Down with Your Own Instrument Fuller’s Asian American Initiative The other day, I had the opportunity to talk with Ken Fong and Daniel Lee, the Executive Director and Associate Director of Fuller’s new Asian American Initiative. I thought—and planned—on conducting an interview, the first of my editorial career. If every interview is the same as this one, I could really get used to this gig. I asked one question and received a forty-five minute answer. It was phenomenal, because these gents are bursting with passion and knowledge about the Asian American experience and its intersection with the Church.
Our “interview” was much more a conversation than anything else—though I sort of felt guilty of voyeurism as Ken and Daniel did most of the talking. They were constantly playing off each other’s thoughts and tangents, but always stayed close to the heart of the matter: equipping the body of Christ to address the Asian American experience well for the sake of the Kingdom. Below is part one of the conversation. The material was so good that I was reluctant to cut any of it, so we’ll bring you the second half in the next issue of the SEMI. -Reed Metcalf, Editor Reed: To start off with, can you guys give me the brief overview of what the Asian American Initiative is?
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Ken: Alright, the first step: the historical context is that Fuller, for the first time, is aiming to equip in relevant ways their Asian American students. We have always attracted Asian students, but there has never really been a dedicated way of saying, “Okay, if you feel called to an Asian American context, you need to understand and appreciate these things.” Let me put it this way: if I were an African American student coming through Fuller and never had the chance to take a course on the black church, I would turn
around and say, “You didn’t really equip me for my context.” To be fair to Fuller, though, historically Asian American students haven’t even asked these sorts of questions, so part of our challenge is to convince them that these [issues specific to Asian American culture] need to be taken seriously. Our mission is to raise up competent leaders to reach a new generation of Asian Americans in changing contexts. For instance, it used to be that the immigrant churches run by first-generation pastors were a sort of an oasis, a safe zone for Asian Americans. Now, though, we are assimilating at an unprecedented rate, so many young people don’t need that; they’re saying, “Why do I need to go to church? I don’t need that oasis. This actually feels like going backwards for me.” So the question was asked, “Will getting an MDiv or an MAT at Fuller be enough to deal with this?” We’re here to give you more than just that degree.
is funny because Asian Americans have been around for so long. I mean, Ken’s grandfather— K: My grandfather came over when Abraham Lincoln was president.
D: But when I first came to Fuller, my teachers were confused at the distinctions I was making in the various Asian American communities. They just didn’t know what to do with us. When talk about an Asian American program here first started, someone asked, “Well, what language would the program use?” Most of us can’t speak our traditional languages! I mean, I can order food at a restaurant—
Daniel: Fuller has tried to address this issue at different times as different waves of Asians—Japanese Americans, Chinese Americans, Korean Americans—have flowed into campus, but nothing has stuck before, mainly because we did not have the faculty to support such an effort. We got a reboot with the Korean program, but people still saw—and still see—just “Koreans” instead of Chinese Americans or Japanese Americans or whatever. But we are a huge percentage of Fuller, so we have to address our various issues. We haven’t really known how to do that, which
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K: —I can’t do that— D: —But I can’t pick up a textbook or a Bible and read it. K: Now to be fair to Fuller, now the time is right. Whatever was attempted in the past, though well intentioned, was not done at the right time. When we tried it in the 80s, we only had 8 students show up, because the Chinese American churches were sending their kids to more conservative seminaries. Since students weren’t showing up, we could not sustain it; it made no sense to invest resources when the students themselves were not motivated to engage these issues. The program folded until Daniel showed up and resurrected it.
This spot is so unique that other people groups who may have experienced one of these areas—Irish Americans, African Americans, Latin Americans, whoever—just can’t relate to us in all areas. What’s weird is that each type of racism is unique, so each type has to be uniquely answered. One that Asian Americans have is what is known as “The Perpetual Foreigner.” People still ask Ken where he is “actually” from… his family has been here since Lincoln! K: Well, and some minorities have become so well established that they are now considered the standard in some fields—like African Americans in sports. Jeremy Lin comes along, and people tell him he doesn’t belong, he
What’s weird is that each type of racism is unique, so each type has to be uniquely answered. D: When I came here 7 years ago to start my ThM, I asked, “Where is the Asian American Group?” There was nothing, and I thought to myself, “But this is Fuller!” So I made some noise, and the next thing I know I am representing all the Asian Americans on campus with a two-person student group, Asian American Theological Fellowship. That somehow connected me with Howard Loewen (Dean of SOT), and he asked me to write a proposal for an Asian American program. I put it together, and it came out with this at its core: we live at the intersection of four academic areas of study: Asian heritage; immigration experience; American culture; and marginality.
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capital outlay, I can be my own boss. Some people look on and say, “Oh, the Japanese must really love gardening!” No, it’s the only job we could get after all our other property was taken from us! So the Japanese Americans worked hard, sent their kids to college for an education that couldn’t be taken away from them. And then, we’re suddenly used as a foil against other minorities— D: —“The Model Minority”— K: —And people say, “Oh, why don’t you work hard like the Asians,” right? And a lot of times we end up drinking that Kool-aid too. For those of us who are Christians, it’s made the Model Minority thing even worse. Instead of just being afraid of bringing shame on the family or the community, you are now bringing shame on God when you mess up. We now feel that we have to be more morally upright than anyone else. Churches of other ethnicities and
once and forever. This Model Minority thing is probably our biggest issue, because many students are still drinking that Kool-aid and don’t even know it. What we want to say is, “No, this does not affect how God loves us.” D: So we live at this odd intersection, right, of these 4 spheres that cause so many obstacles. We understand that many of our Asian American students will not be returning to immigrant churches, but they still need to understand the external and internal pressures that are working on them. We say that we need AAI for two reasons: to help people minister to Asian Americans well, and to help people understand “multi-ethnic” in its fullest sense. Even if your church is only 25% Asian American, you still need to understand how to address those people in that context.
does not get an offer from a PAC 12 school even though he was the top performer his senior year of high school for all of California. That wouldn’t be the case if he were African American or even white. That is this Perpetual Foreigner concept: you meet the standards that are acceptable for other races and ethnicities but you are still rejected.
For those of us who are Christians, it’s made the Model Minority thing even worse. Instead of just being afraid of bringing shame on the family or the community, you are now bringing shame on God when you mess up.
What’s interesting, though, is that Asian Americans have just sort of quietly reestablished themselves after each set of discriminations. You’re going to take everything away from me and send me to an internment camp? I’ll come back and take up gardening. Why? Because I like plants? No! Because with very little
backgrounds look at us and say things like, “Wow, you guys really know how to do things right,” to which we say, [flattered], “Why thank you.” But that just feeds the problem, a problem AAI is going to be seriously addressing: that we can’t add to or subtract from our worth. No, Jesus established our worth
K: And part of this falls on us. If we come unexamined, we have no idea what we are bringing to the table. We can think of this like a church potluck. If the church is historically white, when you have a few Asian faces show up, people are like, “Yay, we’re ethnically diverse!” But what did those Asian
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Americans bring? Spaghetti-Os. People are getting too excited because they are either too ashamed to bring their traditional food—they think it has no place at the table—or when they brought it, no one touched it because no one understood it. See, part of this falls on us too. When we are too fast to glom onto everything Western and not examine or explain our own culture…. Well, that’s what this slogan is on the wall. This is a picture of the first jazz fusion band formed by Asian Americans, named Hiroshima.
One of the founders was the whole hippie-in-the-park-playing-the-flute thing. During the Black Power and Brown Power movement, he said, “Our Asian American demographic is so diverse with so many different languages and backgrounds, how can we unite? The other groups all have a soundtrack…. So we’ll make our soundtrack!” So this hippie creates this jazz fusion band using traditional Japanese instruments, and soon they’re playing with all these different groups in all these different places. This guy now goes to my church, and I asked him, “How did you make this happen? How did you start with a taiko drum and make it part of the American jazz scene?” And he told me, “First, you have to be down with your
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own instrument before you can jam with everyone else. You have to make peace with the fact that this is part of your heritage, this instrument is part of your culture; that doesn’t make it the best in the world, but it has a unique sound, a unique history, and you need to get good at playing it! Then when you show up to the jam session and the other guy has a saxophone, you’re not apologizing the whole time for your instrument. Because musicians don’t
...There is a place for your instrument to be played—not to the exclusion of everybody else, but with everybody else.
really care, they are so into the music— they want to know what the instrument sounds like and if you can play it.” And so that is our kind of mantra here, that there is a place for your instrument to be played—not to the exclusion of everybody else, but with everybody else. You learn to master your instrument on your own so that when you come back to the group, you are able to make a contribution to the whole sound that would otherwise be completely missing.
Fuller, Come Meet the
Evangelical Covenant Church 2
Meet leaders of the Evangelical Covenant Church at an open house and a dinner on Monday, October 28. The Evangelical Covenant Church has earned a reputation for being the premier church planting denomination in North America, and it is one of the few American denominations that continues to grow. Two leaders of the Covenant will be in Pasadena on Monday October 28. The first is Mark Novak, a veteran church planter, superintendent of the Covenant churches in the Pacific Northwest. Mark now serves as executive minister for the Ordered Ministry, overseeing the training, credentialing, and care of all Covenant clergy. The other is John Teter, Senior Pastor, Fountain of Life Covenant Church in Long Beach, and Church Planting Team Leader for the Evangelical Covenant Church . Mark and John are eager to meet with Fuller students to discuss becoming connected with the Covenant. They will share with you opportunities for church planting through Covenant, as well as ministry opportunities in established congregations. You are welcome at either or both events! 1. Open House in the Catalyst from 3:30-5:00 2. Dinner hosted at Pasadena Covenant Church from 6:00-7:30 539 N Lake Ave, Pasadena, CA 91101 (626) 795-9381
No cost for dinner, so please RSVP by emailing alumni@fuller.edu or calling 626-5845498. Sponsored by Alumni and Church Relations, the Center for Lifelong Learning, Pasadena.V Covenant Church, and the Evangelical Covenant Church.
Thanks to Ken and Daniel, and remember to catch the second half of the interview in the next issue of the SEMI. In the meantime, you can contact Ken and Daniel at aai@fuller.edu.
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