How Churches are Reaching Asian Americans
DJ Chuang Executive Director
L2 Foundation www.L2Foundation.org
L2 Foundation
Developing leadership and legacy for Asian Americans– bless & empower the next generation– connecting leaders for innovation and
healthy leadership development– mobilizing legacy partners to invest in
the next generation
2 print-on-demand books
• Asian American Youth Ministry• Conversations: Asian American Evangelical
Theologies in Formation
reaching next gen Asian Americans
• statistics
• structures
• stories
• summary
When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’, and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.
Matthew 16:2-3
Four stages of organizational decline
Cf. Mark Driscoll’s Confessions of a Reformission Rev pp.141-144 http://www.encounterthis.com/blog/?p=142
Creative Management Defensive Blaming
window of opportunity
5%of the US Population is Asian American
(July 2004)
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/006587.html
14.4MAsian Americans in the US
(July 2005)
33.4MAsian Americans by 2050
(projected)
49%of Asian Americans
are college graduates(age 25 and older)
20%of Asian Americans
have graduate degrees(Masters, Ph.D., M.D.)
$61,094Highest median household income of any racial group
11.1%Poverty rate for
single-race Asians(up from 9.8% in 2004)
17.9%without health insurance:
single-race Asians(up from 16.5% in 2004)
2.7M2.4M
1.9M
1.5M1.2M 1.1M
2000 U.S. Census, cf. wikipedia entry on “Asian American”
1.5M
206K 198K 186K 150K
2000 U.S. Census, cf. wikipedia entry on “Asian American”
80,000 in San Jose
140,000 in Orange County
Vietnamese Americans
36%Vietnamese Americans
born in the USA
cf. wikipedia entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_American
33%Vietnamese Americans
live in California
cf. 2000 Census http://www.asian-nation.org/vietnamese-community.shtml
20%Vietnamese Americans
under 18 in Orange County
cf. 2000 Census http://modelminority.com/article471.html
30%Vietnamese Americans
who are Catholic
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/11/national/11priests.html
70,000Vietnamese Americans
who attended Marian Days
in Carthage, Missouri(August 2007)
http://www.columbiatribune.com/2007/Aug/20070811Feat001.asp
10,552 in Bay area
20,000 in MA
17,396 in Long Beach
12,391 in Seattle
70,232 in CA
Cambodian Americans
U.S. Census 2000 http://www.hmongstudies.org/USCambodianResidentialDistribution.html
65%unemployment rate
of Cambodians in Los Angeles County
(1996)
from Immigrant Faiths: Transforming Religious Life in America by Karen Leonard, p.138
54%Cambodian families living below federal poverty rate
in Seattle (2001)
from Immigrant Faiths: Transforming Religious Life in America by Karen Leonard, p.138
8,686 in MI49,200 in MN
38,949 in WI
71,244 in CA
Hmong Americans
2006 American Community Survey http://www.hmongstudies.org/SEA2006ACS.html
19.1median age
of Hmong-Americans(2006)
from http://www.hmongstudies.org/SEA2006ACS.html
94%Hmong speak a language other
than English at home(2006)
from http://www.hmongstudies.org/SEA2006ACS.html
C&MA Hmong churches
with 29,437 members
(2003)
from http://www.hmongdistrict.org/aboutus.htm
81
Southern Baptist Hmong churches
(2003)
from http://www.churchplantingvillage.net/site/c.iiJTKZPEJpH/b.991807/k.9CC8/Hmong_Americans.htm
31
12,717 in MN
13,174 in TX
11,331 in WA
65,874 in CA
Lao Americans
2006 American Community Survey http://www.hmongstudies.org/SEA2006ACS.html
6,233 in FL
6,658 in NY
7,384 in TX
5,833 in IL
36,525 in CA
Thai Americans
2000 Census http://media.premierstudios.com/nazarene/docs/USCensusThai.pdf
66%Thai-Americans
live in Los Angeles(more likely 50%)
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_American
199,559Thai-American population
[alone or in any combination]
(2006)
from 2006 American Community Survey http://urltea.com/2waa
http://www.aasp.uiuc.edu/SEAsianDiaspora/
For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his fathers and his body decayed.
Acts 13:36
house“one big happy family”
http://ww
w.flickr.com
/photos/arnar/402574248/
duplex“two ministries under one roof”
http://flickr.com/photos/sidereal/111616256/
townhouse“two churches on one campus”
http://ww
w.flickr.com
/photos/ohadby/151741368/
mansion“many peoples as one family”
hotel“many ministries under one brand”
http://ww
w.flickr.com
/photos/thomashaw
k/94025957/
multiplex“multiple venues, one management”
http://ww
w.flickr.com
/photos/ckyuan/1004839506/
Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.
Matthew 9:17
Evergreen LA
NewSong (Irvine + NOC + LA + Bangkok + more)
Quest Church (Seattle)
photo credits: BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / The Seattle Times, http://flickr.com/photos/54896089@N00/487696832/
Grace Covenant Church (Philadelphia)
some characteristics
• spirituality
• creativity
• inspiring worship
• social justice
• leadership
• excellence
100+English-speaking Asian-led churches
less than 10 years old
$50,000Sarang Community
Church’s annual fund for church planting by 2nd Generation Koreans and
other minorities
http://blog.l2foundation.org/2007/08/29/multiethnic-church-planting-fund/
Open Door Presbyterian Church (Herndon, Virginia)
Alliance Fellowship Church + Harvest Community Church
(Chicago)
suggestions for English Ministries in ethnic Asian churches• a church plant in mission field,
not a department• expect God to use 2nd generation in future,
not look down for immaturity• invite & invest in full-time EM pastor• give ownership and responsibilities• put spiritual goals before cultural goals• allow EM to set their own goals and strategies• launch EM independently, with both churches
committed to planting more churches
from Joshua Kang (Lakeview) workshop at Evangelical Covenant Midwinter conference, January 2008
empowering next generation
• evangelizing in new ways
• cultivating creativity
• raising up young leaders
• restructuring for more effective ministry
• supporting church planting with prayer, people, and funds
http://flickr.com/photos/jimfrazier/139376081/
http://flickr.com/photos/sadaqah/426291086/
these slides + more @ http://blog.L2Foundation.org
DJ Chuang
L2 Foundation
www.L2Foundation.org
949-870-5726