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

dj@L2Foundation.org

949-870-5726