Posted in Question, tagged flourishing, leadership, politics, sustainability on December 6, 2011 | 7 Comments »
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Posed by Joy Wong
It’s been my observation that no matter how great or glorious the institution, the higher up you go in leadership, the more ugliness you see. Ugliness in terms of power plays, decision-making, or just the general muck that comes with politics. At the same time, it seems that no matter how bad it gets in the upper realms of leadership, the “end-users” such as students, parishioners, etc. may actually be quite happy with the institution (more…)
Posted in Question, tagged empowerment, leadership on October 4, 2011 | 10 Comments »
Photo by Per Ola Wiberg ~ Powi
Posed by Priscilla Chen
As a woman leader, I really want to bless the ministry but sometimes I’m afraid I am squelching male leadership as a result of my involvement. Recently, I was overseeing a male leader, about 4 years younger than me. I noticed that he was kind of hesitant, and I wondered whether it was because of his age, whether he felt like he couldn’t say certain things in front of me, or something else. (more…)
Posted in about Institute for the Study of Asian American Christianity (ISAAC), Uncategorized, tagged empowerment, identity, leadership, multiculturalism on October 12, 2010 | 5 Comments »
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By Joy Wong
I had the special privilege of having breakfast yesterday with Tim Tseng, executive director of ISAAC (Institute for the Study of Asian American Christianity) and Young Lee Hertig, the regional director of ISAAC-SoCal. While I had understood ISAAC’s mission to be aimed at strengthening Asian American churches, Tim was able to clarify for me that part of ISAAC’s mission is also identify formation for Asian American Christians so that they feel they have something to contribute in non-Asian American ministry settings, rather than feeling disempowered or settling in mere consumer roles in the church. This made me wonder, Do I believe that Asian Americans have something to contribute in a non-Asian American ministry setting? (more…)
Posted in Announcement, reflections, resource, tagged leadership, personal narratives, reflections, yinist theology on August 16, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Written by our AAWOL core sisters, Mirrored Reflections: Reframing Biblical Characters offers reflections on leadership, interweaving personal narratives with the stories of biblical characters. Stay tuned for upcoming events!
Posted in Joy, tagged conflict resolution, culture gap, finding one's voice, generation gap, immigrant church, leadership, minimizing needs, not being a burden, speaking the truth on October 22, 2008 | 1 Comment »
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by Joy Wong
I recently suffered an offense in church about which I had to decide whether to speak up or stay silent. Normally, I would have remained silent, with the anger of injustice burning within me. In the past, I often chose to remain silent for the following reasons: 1) somehow I had come to believe that I was overly sensitive, so that if I was hurt for any reason, it was not the fault of the person who hurt me, but it was my fault, for being too sensitive, 2) without being sure of whether my wound was a fault of mine or of others, I felt it was safer to remain silent, so that I would be the only one who had to deal with the effects of my anger and pain, and 3) perhaps my Asian-ness decided that I would rather remain in silence than burden others with my problem. (more…)
Posted in Melanie, testimonies, tagged affirmation, community, finding one's voice, leadership, network, safety, sustainability, truth-telling on August 7, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
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One “truth” I have struggled with for the past 30 years is why there are so many women absent from leadership positions in the church today. (more…)
Posted in Joy, testimonies, tagged empowerment, glass ceiling, insecurities, leadership, mentorship, worship leader on July 24, 2008 | 2 Comments »
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by Joy Wong
Many years ago, God put on my heart the need for Asian American women mentorship. At the time, I was one of four worship leaders at an Asian church, and the only female worship leader. At the monthly worship leaders’ meeting, it became very apparent that my struggles and insecurities as a female worship leader were very different from those of my male counterparts. (more…)
Posted in Debbie, testimonies, tagged community, culture, empowerment, expectations, family, finding one's voice, healing, identity, integrity, Kingdom values, leadership, mentorship, parents, shame on July 8, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Photo by Sweet Trade Photography
by Debbie Gin
I used to question my integrity a lot. I felt twinges of shame whenever I interacted with people because I thought I wasn’t “the real me” in every context. I behaved one way with my peers, another way with my family, and yet another way with my professors. I thought of myself as a fraud, a chameleon, easily changed by the presenting situation. At times, I even wondered whether I was “prostituting” myself out, becoming whatever my context needed me to be.
I also felt pressure to find my own path but felt conflicted on several levels. On the one hand, I resented my parents’ strong influence and expectations; (more…)
Posted in Announcement, Event, tagged healing, inner harmony, leadership, loving oneself, peacemaking, retreat on February 7, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
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The women’s initiative of ISAAC invites you to our 2008 “Healthy Leadership Retreat: Peacemaking Inside Out Through Inner Harmony”
Facilitated by Rev. Young Lee Hertig, Ph.D
Saturday, February 23, 2008 – 8:30 am – 3:30 pm
Azusa Pacific University (APU) East Campus, Wilden Hall, 2nd floor
If we do not understand that the enemy is within, we will find a thousand ways of making someone ‘out there’ into the enemy, becoming leaders who oppress rather than liberate others.
-Parker Palmer, Let Your Life Speak (more…)
