unbelievable

February 22, 2007 //

actually, i guess i shouldn’t be too surprised at this, but i am still frustrated, angry and disappointed. i found this entry at soong-chan rah’s blog yesterday and it ruined the better part of my day.

An excerpt from Zondervan’s Skits That Teach by Eddie James and Tommy Woodward published in 2006. A skit book meant to be used by youth groups all over the US features the following:

“Herro, Dis is Wok’s Up Restaurant calling to confirm your order. . . . I think that, yes, you total is 14 dollar 95 cent.”

“Herro? This is Wok’s Up Restaurant again. We have drive and drive, and we can’t find you house. We don’t find you house soon, you pu pu get cold. Pu pu good when it hot.”

(Hostile) “Okay, we drive for long time looking for you house. I tell you, you go outside and I look for you. I am driving a red Rincon (Lincoln) Continental. You pu pu still getting cold. Bye!

“Okay, I drive for long time and I stil not find you house. So I am eating you pu pu! Ruckiry it still warm. I was hungry, so I eat it. Mmmmm . . . this pu pu is good. (Smacks lips a few times) You on my bad rist. You don’t call us anymore. Bye!

seriously, give me a break. these “skit guys” are self-proclaimed skit experts and this is the best they could come up with? their “home run” idea to lead off their new book of skits is a played out racist send-up? not only is this kind of “humor” not actually funny – it’s degrading, offensive and lazy. it pains me to think of all the kids who’ve already had a good laugh at our expense.

i’m not much of an activist, but i went into the local family christian bookstore first thing this morning to take a look for myself. sure enough, there was the skit — the first one in the book. i took it to the front and brought it to the manager’s attention. she was also surprised, and immediately took it off the shelf. she said they would pass along the message to corporate. hopefully, they can follow through on this and, just maybe, take this book off all their shelves. a woman who waiting in line behind me overheard what i had brought up, and as i was leaving she actually said, “thank you for saying something about this.” it turns out she is a youth drama ministry leader and has encountered these types of things before. and no, she wasn’t asian.

i am also planning on writing to these skit guys, zondervan and youth specialties to let them know that this kind of thing is not acceptable. i’m sure their responses will be along the lines of the rickshaw rally “we didn’t mean any harm by it” and “you just need to get over it” type of thinking, but i think it’s still important to let them know how ugly and wrong this is. i know they run a business and it’s expensive to remove/re-edit the book, but they are also representatives of Christ — and sometimes doing the right thing costs.

i would love to be able to focus all my time & energy on ministry to people. and i know, of course, that in Christ we are called to be one body — that He destroys all of the ridiculous barriers we set up to divide ourselves. in the end, this skit guys thing isn’t that big of a deal — but there’s no reason for those who create, market and push these products to stop unless someone points out why it’s wrong.

Categories church, frustration, race

set phasers to stun

February 21, 2007 //

i just picked up sex god by rob bell today. quite a title, no? i have to admit, the fundie in me gasped a little bit when i saw it. and there are plenty of others, burning torches in hand, who are doing more than just gasping. it’s funny how rob bell incites such strong reactions from people: people either really love him or really hate him. while i can’t say i agree with everything he writes, i do believe his voice is a refreshing – and necessary – one.

i’m sure there is some shock-value intent in that title, but i’m very interested to see where this all leads. the subtitle is, “exploring the endless connections between sexuality and spirituality.” i might try to trek out to ucla for his q+a session — hopefully, there will be some fruitful conversation there.

Categories books, controversy, emerging church

prayers for rain

February 15, 2007 //

i just returned from our youth retreat and i am reminded of a couple of things. first, God is surprising and faithful. second, i am not getting any younger. i think i had some kind of weird time-delayed sickness hit me today.

more & more, my ministry has been about following Jesus in the ordinary days. youth (people in general, really) often seek the next mountaintop (or, in the absence of a high, a nice deep valley will do) to sustain their faith. i have been influenced over the last couple of years by the writing of good people like eugene peterson, dallas willard, john ortberg and henri nouwen. i read this great quote the other day about how writers like this speak powerfully not because of their verbal fireworks, but by the gravity of a godly life. as such, i have been moving away from the big and fantastic and more toward the quiet and deep (although i realize these categories are not always mutually exclusive) and emphasizing the importance of walking with God in our everyday lives.

anyhoo, i think it’s safe to say that each of us experienced God’s presence in a very real and powerful way this past weekend. it’s so easy to forget how important it is for our hearts to be broken in God’s presence. many students shared that their favorite memories were not the games (including a very painful round of “mahl-doo-baki” — a game that involves the purposeful inflicting of pain on others’ backs through high-flying aerials) or the activities, but the times of prayer we had.

like a good postmodern youth ministry, we set up a series of prayer stations for our students one night. one of the stations was designed to allow students to pray about their family life. as anyone in asian-american youth ministry knows, this is often a very deep source of pain for as/am students. our youth group is no exception. at this stations, students were supposed to use a scrabble board to share a word they felt describes their family, and then to pray for their families. here is what the scrabble board looked like at the end of the night:

while there are a couple of positive descriptors (hope, heaven, smile, hugs), what stood out to me was the amount of hurt. words like guilty, unfixable, and destroyed practically jumped off the board and slapped me in the face. i’ve only been serving this youth ministry for about three months, but i’ve really come to love these students. this small group of less than twenty is a very sweet, caring bunch. just beneath the surface, however, is so much pain & frustration.

when i first started in ministry, i think i thought ministry was mostly about preaching big messages to big crowds. now that i’m a little bit older, with a family of my own, i’m realizing how important it is to deal with these whole-life issues, especially family.

i’m still wondering, though, how “nee” (“een”?) or “niatrecnurx” relate to what we were doing there.

Categories family, ministry

the hardest walk

January 31, 2007 //

moving to san diego has been tough. i think it’s mostly because i am questioning God’s specific vocational call in my life. there always seem to be more questions than answers. i certainly want to trust in God, but it has been hard. i think this year will be crucial in figuring out what on earth we’re supposed to be doing.

my wife and i were talking the other day about how we pictured the future when we in college. being a graduate of the wharton school of business at the university of pennsylvania, i guess i assumed i would have a high-paying job. that was, of course, before i obeyed the call to enter into full-time pastoral ministry.

when it was just me i had to worry about, what did it matter if i was not going to enjoy the financial success of my peers? these days, i find myself more and more worried about my family – especially our daughter. again, i want to trust that God is the best Father she could ever have, but as her daddy i want to provide everything for her. not only financially, but in every way. and it’s extraordinarily frustrating when i know i cannot. it crushes me every time i hear say she misses her old friends and how she doesn’t like our new church.

and yet, in the midst of all these questions and struggles, life and ministry roll on. we have our youth retreat coming up. just imagining staying up past midnight makes me sleepy. yikes. but i know God will work in the lives of His people. here is the logo i designed for it:

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i really love last fm. it’s like having a nonstop mixtape playing on my laptop. i type “sufjan stevens” into the search engines, and i get to listen to artists like clap your hands say yeah, the decemberists, and belle and sebastian (in addition to mr. stevens, of course). please don’t let it be some weird source of viruses!

Categories Uncategorized

dreams never end

January 17, 2007 //

even though i’m a couple of days late, i’ve been thinking about dr. martin luther king’s life and legacy. i downloaded a podcast of his “i have a dream” speech. you can find it here. it’s amazing how powerful his words remain today, even for a worn-out cynic like me.

i have been thinking about racial equality and justice in america. on some levels, especially at the legislative/political level, things have gotten much better. out-and-out racism is on the decline (although recent anti-immigration laws might reverse that trend) in that sense.

however, i think racial prejudice usually affects people in a more subtle, personal way. i was born and raised in michigan, and although my town was diverse for the midwest, it was predominantly white. one day, when i was about sixteen, a group of friends and acquaintances went bowling. two of my friends began arguing – something about someone owing money (always a touchy subject among friends and family). at one point, frustrations boiled over and one boy shouted at the other, “don’t try to jew me out of that money!”

the other boy stood there, stunned. after a moment, he collected himself and told the other kid how that offended him, because his own ethnic/religious background was jewish.

now, one would hope for an apology and a quick reconciliation. unfortunately, the other, very white, boy became incensed. “how dare you accuse me of racism! that’s just a phrase people say. it doesn’t mean anything. you’re being too sensitive. just shut up and take it…”

i’m not sure if i was afraid that the others would turn against me (“oh, now the korean kid is getting into it”), or just too timid in general, but i stood there watching — silently.

i know that some people will not listen to reason. that even if one approaches them in a calm, rational, humble manner that they will still lash out with their racism. but, i hope that i’ve learned something from this. that i won’t be restricted to defending “my own” but that i will stand in solidarity with all of God’s people — to speak truth to injustice and to live out the dream of God for unity.

Categories Uncategorized