SOLA Network editor Hannah Chao speaks with Aaron Lee about SOLA Network’s Hidden Gems of 2022 and the 2022 SOLA Network Magazine. You can watch their conversation below on YouTube or listen to it via Podcasts. We have also provided a transcript. Please note that it may contain spelling and grammatical errors.
Aaron Lee: Hi, everyone. This is Aaron for SOLA Network. And it’s me and Hannah today. Hannah, thanks for taking the call. I want to talk about two things. First, your hidden gems article. Can you tell everybody what’s going on with the hidden gems from last year?
Hannah Chao: Yeah, this is one of my favorite things that I do at SOLA Network, which is to highlight some of the articles that I absolutely loved during the year, but maybe didn’t get as much traction on social media or whatever. And it’s a way for me to group those together, especially at the end of the year, when people are like, looking back at what they did in the past year and have a little more free time. It gets people to read those. I chose five of them this year. And so I tried to pick things that were throughout the year. So like, there was one that actually ran during Thanksgiving, which isn’t too too far away, and then some that ran around the beginning year. And so that was really fun to do.
Aaron Lee: Do you want to talk about any one of them in particular?
Hannah Chao: The one that actually came out of Thanksgiving, Praying Before Meals Like the Men of Gondor, by Sara Kyoungah White was awesome. Anything with Tolkien, I’m like already in. Then to really parse out some of these like nuances that you would. I mean, I definitely have, I mean, I’ve read the book, I definitely kind of remember the scene, but I didn’t remember everything. And so to have that little reminder about how the hobbits prayed versus how the men of Gondor prayed was like, really cool. I also really enjoyed Comfort for Weary, Bruised, and Broken Gospel Servants by Sam Wan, who is this amazing Asian Australian writer. And it was just so beautiful to just feel the tenderness and warmth he had towards servants, volunteers, or pastors who feel worn down, especially because of COVID. And the gentle words he had, they were so moving for me.
Aaron Lee: Sara read her article for us on our YouTube channel, so everybody can go check that out, and I will put the link to Hannah’s hidden gems in the show notes for this one. Thanks for always compiling that every year, Hannah.
Hannah Chao: No worries. Again, it’s one of my favorite things to do.
Aaron Lee: I want to talk about our SOLA Network magazine. So this is going to be the big ticket that I want to talk about today. I feel that we did so much last year, and condensing it into a magazine… I think that was hard, because it’s hard to pick. How do you feel about that? How did you decide what you wanted to put in?
Hannah Chao: We did do so much last year. And it was really wild, looking back at the content, you know, previous post previous posts and going through, but a couple things I looked at was one I did want to see what was kind of had legs was a little bit, you know, people resonated with and so I would go to our Google Analytics and see what got page views. But I also wanted to show things where we, as a solo network, were able to talk about things from an Asian American Christian perspective, right that, for example, our review of turning red, right having that AAPI Christian perspective, right, or the shootings at the Taiwanese church in Orange County, California, that was a very gospel centered, but Asian American, or an Asian American, and a very personal story that, you know, we were able to convey that I think could only be found at SOLA Network. And then also kind of showing the, you know, the breadth of our audience. We had things that spoke to pastors and leadership, we had things that spoke to parents, obviously, you know, Faith Chang, always one of our fabulous contributors talking about how she’s not a pro at parenting and very Christian about learning about adopting a child with special needs. Like those are such powerful articles. Yeah. And so yeah, I just kind of trying to show the breadth and the impact that Asian American Christians can have in our Christian sphere. And I think that was, that was really fun to do.
Aaron Lee: How do you feel when you go back and you kind of look at all the stuff that you worked on over the year? I mean, I know that there are other people writing the articles, but you’re spending time with it, you’re editing it, you’re working with the contributor on it. How do you feel when you go back and look at it?
Hannah Chao: Honestly, it shows me that there’s so much talent in the Asian American Christian community than there are so many people with gifts that just need like, a little bit of polish. I’m not, honestly, I’m not doing super a lot. What I do is good and important. I’m learning to like, accept my gifts, you know, and not. So I am, I am a part of it. But there are so many great articles out there… so many opinions and insights and perspectives that we have that I could never write. And yet they resonate with me because they are able to put something into words that I’ve felt but never could fully express. So, looking at what happened, what we published… Heidi’s article on What to Remember While Praying for Ukraine, like that was a huge news story this year. And I and I actually, our church has relationship with churches in Ukraine and, and yet, Heidi was able to just put it into words like how to pray and how to think and I was like, This resonates with me, and this helps me to pray better for the missionary contacts we have in Ukraine and things like that. So it’s always encouraging. It’s a lot of work, but it’s so encouraging to see at the end of the year. All the amazing things we’ve done.
Aaron Lee: Hannah, I just want to do some encouragement. And to piggyback on that. Yeah, you definitely do great work. I’m always amazed at how quickly you can make the edits. But when I look back at something I wrote, I’m like of course it needs to go like that. Or why didn’t I think about that title? I also appreciate how you do keep the voice of the author intact, you never supersede it, you’re always pushing for that. And you’re also really good at keeping your finger on the pulse of what should be published out there on behalf of us. Whether it’s current events or holidays, I just feel like you’re always on top of that, you’re cognizant of it. So yeah, thank you. And it’s amazing to work with you.
Hannah Chao: Thank you, Aaron. I feel that’s very encouraging. I appreciate that.
Aaron Lee: And that’s just the tip of it. I don’t want to get too hardcore on you. That’s just really stuff that I’m really blessed by you. So let me see here… not only in the magazine did we put our articles, but we also put book reviews and our interviews, and so everybody can go and check that out. But something I want to talk to you about is our Asian American Leadership Conference, the AALC. Hannah, you went to that? And we’ve linked to everything from the AALC. So yeah, what are some big takeaways from that event that you remember, or that impacted you the most?
Hannah Chao: Yeah, I think the beautiful thing about the AALC, one of the attendees or speakers said to me, like it’s crazy, the amount of theological diversity that we have amongst our keynote speakers, and even the attendees, and yet we’re all able to come together because of the gospel, and because of our shared Asian American heritage. And I mean, I’m not gonna say that we were like, super along theological spectrum, most people were, you know, reformed, or part of a certain spectrum. But even within then, to have, you know, the TGC president there with the Intervarsity president, like, that’s, like, really cool. Yeah. And so for me, that was encouraging to know that there are these partnerships that can happen and that those voices are all welcome at SOLA Network, right? We don’t make people take theological tests. But you know, there’s such beauty in the diversity of speakers. And yeah, that was really encouraging to me that, you know, people, it wasn’t just like, one seminary putting out, you know, a conference, it was really, hey, like, Do you believe in this mission of following Christ and using our perspective as Asian Americans? So that was really good. And just to see that everyone was excited to do it again. I still get emails, like, hey, what’s happening next, so that I can put it on my calendar. And I do not, I will personally reply to you because I want you to come. So that’s been a real encouragement to me afterwards.
Aaron Lee: Hannah, we are the digital branch of SOLA. And so it’s right to have the physical, I guess, presence and embodiment of what SOLA is. It was pretty rad to see that happen. It was great. And not only that, but I got to actually be in person with you. So that was really cool. I want to actually end our really short podcast today. If I may ask you to read the intro to the SOLA Network magazine.
Hannah Chao: Yes. Okay. I will do my best not to stumble over too many words. And if you’re watching this on YouTube, I’m just looking at my other screen. I don’t have this memorized. If you’re listening on the podcast now, you know I don’t have this memorized.
Aaron Lee: This is Hannah doing her article read. We have people do article reads and this is Hannah’s.
Hannah Chao: 2022 has been a year of growth. While the effects of the pandemic still linger, we have found ways to adjust and even thrive. Many of us have gone back to in-person services, reconnected with old friends, and found new jobs. And even if it seems like our circumstances haven’t changed much, we can look forward to the new calendar year to give us the tiny push we need to try something new.
Looking back on 2022, SOLA Network has grown as well. We started to experiment with video content, having authors read their articles aloud. We also conducted more interviews than ever before, which meant we heard from many authors and participants of the first Asian American Leadership Conference. We’re also proud of the content we’ve made this year. SOLA Network published powerful articles on parenting to equip mothers and fathers. We continued to cover current events from an Asian American Christian perspective, from the Olympics to the Laguna Woods shooting. And of course, we published articles on the state of the church and encouragements for pastors.
So in our 2022 SOLA Network Magazine, we present 10 essays and articles that show the breadth of our work. And for the first time, we also add two lists of book recommendations for further reading from Asian American Christian authors. We also include a recap of the AALC and highlights of some of our best SOLA Network interviews. I want to thank all of the people who submitted their writing to us or were guests in our interviews. I’m also grateful to our incredible editorial board and volunteers who helped keep the website running—from pitching stories to editing drafts to hitting publish on all our platforms.
As you read our magazine, we hope you will reflect on how you have changed this year. Perhaps the growth was expansive and fruitful. Or perhaps it involved painful pruning and a lot of fertilizer. But I hope that we will all see that God is with us, whether we feel stuck where we are or as though the possibilities are endless. Wherever we are, I pray the blood of Jesus Christ continues to sanctify us and prepare us to do good works. Here’s to 2023.
Aaron Lee: Here’s to 2023. It’s so great to hear your words in your own voice. One more encouragement for you. Thank you for steering the ship. It’s an honor to work together with you and to follow your lead. It’s going to be a great year ahead of us.
Hannah Chao: Totally agree. Thanks so much, Aaron.