wfn.org | Asian Lutherans Gather to Build Evangelism and Bolster Ministry

[News News <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

July 13, 2001

ASIAN LUTHERANS GATHER TO BUILD EVANGELISM AND BOLSTER MINISTRY
01-192-LW*

  ISSAQUAH, Wash. (ELCA) -- Mission is typically seen as a
commandment or a task, according to the Rev. Dr. J. Paul Rajashekar, who
led a keynote presentation at the seventh biennial assembly of the
Association of Asians and Pacific Islanders of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (AAPI-ELCA).  The assembly met here June 27 to July 1
at Trinity Lutheran College under the theme, "Go and Make Disciples."
  "The apostle Paul rather sees [mission] as the time Jesus said to
his disciples, 'It is not for you to know when the Kingdom is coming.
But you are to be my witnesses.'  Let us therefore see evangelism not as
law that becomes a burden to feel guilty about rather, it is a joyous
response to Jesus, and something we are to be," said Rajashekar, dean
and chair of the faculty and professor of systematic theology at the
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia.
  Rajashekar delivered his presentation to about 100 participants
from 16 states, as well as from Taiwan and Hong Kong, convened for a
series of presentations, workshops and discussions.  In addition to
English, the community included expertise in 25 languages and dialects
from East, Southeast and South Asia.
  "Christian discipleship is not a static, finished product; it's
always on the move," Rajashekar reminded the assembly.  "It is self-
expending rather than self-expanding.  As Lutherans we may be too
nervous about acting on our faith, not wanting to 'earn' by works
righteousness.  However, Jesus tells us to 'come, follow me; hear; and
act.' Practicing faith is the greatest challenge for Christians."
   Rajashekar also emphasized the importance of being with others.
"Discipleship always takes place with a group of followers," he said.
"Though in American society people don't necessarily want communal
activity, discipleship cannot be separated from church and community, or
adequately nurtured without community."
  In small group meetings participants sought solutions to local
ministry challenges by presenting case studies for review by the Rev.
Dr. Paul Wu, a pastoral counselor, psychotherapist, chaplain and pastor
of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
  In a resolution, the assembly authorized the AAPI executive
committee to make an appeal to Asian congregations for support of the
Matsushita Scholarship Fund, which helps ELCA seminarians of Asian
ancestry;  to reinvest the fund for a higher rate of return; and to
explore the possibility of establishing a separate scholarship fund for
other Asian graduate students.
  "The amount given may be modest, but it really helped stretch food
on the table for the kids," said the Rev. Mereane Tausili, a Matushita
scholarship recipient who is now associate pastor at Peace Lutheran
Church, Seattle.  Tausili was the first ordained Lutheran Samoan woman
in the world.
  The fund is "one of the most significant ministries the AAPI
manages," said the Rev. David C. Chen, San Diego, the association's
president.  Established in memory of Eiichi Matsushita, director for
church and community in the former Lutheran Church in America, the fund
provided scholarships for one theological student in 1999 and for two in
2000.  The students received between $400 and $1,000 each.
  In other business, three new members were elected to four-year
terms on the association's executive committee.  The Rev. Dr. Naw-Karl
Mua, senior pastor of Hmong Central Lutheran Church, Saint Paul, Minn.,
was elected vice president.  Emmanuel ("Noel") Ilagan, a former human
research training expert with the Christian Conference of Asia and the
United Nations, and currently a seminarian at Pacific Lutheran
Theological Seminary in Berkeley, Calif., was elected secretary.  Pat
Rajashekar, a third-year business student at Susquehanna University,
Selingsgrove, Pa., and member of Grace Lutheran Church, Philadelphia,
was elected a member-at-large.
  Two members were newly elected to two-year terms on the AAPI
board.  Saitong Urrampon, a nursing supervisor at Cook County Hospital
and member of the Thai Community Church, Chicago, was named treasurer.
Kevin Cho, Aurora, Colo., Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary graduate
awaiting call, was elected a member-at-large.
  The new president of the executive committee is the Rev. Peter Y.
Wang of Truth Lutheran Church, Naperville, Ill., who served as vice
president and now under AAPI bylaws is serving as president.  "My vision
is to build up the Asian Lutheran community in the United States --
ethnic, youth and second-generation Asian ministry," Wang said.  "I'd
like to reach out and recruit more members and provide better
communication channels as well."
  For two days prior to the assembly, participants focused on
evangelism training in an event sponsored by the ELCA Division for
Congregational Ministries (DCM);  department for Asian and Pacific
Islander ministries of the Commission for Multicultural Ministries; Aid
Association for Lutherans (AAL), Appleton, Wis.; Lutheran Brotherhood
(LB), Minneapolis; and the AAPI.   AAL and LB are fraternal benefits
organizations.
  The Rev. Samuel Fu-Min Chang, vice president of Taiwan Lutheran
Church, Taipei, Taiwan, served as keynote speaker.  He shared a "BRC" or
"Bible Reading Companionship" model used by more than 600 congregations
in Taiwan to cultivate disciples.  The model is based on 40-minute to
90-minute Bible study sessions that "combine knowledge with life
situations, provide true deep care, and allow for two-way sharing in
which the one accompanied talks 70 percent of the time."  He said the
one-to-one relationship worked very well, though at first some church
members would say "I can't do that!"
  "It was an interesting contrast to outreach models in the United
States," commented the Rev. Andrew Yee, Christ the Servant Lutheran
Church, Bellingham, Wash.  "Being too strongly 'religious' here, you
sometimes get 'walls.'  Getting to know the person socially and finding
out their needs is a more common way to go here."
  Kevin E. Anderson and the Rev. Karen M. Ward, DCM associate
directors for worship, led sessions on how worship evangelizes by
"connecting us with Jesus Christ and, through him, with each other."
  Anderson reminded the assembly that "it is not only seekers but
believers too who need evangelism" and that "evangelists do not bring
the Gospel to the world but invite people to join in on a dynamic
adventure -- a lifelong journey of relationship."
  Ward pointed out that evangelism is essentially "a way to be
church" in which believers say, "I can't just tell you.  You have to
come and see."
  The Rev. Marta L. Poling-Goldenne, DCM director for witness,
shared many outreach ideas with the assembly, including compiling new-
neighbor packets to familiarize newcomers with church and community.
  The Rev. James Moy, Seattle, offered a Bible study based on
Galatians 3:26-29.  Moy preached at the assembly's opening worship.  "We
live in a world [that is] a sea of faces and masks that we can only
partly see behind," he stated, encouraging the group to "be providers of
grace."  "This is what Jesus loved to do most, to extend grace to
people, especially those who knew they didn't deserve it," said Moy.
  Participants applauded and celebrated the fact that this assembled
group of Lutherans included speakers of Bahasa Batak, Cantonese, Chao
Zhou, Gujarati, Hakka, Hindi, Hmong, Indonesian, Japanese, Kanada,
Korean, Lao, Malay, Malayalam, Mandarin, Maradhi, Punjabi, Samoan,
Singala, Tagalog, Taiwanese, Tamil, Thai, Telegu and Tulu.
  The diverse assembly included such members as Charles Matsumoto, a
retired pharmacologist from the Eli Lilly Company in Indianapolis;
Susan Gaeta, a seminarian at Trinity Seminary in Columbus, Ohio;  Alice
Leung, Park Ridge, Ill., a saxophone player who led the singing of
"Amazing Grace" at worship;  the Rev. Allen Lin, pastor of Taiwanese
Lutheran Church in San Diego, who has a background in marriage and
family counseling;  Peter Wei, an electrical engineer and assistant to
the pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Monterey Park, Calif.;  and Dapot
Sitorus, president of the Huria Kristen Batak Protestan, New York.
  "I see so many talented people here," said participant Esther
Pandian.  "If we connected more and saw what we are all doing, we would
see we are all neighbors who can't keep quiet when the Lord wants us to
be accountable."  Pandian is a graduate student in organizational policy
who worships at Purna Jiwan ("Abundant Life") South Asian Ministries, an
ELCA congregation in Chicago.  She also works at Apna Ghar ("Our Home"),
the first domestic violence agency for South Asian women and children
in the United States.  "I want to bring Christian organizations in to
this politically charged arena, because in the institution of marriage,
whether you are Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim or Christian, there's a sense of
the sacred."
-- -- --
  *Lily R. Wu is a freelance writer who lives in New York City and
is a member of the ELCA Church Council.

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