We have a special giveaway this week! Heidi K. Wong is on our SOLA Network Conference Team and is the Executive Director for Exilic Church in New York City – also overseeing its college ministry. Her beautiful book, Closer Than they Appear, combines photos taken on film with essays exploring the distance between the past, the present, and the person holding onto the hope and beauty of the human condition. Read my review, and we also have an interview coming soon.
In case you missed it: We’re writing a book! We just announced our SOLA Network Book Project: Writing the Next Chapter of the Asian American Church. We believe it is time for SOLA Network to put in writing thoughts that would help the emerging generation of Asian American leaders and churches. Our book will launch at the 2024 Asian American Leadership Conference. More details coming soon. Registration for the conference is now open!
This newsletter is one of the many ways you can keep in touch with us. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. For more, check out my Asian American Worship Leaders Facebook group and TGIF Playlist on Spotify. You can reach me on Twitter and Instagram.
Aaron Lee, Editorial Curator
Enter to win this beautiful book! Thanks Heidi K. Wong for providing this book for our giveaway, in partnership with my newsletters for @diveindigdeep and FCBC Walnut. How do our memories make us? How do our stories shape us? In Closer Than They Appear, Heidi K. Wong presents a collection of musings exploring this distance between the past, the present, and the person holding onto the hope and beauty of the human condition. Read my review.
Articles From Around The Web
1. Stephan Teng: What If I’m Bad at Evangelism?
“God is moving history to his glory and to the good of those who love him. And he promised that we aren’t alone in this evangelism thing –– he has given us his Spirit to accompany us and empower us in our evangelism attempts.”
2. Danny Kwon: Making Youth Group ‘Senior Night’ More Than Once Each Year
“Sharing the prospect of an unknown future led into deep conversation and the sharing of hopes, dreams, and fears. Ultimately, we shared unity and growth leading to deeper trust in Jesus.”
Asian American Leadership Conference 2024: “Writing the Next Chapter.” April 23-24, 2024, Orange County, CA. Registration and more info can be found at aalc.network.
The vision of this conference is to equip Asian-American leaders with gospel centered, contextual resources that will empower men and women for local church ministry. Our conference strategy is to equip leaders, platform voices, and connect with one another for life-giving relationships.
The theme of our conference is “Writing the Next Chapter: Empowering Asian American Voices for Gospel Ministry”. The Asian American church today is at a unique inflection point with leaders in diverse stations across multiple generations. This conference will be an opportunity to learn from these voices for the sake of continued and future Gospel work together.
Books, Podcasts, Music, And More
1. Sam D. Kim: A Holy Haunting (Free eBook)
What is faith and where does it come from? In A Holy Haunting, Sam D. Kim shows “why faith isn’t a leap but a series of staggers from one safe place to another.” This book is available free for a limited time. Read my review of this excellent book, and check out my interview with author Sam D. Kim about understanding people who doubt.
2. Sara Kyoungah White: Past Lives
“In Arthur and Nora’s embrace, Past Lives ultimately reminds us that those who love us in the present choose to love us fully, past lives and all. It’s an embrace that reminds us of Christ.”
3. Aaron Lee: Related Works
Book reviews: Journey to Bethlehem by Leland Ryken, The Prayer Journal by Alabaster. Listen to our TGIF playlist on Spotify. Join my Asian American Worship Leaders Facebook group.
Our new Books and Reviews page is your one-stop resource for all of your reading needs. It features Asian American authors and issues, book recommendations, and interviews.
Featured This Week On SOLA Network
1. Aaron Lee: Learning from Pastors at Japanese American Internment Camps: An Interview with Tom Sugimura
“Tom Sugimura talks to us about the research he did for his article and gives us more insight into the Japanese people who lived through the camps, including his own family.”
2. Thomas Sugimura x Christianity Today: How Japanese American Pastors Prepared Their Flocks For Internment: An Excerpt
“Like John the Baptist, Nikkei ministers raised their voices in the wilderness to proclaim a message of hope in Jesus Christ. Yet they also actively lived out their faith by suffering with their flocks and leading worship services behind the barbed wire of the internment camps. Their witness in the face of unjust suffering models how we can care for souls today.”
3. Kevin Yi: Addressing Deconstruction in the Church: An Interview with Barnabas Piper and Jason Min
“We hope this conversation can be helpful for the local church to walk compassionately with those who are deconstructing.”
4. TGIF: Roundup for September 29, 2023
Misreading Scripture Cross-culturally / Jonah Is More Like Us Than We Realize / Reining in the Presumptuous Parachurch / Tips and Resources for Teaching Children, Tweens, and Teens How to Pray / One Piece and ‘Straw Hat Christians’
5. SOLA Network: TGIF Subscription
Get our TGIF installments delivered straight to your inbox for free every Friday. Join today so you never miss out.
General disclaimer: Our link roundups are not endorsements of the positions or lives of the authors.