More Than Serving Tea

Sukhan Wong. Jeannie Chan-Yee. Yale and Yale Christian Fellowship. Filipino mom in Bahrain. Cindy Yoon. Judson Baptist Church.

These all point to contact I've had with folks of Asian descent. I must admit that my experiences have been very limited (Sukhan was the only Asian person in my almost all Black high school and, though my college and Christian college group had more Asians than Blacks, I did not go out of my way to pursue friendships with folks in this group, even though they seemed more 'real' to me than white Christians). The closest relationship with anyone Asian I've had was with Jeannie Chan, one of my college suitemates, fellow believer and now an adjunct at Fuller, but even that friendship had its limits.

Lately different high profile incidents have thrust the Asian community into the news more, making them the topic of conversation a lot. The VA Tech tragedy, in which a Korean-American went on a killing spree at an American university campus, has everyone talking about the burden racial minorities in this country feel when one of their own commits a crime. Also, a look into the shooter's background revealed a college student full of rage, caused by mental illness but also sparked by a pattern of ridicule and alienation growing up, due to his race. In progressive Christian circles, the Youth Specialties incident, where Christian publishers printed (but later retracted and publicly apologized for!) VBS materials that were racist towards folks of Chinese background, was a topic of conversation not too long ago. In both cases, unfortunate incidents have helped bring to light the reality of being an Asian-American in this country. More Than Serving Tea, an anthology of Asian American women's writing on topics like expectations, relationships, leadership, and faith, continues to give insight on what it's like for Asian-American Christian women, in particular, who live in two cultures and have a triple challenge: being Christian, being Asian-American, and being women.

Though there are obviously differences between my upbringing and experiences as a Black Christian woman, I was surprised at how much of this book resonates with me. It was funny to hear authors write about how Asian-Americans root for entertainers and athletes who are from their background, and how they feel deeply the disappointment and shame when someone who's Asian fails in some way. Blacks do the same thing. It was interesting to hear how certain Asian cultural behaviors (like submissiveness to authority in some-not all-Asian groups) have negative ramifications for the work place. Some African-Americans, raised to respect authority, have to learn to become comfortable with 'pushing back' and expressing dissent (in a positive way), something that whites and others do naturally because of how they were raised. Though not to the same degree, I could identify with the hierarchal family structure (many Black churches still tend to be run by Black men, esp. in the South and Midwest, and many more Black families than white ones are complementarian rather than egalitarian), with the sense of loyalty to community that exists in my culture, too, and with the restraint from showing emotions that has become synonymous with being a 'strong Black woman'.

What's neat about this book is that the authors point out these challenges, but not in a spirit of anger or resentment. They do so in the spirit of Christ: naming what has made their road tough, but then going to God and His Word to help interpret their experiences. So the result is a gratitude to God for the cultures in which they were born (warts and all), a worship of the God who values them as His creation (apart from performance or race/ethnicity or gender), and a wise affirmation of the gifts of their culture yet a sensible pushing aside of anything in their culture that does not affirm their biblical worth and that does not lead them to the peace, love, and joy that Christ brings.

Can you tell I like this book? I think it's a must-read for all folks -- Christian and non-Christian, male and female, Asian or non-Asian. And the authors are: Nikkie A. Toyama and Tracey Gee (editors), Kathy Kang, Christie Heller de Leon, and Asifa Dean (contributors), and Jeanette Yep (consulting editor).

Peace.