November 16, 2006
Dear friend,
As Thanksgiving draws near, we at ISAAC are grateful for your encouragement and suggestions! We have been listening to you carefully and are even more convinced that ISAAC is needed. There are very few organizations that lift up Asian American voices in the Church and the Academy or integrate Christian faith and Asian American realities. ISAAC does - and is now ready to offer the following services:
• academic research
• teaching and training
• professional network cultivation
• consulting
Here are a few highlights of our work thus far:
• Persistent Witness: A Documentary History of Asian American Christianity is in its editing phase as Mr.Hyung Shin Park, a Ph.D. candidate in history at the Graduate Theological Union and I sort out the surprisingly abundant Roman Catholic, Protestant, and evangelical documents for this reader.
• The Bay Area Chinese Congregational study project, led by Rev. Dr. James Chuck, is also moving forward. Our research team is gathering data and preparing to produce a comprehensive overview of Chinese Christians in the San Francisco Bay Area. We hope to publish our findings in time for a conference in the Fall of 2007.
• ISAAC is also facilitating the development of a network of scholars of Asian American Christianity. Such a network would encourage quality scholarship about the growing and diverse Asian American Christian communities. Go to our blog for more information about the upcoming American Academy of Religion and Society of Biblical Literature meetings - ISAAC will be co-hosting and sponsoring a few events there.
• My wife and I led a workshop on Christian perspectives in College Admissions at the Chinese for Christ Church of Hayward, California on July 23. We are grateful to Pastor Tim Lee and the over 40 parents and high school students who helped us "field test" this service.
• Dr. Viji Nakka-Cammauf led an inter-generational workshop for the Burmese Christian Community Church of Silicon Valley to build community and develop a church mission statement. She will be leading ISAAC's efforts to develop consultation, training and teaching programs.• Dr. Young Lee Hertig is producing a leadership manual for Korean Presbyterians. She also respresented ISAAC at the Fifth Annual Lighting the Community Conference sponsored by the Korean Churches for Community Development on Nov. 13.
• Young Lee, Grace Choi-Kim, and a wonderful volunteer team, have been developing a network of Asian American women leaders called AAWOL. AAWOL just co-sponsored the successful launching of More Than Serving Tea, a book about Asian American Christian women written by Asian American Christian women leaders.
• Dr. Russell Moy and a local planning team (Rev. Ken Kho, Mr. Jonathan Lew, and Ms. Karen Yonemoto) are designing the Summer Immersion Program, tentatively scheduled for July 25-28, 2007 in the Los Angeles area. Invited participants will immerse themselves into the historical and contemporary experiences of Asian American Christian communities and then engage in a reflection process to strengthen their practices as educators and leaders of church, professional, and business organizations.
All this sounds quite impressive for a "rag-tag" team of volunteers (including our Board of Directors), doesn't it? Well, volunteer energy doesn't last forever! We plan to hire staff in the summer of 2007, so your partnership and support are greatly needed! Please consider providing a generous year-end gift (you can now use your credit card on-line - just click here). Join National Ministries of the American Baptist Churches, USA, Andrew Kwong, Augie and Katharine Hsiao Bau and others who are investing in ISAAC's work. Thank you!
Cordially,
Tim Tseng
President
In the next ISAAC e*newsletter we will feature profiles of Asian American Christians who engage Civic Life. Find out how Christian core convictions inspire Andrew Kwong, Hyepin Im, and Rod Hsiao to act for the Common Good
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