Who doesn’t love both Pho and BBQ? And this is where I shall start… Introductions to Kevin Nguyen. Let me go ahead and respond to DJ’s original post, and introduce myself as best I can – in a sermonic outline format:
I. Your “Called” Name (what you go by):
Legal name: Anh-Khoa Nguyen. Nickname: Kevin ; personal family name: Khoa (qua)
Nationality: Vietnamese-Texan
Kevin was picked up when I was trying to order pizza from Pizza Hut while in Texas. The guy asked how to spell my name. I mean, how hard is it to spell “K – H – O – A”, right? Those are not hard letters to hear over the phone. After several attempts – I couldn’t take it anymore — “Dude, my name is Kevin”. Finally, I can have my pizza.
II. Insert an informal photo of you that shows your personality or you having fun or traveling:
Coming from Dallas, Texas – now relocated in LA, I had a chance to go back and do what Texans do. FISH. But that doesn’t mean I know how to fish. But look at this HUGE STRIPED BASS I caught. AMAZING! Not really the fish was floating by, dead, when I caught it. Notice the white eyes. I REALLY CANT FISH – can’t even cast a reel.
My family during this Christmas season. Lovely wife, Huong Nguyen, of 7.5 years + a 21 month old boy, Khoi Nguyen. So your questions: How did we meet? Instead of a photo slide show at our wedding, we thought we try out a Silent Film of “Our Love Story”. Since we were living in LA, there were lots of hungry, unemployed directors everywhere.
III. Your Educational Background/Degrees/Schools:
Biola University, Talbot School of Theology
Doctor of Philosophy, Candidacy
Concentration: Leadership in Higher Ed Administration
Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary
Master of Arts
Concentration: Christian Leadership
University of Texas at Dallas
Bachelor of Science Electrical Engineering
Concentration: Telecommunication , Wireless Technology
IV. Personal Information You’d Like To Share:
A. I have my own food blog – FEED FATDOG. I only take pictures of something EXCEPTIONAL!
B. My son looks like me….
I love “active” sports. Basketball, football, baseball. I play basketball. Golf is NOT an active sport. I am finally jumping on the bandwagon of enjoyment. Here is a 15 second video of how awesome I am — I got a “birdie”. I am a TEXAS homer. I love the Cowboys, Rangers, Mavericks. I hate the LA sport teams
V. Work Experiences
This is where my personality will match my career. It’s all over the place, but I still believe God has a reason why I do what I do.
Ministry – church planter, leadership pastor at Cornerstone Bible Community Church. Been in Chino Hills, CA for 3 years.
Vocation – went to school to be an Electrical Engineer, but go figure, I wanted to be a people’s person. I ended up in management for Sales/Marketing with Cingular à AT&T mobility. Background and expertise is in organizational leadership.
Higher Ed Academics – this is the newest part of my passions. I wanted to focus in Christian studies and management, so I went out for a PhD in Leadership and Higher Ed administration. Currently teaching at California Baptist University and Talbot Seminary. Love to help impact lives and help them find their fullest potential.
But you know what I really love most in all of these bits and pieces of my life I just shared? All of this is what God has uniquely crafted in who I am and what gifts I have to offer to the church. All my skills, all my interests, all my passions, all my experiences — they all belong to the Creator who he has predestined me to do good work (Eph 2:10), whether it be for the AA church or for somewhere else in Timbucktoo. I am affirmed and confident that my life testimony will impact someone out there, and for this reason, MY LIFE MISSION STATEMENT is:
“I desire to assist those who assist the Kingdom”. If you are one of those people who assist the kingdom, I want to offer you all my love, joys, pains, passions, and experiences.
There’s always more to add but this is a good start. You can always follow me here. I love to keep in touch.
Blessings,
KN
Consistent with who you are. Great tidbits. People will be blessed by your insights.
Excited to hear about other AA leaders!
Perhaps this is too technical, but Im gonna chime in as this is a blog about Asian American Christianity. One’s nationality cannot be Vietnamese-Texan, as Texas is not a nationality, and unless Rev. Nguyen is both a citizen of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam alongside with being a citizen of the United States of America, his nationality is not Vietnamese-American.
That leads to a good question. How does ethnicity and nationality play into this dialogue?
Good Question, Drew –
First, “Rev Reggie Jackson” or “Rev Reggie White” sounds a lot cooler than Rev Nguyen. I think my name might diminish that title. Appreciate the love, though.
As for some thoughts you brought up. When people coined the term Asian American (AA), I believe they created a sub-culture that was neither ethnicity or nationality-based. More so it was a summary or melting pot of a particular cultural setting for a 2nd generation of Asian immigrant off-spring. I don’t know if I would call my father an Asian-American although he is Asian and lives in America. With this being said, there is a sub-culture identity that 2nd gen would have commonality and common interest, thought patterns, attraction, and cultural orientation.
The thought-provoking question you brought up deserves some conversation. I have NEVER been to Vietnam or have any citizenship there. Yet, I fill in the bubble “Vietnamese” on legal documents because that is my cultural upbringing. I still like PHO, and hold strong cultural ties. Texas was where I was raised (and we sometimes think it is another country, like Californians) and I have more affinity with Texas more than being American or Vietnamese. It has its own cultural biases as well.
By saying I am a Vietnamese-Texan means that it is my cultural identity. All the “patterns and traditions” that come to mind when I say Vietnamese is in me, and all the “patterns and traditions” of being a Texan is a part of me. It is more SPECIFIC to say I am Vietnamese/Texans than saying I am 2nd gen AA, because it gives you a context of specificity in region, location, culture, and context.
Now what does it say about being “Christian”? Is that a nationality? Ethnicity, or Cultural identity? I think I wait for this one because I want to know what people think — are you Christian, or AA, or Viet-Texan? Which is the dominant theme for those in the church?
Kevin, thanks for letting us into your history and world! I think it’s funny and accurate that you identify a state as part of your identity… just brings to attention how there’s so much to each of us than just the label “American” or “Asian”. It’s similar with being a Christian, as you say above… sometimes people say that all that matter is that we are Christians, and it’s true that our identity is in Christ. But what kind of a Christian are we? There’s so much to that question to pursue, and so much diversity and uniqueness that is fun and motivating to explore, if we don’t feel we have to avoid it, minimize it, dichotomize it, or whatever else. Anyway, I’m really looking forward to hearing your insights on Asian American leadership… sounds like you’ll have a lot I can learn from!