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Dear <<First Name>>!

This is insane. There are now over 6600 reported hate incidents against AAPI (many more lie unreported). Click here for a national report.  We are engaging this madness with the unique graces God's given us. Let me share three of these God-given provisions followed by what they look like in the field. 

  • I've long been dreary of how many Christians have demonized San Francisco along with the colonizing posture carried by some church planters called to "reach" SF. Often these people come with great vision & theology, but with little proximity to SF's people nor the work that preceded them. Meanwhile, I'm honored we have proximity and relationships with SF's leaders of color, LGBTQ, & non-Christian communities. They have challenged & sharpened my theology, and have expanded KR's influence beyond our natural reach.
  • The pandemic has helped surface many ways our Western idea of church often separates head from heart, theology from praxis. However, I'm delighted that God has positioned KR at this intersection of theology and praxis. From this vantage point, we can directly equip leaders in the trenches with a more relevant, holistic and honorific Gospel. 
  • Personally I've ignored the discipleship of the emotional life for far too long. Heck, I ignored the emotional life for years, much less submit it to the discipleship of Christ. Yet it's been a major theme of my life for at least a decade and it's an integral part of everything we write, speak, and lead. 
On that last note, learning to lament is a key way to grow our emotional lives in Christ. No wonder laments make up the largest category of Psalms. A friend, ministry sojourner, and disciple of Jesus in the area of emotions wrote a lament in response to the recent attacks against AAPI. Let me share an excerpt from her lament:

 
Why is it
that the shape of my eyes
or the color of my skin
would grant you permission
to take what is not yours
to steal my dignity
to destroy my trust
to make me question my worth
and curse the day
that I was born in this form 
that I cannot escape? 

- © 3/22/21 Michelle Oshima Burke.
Excerpted from www.chinatownbooksf.com/post/why-is-it

The previous three bullets are engaging laypeople and Christian ministers alike to accomplish our mission and help bring about our vision. Let me share an example of each one:

  • I recently led an intergenerational Chinese church to compose laments similar to the one above to help process the recent AAPI attacks. I find these exercises to be concrete exercises in the discipleship of the emotional life. What a joy to hear several of these laments from the church body. Kingdom Rice is helping lead healing on the local immigrant church level. 
  • African-American leaders in particular have been taking notice of our work at this intersection of theology and praxis. One of these leaders is Tony Dentman, (diversity director of Campus Outreach). He was touched by the core values in KR’s missionary training articles which uniquely center a theology that resonates with ethnic minority missionaries. He envisions his ministry being blessed with our work, so it’s with joy I’ll be his guest ministering to the minority missionaries under his care later in June.
  • The best highlights from the “Chinatown Through the Eyes of God“ program were not captured on camera. E.g., I witnessed people from local Black and Asian churches in proximity together sharing stories with each other for an hour after the official program was through. The video also did not capture the behind-the-scenes work among Black and Asian churches before the event, like the lamenting process mentioned above and the work of excavating the implicit biases against the other. Programs like this one are mere stops on a long journey; the road to solidarity is not a microwave but a crockpot.  If you missed the program, click here for the video and description of the journey. The video is worthwhile to watch, but it's built upon the behind-the-scenes work Kingdom Rice is committed to. 

 

God has blessed us so with our proximity, connections, our intersectionality of theology and praxis, and our value of the discipleship of our emotions. You Bible nerds will recognize the chiastic structure of this letter which centers the discipleship of the emotional life and the need to lament as part of worship during this season of transition. Why? These are the times we need to invite the steadfast love of the Lord in the midst of the transitions we’re all facing, “for his compassions never fail!”

Love to hear how you are doing so please drop me a line.     

Love Steve

Copyright © 2021 Steve Hong/Kingdom Rice, All rights reserved.


Our website and email:
kingdomrice.wordpress.com
steve.hong@kingdomrice.org

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