Photo by Luigi Morante
By Dorcas Cheng-Tozun
When I started managing Chinese National employees while living in the industrial city of Shenzhen, China, the biggest challenge to my cross-cultural relationships was not language, as I expected it to be. Nor was it my ignorance of Chinese labor law or typical business practices. It was, to my great surprise, the concept of face. Continue Reading »
Posted in reflections | Tagged saving face, shame | 2 Comments »
Photo by Josiah Mackenzie
By Jerrica Ching
On Saturday, October 4th, I ran a 5K in Portland. Three months before this run I had told myself that I would run every single day to build up my stamina and to ensure that I would not burn out for the actual race. Continue Reading »
Posted in reflections | Tagged interruptions, perseverance, vocation | Leave a Comment »
Photo by Marcie Casas
By Melanie Mar Chow
In 1977, as a college student, the Lord had grasped my attention about what it means to “love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind…” and more. Though I was my grandmother’s constant companion to church at a young age, I rededicated my life to Jesus in my latter high school years, and sought to serve and follow Him to the best of my capability.
During college, I participated in several campus ministry activities and went through a personal call to leave my grandmother’s church and then attend the church of my great-grandmother. Continue Reading »
Posted in reflections | Tagged community, encouragement, relationships | Leave a Comment »
By Vivian Mabuni
When I finally made it home, I headed straight to our bedroom. I lay on the bed, pulled the covers over me, and closed my eyes. I tried to rest, but my mind couldn’t settle. My prayer in the food court about letting people in came to mind. I found myself at the same crossroads of deciding whether to muster up self-sufficient strength and go all Christian Rambo—just me and Jesus—or take the braver route to open my heart and let people into my fear. My Asian heritage and cultural value of “don’t rock the boat” or “the nail that sticks out gets hammered down” amplified my struggle of not wanting to bother people with my problems. I saw this dynamic played out over and over with my family and my Asian friends. One friend tweaked her back so badly she could barely walk. We had planned to have people over for a luncheon. I suggested we order out for pizza so she could rest.
Continue Reading »
Posted in Announcement, reflections | Tagged book, cancer, community, health, vulnerability | 8 Comments »
Photo by Roe Utena
By Eun Joo Angela Ryo
Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You. –Dr. Seuss
Authenticity. What comes to your mind when you hear the word? It takes me back to when I was in eighth grade. The first week of my eighth grade year, my counselor called me to her office and told me that I was missing one class. Continue Reading »
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged authenticity, freedom, holiness, perfectionism | 1 Comment »
Photo by Rama V
By Diana Gee
For the life of me, I cannot stomach watching shows like The Real Housewives of Some North-American City. I find them odious and glorifying the worst in human relationships. Jealousy, envy, pride, and gluttony all mashed together in artificially constructed female fraternity. Please pass the trashcan. Other shows do marginally better in depicting
“real” women’s lives. But if I pay attention, I do not often find stories of strong female characters relating well to other strong female characters.
I am also hard-pressed to find examples of female friendships in the bible that is not somehow connected by a father, husband, or son. Continue Reading »
Posted in reflections | Tagged comparison, competition, female friendships | Leave a Comment »
By Ann Chen
A well-known female preacher recently wrote some reflections about the treatment of women around the world, and recounted her own experience facing discrimination as a woman in ministry. As I enter a season of transition from being overseas to stepping into full-time ministry in the States, I’ve been recounting my own journey as a woman navigating a call into ministry.
I don’t think I’ve faced the type of overt discrimination I’ve heard others go through: women who were told that they had no place in the church except in the nursery, others who were hit back with 1 Corinthians 14:34 if they expressed any opinions, even others who were told that a desire to go into ministry was actually sinful and of the devil. Continue Reading »
Posted in reflections | Tagged gender-based exclusion, women in ministry, women pastors | Leave a Comment »
Posted in Announcement | Tagged ethnicity, gender, women in ministry | 1 Comment »
Posted in Announcement | Leave a Comment »
Photo by Mike Behnken
(In her previous post, Tina shared her inner ache to serve in Christian ministry again, even as a mom with a baby girl only just turned one. A continuation of her reflections…)
By Tina Teng-Henson
I do not shape my life or direct my steps. I do not even know if I will have a tomorrow, honestly. Continue Reading »
Posted in reflections | Tagged letting go of control, motherhood, waiting, women in ministry | Leave a Comment »
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