Seminars

Ben Lim & Soh Leong will speak on the challenges of being on the Asian and American cultural borderland. They will help participants to identify where they are on the acculturation identity scale. Participants will also learn how they can develop their bicultural identity so they can be used by God effectively in a missional way.

Ben Lim is an Associate Professor at Bethel Seminary San Diego and Soh Leong is an Assistant Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy at San Diego State University. They are marriage and family therapists and teach multicultural courses and counseling.

Asian American Christian women face many challenges — media stereotypes, parental expectations. Learn how Asian American women have been using challenges to create and re-define what being an Asian, a woman, and a Christian means.

Nikki Toyama-Szeto is the Associate Director of Urbana, co-editor of More Than Serving Tea and a big fan of 'Ugly Betty.'

While it might be difficult to pin down precisely, we see the cultural impact of postmodernism all around us. What are some of the significant differences between modernism and postmodernism? How does our God-given identity as Asian Americans uniquely equip us for engaging postmodern culture? How can this intersection provide leadership opportunities for us in the broader church, in particular among the emerging/Emergent church and missional movements?

Daniel So is a husband, father and pastor in the San Diego area who is trying to figure out what it means to follow Jesus in the everyday and in between and to help others do the same.

A discussion on forming community and reaching the fastest growing segment of Asian immigrants in the US. A must if you're looking to impact the future.

Yucan Chiu is a pastor at Ethnos Church, a multicultural church that intentionally reaches less reached peoples in the local area, including South Asians. Yucan also oversees the South Asian Bible Study at UCSD Invervarsity as a Volunteer IV Staff. He is married to his lovely wife Yen-Yen, and has two wonderful daughters.

As Asian Americans who follow Jesus and seek to advance His Kingdom cause, how do we view and experience spirituality in light of who God is and who we are? In this workshop, we will examine how our spiritual journey intersects with our identity formation process, our struggle with various forms of brokenness and our quest for a healthy spiritual community. In doing so, we will explore relevant Biblical and theological themes and our shared Asian American experiences, and then identify a set of spiritual practices that are particularly important to Asian American Christians.

Peter Cha is associate professor of pastoral theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He has co-authored Following Jesus Without Dishonoring Your Parents and Growing Healthy Asian American Churches.

What we call the Good News doesn't always feel like good news, especially to our irreligious friends. Come hear a new, simply way of sharing about a message that is more than about a destination after death, but a new way to live — a gospel that's closer to what Jesus taught.

James Choung is the divisional director for InterVarsity in greater San Diego, and author of the book, True Story: A Christianity Worth Believing In. He blogs at Tell It Slant.

Although Filipinos are labeled as Asian American, culturally they are very different. Many of us come from Catholic backgrounds, and instead of chopsticks we have eaten with our hands. In this seminar we discuss the nuances of embracing our Filipino American roots in a differing Asian American culture.

Jacklyn Andrada is a campus staff member with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at Southwestern College.

There are unique cultural experiences we have when we grow up in a multiracial context, having multiethnic identities with many worlds. Join our discussion about embracing our multiracial identities.

Doug Schaupp is the regional director for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in Southern California. Sandy Schaupp is Korean-American, and also serves on staff part-time with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. They have three beautiful multiracial children.

Let's pull back the curtain and take a candid look at what it takes to be an Asian American pastor in the 21st century. Parental advisory: we will very likely have raw and unedited conversations during this hour.

DJ Chuang is Leadership Community Director at Leadership Network and Executive Director of L2 Foundation. He's been blogging at djchuang.com since 1999 and resides in Orange County now.

"Loud. Assertive. Bold. Door to Door. Opinionated. Direct Communication." These are some of the words that tend to be associated with "evangelism" and these are the words the rub against the grain of our cultural values. Are we left to choose between the traditional view of evangelism or our cultural norms? Or are there ways the Lord has given us our cultural values as tools for evangelism? This seminar will explore the various cultural gifts we bring to the table of evangelism and discuss the ways Asian Americans are wired to witness.

Dora Yiu graduated from UCSD with a BA in Human Development in 2003 and has been on staff with InterVarsity at UCSD for 3 years. Alan graduated from with a BS in Molecular Biology in 2005 and has been on staff with InterVarsity at Mesa College for 2 years. He loves Chinese/Korean food but you have to ask him why.

You are uniquely positioned to play a crucial role in God's work of battling injustice here in San Diego and abroad. We'll look at some case studies from scripture, our ability to usher-in sustainable peace to very hopeless situations and how we can create access to equal opportunity for those that can't. I highly recommend you to come if you're the type that might not normally think about a career or lifestyle of justice because you aren't the social-work/non-profit type. This will also be a good time to ask questions about the San Diego Urban Project and/or the work Hope in the City is doing in San Diego. Watch out, though: Joon will pitch a compelling case as to how your skills and talents are a great fit for urban ministry!

Joon S. Han is the president of Hope in the City and loves bringing the noise to help college students engage God's work of justice here in San Diego and abroad.

Have you ever felt that it was a greater struggle to share the gospel with your family than with a stranger? Join one pastor in his lifelong struggle in learning how to share and live out the gospel to his parents. Hear about God’s tremendous grace in allowing him to lead his father to Christ and baptize him in 2005. Learn some of the principles that may help us to share and live out the gospel to our families.

Steven Siu is the Senior Pastor of Chinese Evangelical Church of San Diego; he is a husband, father and Chargers fan!

What has to change in order for your church to bed over backwards to welcome some of the diverse people in the surrounding neighborhood? Why aren't good, 'Christian' intentions enough to sustain these efforts? Those who attend my workshop will learn some crucial lessons from EvergreenLA's journey to create a Faith Village from an historically AA church.

Ken Fong is the Senior pastor of Evergreen Baptist Church in Los Angeles. He is a 3rd generation Chinese American originally from Sacramento, CA. He came south to go to Fuller Seminary in 1978, and became pastoral intern that same year. Ken Fong is a contributing editor to Leadership Journal, and is also the author of Secure in God's Embrace and Pursuing the Pearl.

Jesus talked about money more than any other subject in the gospel except for the Kingdom of God. So, money was a big deal to Jesus and has major implications for our spirituality, and yet it gets little attention in our churches and fellowships. This seminar will study Jesus’ teachings on money and wealth in the gospel of Luke, and give some practical advice on how we can invest in the Kingdom.

James Choung is the divisional director for InterVarsity in greater San Diego, and author of the book, True Story: A Christianity Worth Believing In. He blogs at Tell It Slant.

Do you desire to see God's work in all aspects of your life? How can you use your talents fully for the kingdom of God? How does God want to use you in your professional career? How do you handle the challenges of the super-competitive business world as a Christian?

Dennis Kwan will share his experience from his entrepreneurial career and the Enoch Center, a Gospel community center in San Diego.

Naturally Filipinos are bridge builders. We have many similarities to Latinos. Many of us grew up in American culture. And we are all included in the group, Asian American. What does it look like to be a Filipino and reaching out to others? What it does it look like to reach out to Filipinos?

Jacklyn Andrada is a campus staff member with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at Southwestern College.

Join us as we continue the discussion on being multiracial & captivated by God's purposes.

Doug Schaupp is the regional director for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in Southern California. Sandy Schaupp is Korean-American, and also serves on staff part-time with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. They have three beautiful multiracial children.

Get an overview of the Asian American population and opportunities for outreach and social impact, and hear stories of how churches are reaching the next generation in a multiethnic/ multicultural context as well as ethnic Asian churches reaching multiple generations.

DJ Chuang is Leadership Community Director at Leadership Network and Executive Director of L2 Foundation. He's been blogging at djchuang.com since 1999 and resides in Orange County now.