.

Excerpts from the interviews:

While it’s difficult to generalize the unique challenges that all Asian American Christians face, there are certain issues that continue to emerge in these discussions. Take, for example, the issue of identity and/or identity formation. Risking the danger of oversimplification, many Asian Americans face the challenge of being viewed either as an assimilated American (thus bearing no unique cultural traits) or as a perpetual foreigner (essentially, a non-American). This perception influences the way Asian American Christians view themselves and their sense of belonging, whether in society or in the church.

… while these Asian Americans are emerging as leaders in their respective secular careers, they are not finding the same kind of opportunities for advancement and leadership within American churches that are predominantly led and populated by Caucasians.

Furthermore, much of the conversation regarding race and racial reconciliation within the church falls along black/white lines. Rarely, if ever, do churches and denominations discuss the culture and history of Asian Americans. Thus, much misunderstanding and insensitivity exists. For example, within group settings Asian Americans tend not to be as assertive, aggressive, and outspoken as their Caucasian counterparts. This passivity displayed by many Asian Americans is often misinterpreted to signify a lack of leadership qualities.

Read the entire article titled “Identity, History, and Passivity: Julius Kim and Stephen Um Discuss Challenges for Asian Americans”

Also, read Daniel Eng’s thoughts about this workshop and some of the highlights he noted, including: Asian-Americans have had different patterns of immigration; Speak the gospel into Asian-Americans’ performance anxiety; Because many of us Asian-Americans work from a shame-based perspective, we often we default to moralism; The gospel is about power distribution, not power accrual.

Founded by Paul & Alice Chou in September 2000, L² Foundation was launched in response to the paucity and struggles of Asian Americans serving as leaders in the society at large. While growing numbers of Asian Americans have succeeded professionally, L² sees a need to channel that success towards strategic sharing of resources and experience to the next generations. L² Foundation has been engaging in dialogue with innovative and progressive Asian American leaders to explore solutions for developing enduring programs and resources for long-term impact.

L² Foundation seeks to fulfill its mission with measurements of sustainability, collaborative efforts, multiplicative effect and life-changing kingdom impact.

L² Foundation’s core values are:

• Affirmation : supporting the next generations of Asian Americans
• Commitment : committed to excellence and sustainability
• Together: working together for greater effectiveness and impact
• Self-respect: value for self that overflows into service for others

Watch the video below to hear from the founders, Paul & Alice Chou. This video features one of L² Foundation’s past program, Triangle Youth Fellowship, a 3-year program that built a community of youth from church youth groups in the Triangle area (Raleigh/ Durham/ Chapel Hill, North Carolina) to encourage collaboration and networking among Asian American youth.



Video: About L² Foundation’s Triangle Youth Fellowship

Give2Asia, a leading provider of services for philanthropy to Asia, today is releasing a new study on the giving patterns of Korean Americans. The report, titled “Korean American Philanthropy: Traditions, Trends, and Potential,” draws on Give2Asia’s expertise in working with Asian American donors, in-depth interviews with Korean American donors and advisers, and research on population trends to provide the philanthropic community with new insights into the state of philanthropy among Korean Americans.

… The report examines the Korean American diaspora’s potential for philanthropy and finds that it is increasing as the diaspora accumulates wealth and comes to include a greater number of upwardly mobile American-born individuals. It also explores various traditions of giving among Korean Americans, including informal giving, remittance sending, gye, and church-based giving, and shows that mainstream giving is on the rise.

… The report is publicly available on Give2Asia’s website (www.give2asia.org/korean-american-report). Give2Asia believes that the success of the philanthropic community depends on the funding, execution, and free sharing of impactful research. It hopes that this report will serve as a baseline for additional research and spark a conversation about Korean American philanthropy.

This kind of a report provides exposure to the under-developed capacity of Asian Americans’ ability and capacity to give back to society and making yet greater impact in the world.

Chinese pastor, seminary and university professors, missionary and clinical psychiatrists mutually agree that a strong conviction of faith in God mixed with a bright and optimistic outlook on life are greatly beneficial to one’s physiological, mental, and spiritual health.

Logos Evangelical Seminary, first fully accredited Asian seminary by the Association of Theological School in the United States and Canada (ATS), organized a seminar titled “Mental Health Conference for Chinese American Christians” at the Evangelical Formosan Church of Los Angeles, where over 700 local church leaders participated, on January 22.

Read the full article at gospelherald.net >>

In the metro Washington DC area, on January 24-26, 2011, the second CAARL (Council on Asian-American Reformed Leadership) Conference will explore how the Gospel applies to relationships with an apt theme, “Applying the Gospel to Relationships.” Asian-American reformed pastors and scholars will speak both from their theology and their experience. Together they share decades of pastoral ministry, marriage and family life, and biblical/theological reflection. They do not want to just share general principles but explore some of the particular challenges and opportunities of their Asian-American and multi-ethnic contexts. Speakers include: Jeffrey Jue, Paul Kim, Stephen Ro, Min Joshua Chung, Paul Chang-Ha Lim, and Julius Kim. Listen online to the audios from last year’s CAARL conference.

At Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, on February 7-8, 2011, the second Asian American Equipping Symposium convenes with the theme, “Living Out The Gospel II: Asian American History — The Lost Coin.” Speakers include Eugene Cho, David Yoo, Timothy Tseng, Amos Yong, Grace Yia-Hei Kao, and more.
(more…)

December 27-30, 2011
CMC West Coast (San Diego, CA)
with Francis Chan and George Murray
sponsored by Ambassadors for Christ and Chinese Churches Pastor Fellowship of San Diego

May 3-5, 2012
Asian American Women’s Leadership Conference 2012 (Los Angeles area)
hosted by leaders from AACF, Epic Movement, IVCF, Navigators, and SEAC

October 3-6, 2012
Southeast Asian Leadership Summit: Arise and Shine (Chicago)
hosted by Southeast Asian Catalyst

Submit an event for inclusion on this calendar - contact us.

L² Foundation occasionally hosts strategic events. To stay informed on what we’re developing in the areas of leadership and  legacy, please subscribe to our announcements email.

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