Hannah Lee is currently serving as Children’s Pastor at Korean Church of Southwest Los Angeles.  She also participates in a ministry called InnerChange in downtown LA, and works part-time at a missionary organization called KIBI (Korea-Israel Bible Institute).  She recently received a masters degree in the School of Intercultural Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary.  In her spare time, Hannah enjoys singing, dancing, hip-hop, and photography, especially photographing food.

How did you decide to pursue seminary training?

In junior high, I attended a Christian school where they offered a religion class, and even at that time, I remember asking myself, How do we know that these guys translated the Scriptures correctly? At that young age, I was already aware of my own bicultural identity, and from that time, I always had a desire to learn Hebrew and Greek (which I didn’t end up doing).   But from that experience flowed a desire to study God’s Word.

Later when I became involved with YWAM, I began to realize that my whole life had been leaning towards ministry and mission, and that I loved sharing the gospel, especially cross-culturally.  I was ready to commit another two years with YWAM to raise leaders in China before my home church pastor advised me to get more training and solidify my foundation first.  So I pursued seminary education to honor my community — and I always wanted to go to “God school” anyways!

What are specific challenges for you in ministry as an Asian American woman?

I’m a young, unmarried woman who hasn’t been working that long, and I work mostly with men who are older, married with children, and more experienced.   Sometimes I really struggle to express my opinions clearly and directly because I’m worried that those I work with will be offended.  I also don’t know how to communicate my frustrations at times, without being overly concerned about how I will be received.  I often wonder if it would be different if I was a man.  Moreover, although I’m a “pastor,” I still find that I’m not able to fully step into pastoral authority yet, except over the children.

What are some words of advice that you would offer to other Asian American women in ministry leadership?

First, get to know who you are, and learn to love who you are — every detail, whether that detail has made you struggle or succeed.  For example, I have a tendency to be passive-aggressive.  I don’t know how to safely say what’s on my mind — not because of my personality, but because of my cultural context. But I can reframe that and look at it as something good because it helps me to hesitate, think twice, and really package what I say as lovingly as I can.  I’m learning to appreciate the things that made me struggle in the past and to turn them into my strengths.

Also, get into community.  I never would have brought up some ministry concerns among fellow pastors had it not been for my roommates.  After months of venting, praying, and crying together, we  finally made a pact a couple weeks ago that we’re going to confront when necessary and say what we have to say as best as we can — and even if it’s not perfect, to not be afraid to step out and speak the truth.

Finally, get mentorship. Learning from women like Young Lee Hertig and Jude Tiersma Watson has been incredibly empowering for me, and even finding women to admire from a distance, like Kirsten Oh and Jeney Park-Hearn, has been helpful.

Interviewed by Joy Wong