Sabrina S. Chan - Learning Our Names: Asian American Christians on Identity, Relationships, and Vocation

Sabrina S. Chan

A S A COLLEGE STUDENT at a Christian conference, I picked up a new book called Following Jesus Without Dishonoring Your Parents. In baggy jean shorts and an oversized T-shirt, I read a few chapters while sitting on the floor next to the book table, not yet wanting to commit my few dollars to the purchase. But reading it, I felt seen; I didnt connect with everything, but I connected with many things. So I bought the book and referred to it often as I finished college and started an engineering jobnavigating career, calling, and my relationship with my parents. Reading the book helped me name and process my experiences around identity.

Its been over twenty years since then, and Asian America has continued to grow and change. We were the fastest growing racial group between 2000 and 2019, growing by 81 percent, and in sheer numbers going from 10.5 million to 18.9 million. We continue to grow in generations here, in ethnic and religious diversity, and in our influence.

So as I started in my role as national director for Asian American Ministries, I gathered a team of experienced InterVarsity staff to write for this generation of Asian American Christians. InterVarsity ministers on college and university campuses, establishing and advancing witnessing communities of students and faculty. Each of us has had the joy of serving Asian Americans who are discerning how to follow Jesus in their college contexts and as they move on to the next invitation from God after college.

Collectively, weve worked with many different types of student fellowships and conferencesAsian American, Pilipino American, South Asian American, Southeast Asian American, Hmong American, Chinese American, Indian American, Mixed (multiracial), and also with white students, multiethnic fellowships and conferences, and Latino and Black ministries.

While the term AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) has grown in usage, here we use Asian American because we value our Pacific Islander and Pasifika siblings and know that we dont have the experience to write for them.

We write from our particular Asian American experiences and, from that, we welcome all of you. All of us are second-generation (that is, children of immigrants or refugees) and grew up churched. While we cant address everything, we welcome and acknowledge the full and diverse expanse of Asian American Christian experiences: migration stories (immigrant, refugee, adoptee, third-culture kid, etc.), time in the US (from very recent to many generations), race and ethnicity (mixed race, monoracial, mixed Asian ethnicities), ability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religious and socioeconomic background, and more.

In the first section we discuss how our names, history, and racialization affect us. The second part focuses on relationshipswith parents, singleness and dating, gender, and religious diversity. We close with our vocations, churches, and leadership in the world. Each chapter can be read individually, but the first part builds a foundation for how we locate ourselves as Asian American Christians.

We share our own and our communities stories, but we will also by necessity speak in some generalities. We do this not to erase our particular stories, but to articulate what we can about Asian American contexts. And were a diverse group; we dont agree on everything.