Laying down tracks
For those of you who have been reading NG.AC for the last year or so might know where I stand on issues of conservatism negatively affecting the Asian American church. And in a most real way, it’s taking a toll on me…
I feel pretty lonely, ecclesially speaking, but I feel guilty for it. And it might be the Asian conscience within me telling me to “put up or shut up” but I just don’t know where to turn to. Although I would feel more of a theological connection to a mainline church, I honestly feel no ethnic, emotional, and social connection to what is usually a mostly white American congregation. Although I would feel an ethnic, emotional, and social connection to an Asian American church, I don’t find much theological affinity with them.
I’ve made a decision in my heart to be steadfast in affirming and committing to a community that, at minimum, fully affirms women clergy and practices an open table. I want to be a part of an Asian American community that asks hard questions about faith, that wrestles with God like Jacob did. I want to affirm the wonderful traditions of my ancestors and the ancestors of my ancestors’ neighboring countries. I want to know how a God-incarnated poor Jewish man relates to my hyphenated-American identity. I want to collectively extend the arm of humble love and hopeful peace with our Black American siblings as there’s so much pain and mystery between our two peoples. I want to be a part of a community that embraces doubt, loss of faith, and emotional struggle as a part of the collective spirituality. I want my pastors to struggle with their faith before my eyes so I know that I can pastor them, and them me when I struggle. And so on and so forth goes the dream.
Looking around me in Atlanta, that leaves me with Asian American churches totaling zero.
NG.AC folks, tell me. Am I being too picky? Individualistic? Idealistic? Racially insensitive? Closed and unteachable? Too preoccupied with ethnic boundaries? I’m used to rebuke. I grew up with it. But I need some advice.
Can you relate to a nerd?
Tony Kim loves to go to Comic Con. This is his 5th time going, to celebrate all things nerdy. He made this audition reel for an epic documentary film that’s in the works about Comic Con, being done by the same guy that did the Super Size Me movie.
Tony mentioned that one of the many reasons he auditioned was because: “… hardly any Asians auditioning and I hope to represent”. Thanks for stepping up, Tony!
By the way, Tony Kim also happens to be a pastor at NewSong Irvine. He’s quite creative and yet in touch with his Asian-Americanness.
When a father’s love goes unexpressed
This USA Today commentary by Ray Wong, In death, assumptions about Dad melt away, seems typical of a child’s (or more specifically, a son’s) yearning for the blessing and love of a his Father. And it’s not really limited to Chinese or Asian cultures; it’s a common thing in many (most? all?) cultures for a son to want his father’s approval.
I didn’t think my father cared about me. I left Hong Kong at age 5, when my mother divorced my father in 1968. My father never contacted me. I lived in America. He lived a world away. …
…. After I married my wife, Quyen, in 1998, I visited Hong Kong again to introduce her to my father. When Quyen and I had kids, I heard through my mom that he wanted to see our children. So I invited him to the U.S., told him I would pay for his plane ticket and that he could stay with us. But I never received a response. I didn’t think he cared. So I went about my life.… my father suffered a stroke and died. … my father’s younger brother brought my father’s possessions to me. … My father had kept every item relating to me and my family. … As I looked upon the pictures of my family with tears in my eyes, I knew I was wrong.
Love unexpressed and love that doesn’t connect with the “love language” of the person of affection is love lost. What healing and joy there could be when love can freely flows, especially across cultures and generations.
In our NG.AC community, we want to highlight stories of people courageously answering God’s call to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.
Daniel DK Kim’s journey of worship and justice has led him and his family to commit themselves to fighting human trafficking in Mexico City for the next two years. They left today (with answers to prayer from the very start). Read the second part of our two-part interview with DK:
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What is the connection between releasing your new EP thefirst and your family’s commitment to fight human trafficking in Mexico City?
This EP is my first-ever studio project and I am still baffled and dumbfounded that it is complete, in print, on sale and in the hands of people who love it. It has been a dream come true and the way it happened was so sudden and unexpected, I can once again say that it’s because of God’s goodness this came about. It’s nothing short of a miracle.
I approached a friend of mine back in February to inquire about a job within his company. (This was after we decided to say yes to Mexico and decided I would need to find a job in the meantime to sustain us). He told me that he had no openings but asked me about where I stood with my musical aspirations. Long story short, he offered to help me make a CD in his studio as a way of supporting our move to Mexico City. I couldn’t believe it. What’s crazy is that just a couple days before, I was sitting down with my wife to talk about my desire to make a CD. It didn’t seem feasible since such an endeavor takes tons of money so we sort of left it at that and thought, “Maybe one day…”
I am convinced that God places dreams in our hearts for a reason and, though they may not come true in the time frame and fashion we envision, it’s amazing when God does his thing. The completion of my EP, to me, is a further affirmation that Mexico City was the “right” choice. This goes pretty old-school but that whole “seek first His kingdom and all these things shall be added to you” passage in Matthew is now in full effect in my life. I get to go on an adventure to Mexico and make a CD? Thank you, God!
The connection to this EP and our commitment to fighting human trafficking is two-fold: 1) All proceeds are going towards our family’s fund-raising goal of ($60K for 2 years) to cover living expenses and 2) the songs I feature on this EP are very much in line with the idea of compassionate justice in action as we surrender our lives in worship to God. These are songs I have written over the years and they have been birthed out of my pain, joy, struggles and revelation.
By the way, I’ve been out of a “job” since February and guess what? We haven’t had to worry about money. Still paid the rent, ate good food, and kept cable tv. The math doesn’t add up! Amazing.
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Who are some of your influences, both musical and non-musical, as a songwriter? Will you continue to write songs while you’re in Mexico City?
I love how worship songwriters like Matt Redman, Tim Hughes, Chris Tomlin, and Joel Houston combine simplicity, depth, “catchiness” and musical relevance in their tunes. I also love Coldplay, Damien Rice, and U2 among many others. I would say that my biggest influence of all would be Bono of U2. I love who he is musically but I am even more drawn to his commitment to advocacy and activism. The guy just lives on a different plane from the rest of his peers and I believe that despite what the “church” has deemed him to be in the past, he is the closest thing to the “real deal.” I am in awe of how he is using his platform to be a voice for the voiceless. Basically, I want to be him when I grow up.
God-willing, I will write songs till the day that I die. My hope is that one day I could write a song that the whole world could sing regardless of race, language, economic status or belief system . . . “Happy Birthday” is probably the only song that boasts this! I want to put into song what people want to express from their hearts. I want the world to worship God without religious baggage or jargon.
Originally, I was hoping to create a second EP before I left for Mexico to feature my singer/songwriter stuff in addition to the congregational tunes I feature on thefirst. The world will have to wait for that one. Stay tuned!
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Join in DK’s story:
Support DK’s family in their commitment to fight human trafficking in Mexico City by purchasing his new album, thefirst.
Preview tracks from thefirst and download chords/lyrics at DK’s personal blog.
Keep up with DK’s journey at A City Release Movement.
Daniel DK Kim just gave up his dream job.
As the worship leader at Newsong Church in Irvine, California, DK has been living out a personal dream. And yet, on June 15th, DK, his wife Sadie and their young son Micah will be moving to Mexico City for two years, “to do our part in the abolition movement while working with and raising up a generation of indigenous artist/activists in the city to lead the charge… until we see the end of slavery.”
In our NG.AC community, we want to highlight stories of people courageously answering God’s call to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. As you can see from DK’s story, which we will share in two parts, this awakening to the intimate connection between worship and justice is both beautiful and challenging.
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How would you describe the connection between worship and justice in your life? What have been some pivotal moments in shaping your understanding of worship and justice?
Photo by Scott Hodge at The Idea Camp in Irvine, California
I’ve been a worship leader since I was 15 years old, but it wasn’t until recently, in 2007, that I began to feel discontent in the way that I viewed and experienced worship. So much of our worship can become self-focused and self-indulgent if we forget about the call beyond the mere words of any song. I began to discover the synonymy of worship & justice in a few key passages of Scripture.
Isaiah 58 is a huge one for me: the challenge to consider what true fasting is made me think about what true worship is. “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the chords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?”
I began to see that my worship was just ritual if I didn’t take it outside of a fifteen-minute set list. I wanted desperately to do something about this unfolding realization but didn’t know where to start. All I could do was pray.
Who’s Going to Hell?
Reclaiming Chinese religious identity
**If you don’t listen to Speaking of Faith with Krista Tippett, you’re missing out on a top-notch podcast on religious faith. Highly recommended.**
I’d like to share the latest podcast episode from Speaking of Faith where Krista Tippett interviews Mayfair Yang, a scholar and director of the East Asian Center at UC Santa Barbara. Mayfair Yang speaks about the effects of modernity and Christian (how ironic) Western influence and its oppressive effects on the indigenous religious expressions in China.
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2010/chinas-spiritual-landscape/
As untouched as the turn signal in an Asian woman’s car
The title of the post probably makes absolutely no sense to you, but once you see it in context I’m sure you’ll understand it. Some of you may even chuckle about it. However, I’m not sure it’s the laughter that I would find offensive. Most-likely, it is the fact that people still have the perception that it’s funny because it is rooted in truth. Before I get to explaining this further, let me take you back about 40 years. Let me share with you a tv commercial from the 1960′s about a baby that wants to eat some glape jerr-o. Again, you probably don’t get what I just described, but after watching the video below you will:
Was it funny? Was it offensive? Are your feelings neutral about it? Read more…
Top Asian Americans on YouTube
Entertainment is the draw for viewers in the online video world of YouTube. Education, not so much.
The top 4 Asian Americans on YouTube were recently listed over at sublimesilence:
- youtube.com/nigahiga : Ryan Higa (et al) is Japanese-American comedian (Hilo, Hawaii). Stats: #1 Most Subscribed; 301M total views. (cf. 8asians)
- youtube.com/davidchoimusic : David Yong Choi is a Korean American musician (Orange County, California). Stats: #16 Most Subscribed Musician; 55M views.
- youtube.com/kevjumba : Kevin Wu is a Chinese American comedian (San Francisco). Stats: #10 Most Subscribed; 82M views. Plus, he’s donated all ad money via his youtube.com/JumbaFund, to charity, i.e. $1,708.51 in May 2009.
- youtube.com/happyslip : Christine Gambito is a Filipino–American comedian. Stats: #26 Most Subscribed; 68M views.
3 of the above are noted as comedians. 1 is a musician. Hmmm.
Pushing the Boundaries Together
David and I were approached by Emergent Village to write a post for their blog. It is reproduced below for our NG.AC friends. Enjoy (and critique):
http://www.emergentvillage.com/weblog/park-pushing-boundaries
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David: The joke goes something like this: when a Japanese person goes to a new city, he looks to start a business; when a Chinese person first arrives in a new place, he looks to start a restaurant; but when a Korean comes to town, he’s going to start a church. As my Korean immigrant father is a recently retired pastor who planted or shepherded at least seven churches that I can count, I can attest to the above punchline—Koreans love church. And we’ve taken to church planting and the Christian industry by storm, a sort of ecclesiological Kim Yunah phenomenon for those of you who watched the Winter Olympics. Read more…
