One of the conversations that I recorded last weekend, while at ECBC, but lost (in a series of unbelievable act of user interface goofball mistakes the following day – can you hear me Sharp?! (gyah!)) was one that I truly wish that I could share with you for its spontaneity, insight, and candor. With DJ Chuang, Peter and Jamie Ong, Ho-Tay Ma, and Anna Lee seated around the coffee table, we simply threw out topics including how Asians perceive roles of ministry: elevated in Korean circles; monk-like in Chinese culture; cultural differences in the first and second generations; mentoring; networking among Chinese churches; which led us to the following topic:

Ho-Tay Ma brought up the notion of game theory and its potential application to the Asian American churches. We all sat around the table staring numbly…game theory?

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As I spent time with other Asian brothers and sisters in Christ this weekend, I was so struck by the beauty of our collage of people. The foods, the laughter, the intellect, the warmth, the resourcefulness, the generosity, and all that we give to each other. There is a richness, a certain affection that I have seldom felt with others. Thank you Peter and Jamie Ong; thank you DJ Chuang and Rachelle; thank you Paul Tokunaga, Greg Jao, Glennis, Anna Lee, Danny and Lisa, Ho-Tay Ma, Liz Mo, Abraham Kim, Mark Ro, Betty, Erika, Vincent, Jannice, Jeff, Lillian, Audrey, Jordan, Kelly, Cindy, James, Lauren, Angena, Amy, Stephanie, Leah, Gus, Peter, Jenny, and many more whose names I cannot remember now. Thank you, this weekend was wonderful, inspiring, and challenging. Thank you for welcoming me, dining with me, sharing with me, worshipping with me…heaven must be that beautiful.

We are such beautiful people.

We are not the only beautiful people, please don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying this to elevate us above others, but to point out that the Chinese people I worshipped with this weekend were beautiful to me.

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Find the full article here.

HARARE (Reuters) – Hands aloft and tears streaming down her cheeks, Alicia Chipoyi prayed in a high-pitched voice for spiritual healing for the wounds caused by years of slavery and colonization of Africa by Europeans.

Chipoyi was one of hundreds of people attending a European-African-American church prayer meeting on atonement and reconciliation for the West’s past role in the exploitation of what has become the world’s poorest continent.

In prayer sessions punctuated by wailing and weeping, song and dance, delegates said the West had to repent before God as the first step to reconciliation with Africa, which blames many of its problems on the legacies of enslavement and imperialism.

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I remember the days of IRC (Internet Relay Chat) back in the early 90s, when as a college freshman, I would waste, waste hours of my life on #korea (a chat room) chatting away, meeting new people. At the time, I considered myself sequestered in Nashville, a city that seemed devoid of Asian American activity, and found myself meeting people from far more interesting and desirable places. Of course, it didn’t help that I was desperately seeking some lonely (and equally desperate) Asian girl to give me the time of day.

I did happen to meet a girl online and we exchanged phone calls, and even a real letter or two (gasp! snail mail) to see if all of that “chat” was anything substantial. Then we decided to really meet in person. Of course, that’s when it all fell apart. Whatever we were building up the other person to be, whatever we were imagining, whatever flint that we were so intent on lighting when our eyes finally met…fizzled, floundered, and, on one other occasion, bombed.

Ah, what a difference a decade makes. That and a wife, a slew of different life experiences, and a God-given passion.

This Labor Day weekend, I’ll be rendezvous-ing with people I’ve only known online, the AA-church maven, DJ Chuang, and the passionate meta-pastor (somewhere between clergy and laity, like myself) Peter Ong at the Eastern Chinese Bible Conference. While these two guys have been encouraging from afar, and it seems that we communicate often enough to be considered friends, I do think it’s mildly hilarious that we’ve never met. Of course, I find it more funny that it’s reminiscent of virtual relationships I’ve struck up in the past, although I can assure everyone I have no alterior motives this time and I’m hardly nervous about what my hair looks like. (OK, OK, I did get it cut last night, but that’s all, really — and my palms always sweat, seriously).

The theme of the conference is “Christ, Culture, and Christianity“. Woot! Can I get a witness up in here? Could I ask for a better-titled conference that I would pay money to go to? I don’t think so.

Can’t wait to write about this weekend…

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