Greetings to our readers, old and new — happy 2016 to you all!
In an effort to crystallize and improve the nature and quality of our writing, we have decided to choose a particular theme each month for our blog. While we hope to cover topics that are particularly relevant for Asian American women in ministry leadership, we also intend to cover a variety of other subjects as well. If you have any suggestions for themes, we’d like to hear them!
For the month of January, we are beginning with the theme “Resolutions.”
I’m also happy to report that our blog reached a milestone in November 2015, publishing its 300th post. Our dedicated contributors include Asian American women leaders with varied ministry experience including pastors, campus ministers, psychologists, and those in academia, many who are themselves published authors and bloggers. These women represent a diversity in walks of life, from those who are single, married, mothers, etc.
We remain committed to the main task of telling our stories. We have found that one of the main difficulties of Asian American women in ministry leadership is loneliness and isolation, and we have found that sharing our stories is one of the best remedies. While we may include some preaching, teaching, or expressing of opinions in our blogs, our mainstay is our stories.
We hope you will continue reading and responding to our blogs, walking alongside us in our faith journeys. AAWOL first began under the motto of “Never Alone Again.” As we connect through our stories, may we know this to be true in our lives, through highs and lows, thick and thin — we are not alone! Praise be to God:)
Joy Wong is the editor and administrator for aawolsisters.com and a contributing author to Mirrored Reflections: Reframing Biblical Characters, published in September 2010. She has an MDiv from Fuller Theological Seminary, a BA in English from Princeton University, as well as managerial experience in industrial distribution. Joy and her family attend Northland Village Church.
As AAWOL’s founder & director, Young Lee Hertig, took on the role of ISAAC executive director this past year, AAWOL has been in need of a new director and we finally have one! Dr. Debbie Hearn Gin has been a member of AAWOL since its beginning in 2004, recently earned her PhD, and leads an AAWOL chapter in Azusa. Debbie is a fellow in the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment, after serving as the Director of Diversity Studies at Azusa Pacific University. In addition, she is an associate professor in the Department of Ministry of APU’s Graduate School of Theology. As the new AAWOL director, Debbie Gin will be writing our first post of 2013, so stay tuned!
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