MY EARS! MY EARS! . . .

I sat stunned in church yesterday, as I heard, for the first time in my life, the words "racial reconciliation" come out of the mouth of an Asian-American pastor standing and preaching before me. It was amazing.

During college, I was involved with the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship-USA. IVCF-USA is largely a college ministry focusing on world missions and reaching and connecting students of all races and backgrounds for the purpose of Christ. This group also emphasizes urban ministry, and as a result, I became very involved in that aspect of it, participating in an urban missions project one summer, then being a co-director of after graduating from college. Our group in college did so much and committed ourselves to so many things ... and it was easy then, because we were ALL into it and we were ALL devoted to the missions and goals of IVCF-USA. And of course, attending school in the city, it was easy to see that Heaven, the ultimate kingdom of God, would also be a city, albeit one without crime, grime and sirens wailing down the streets every three minutes. No, it would have streets paved with gold, with banners fluttering from every building and trumpets sounding from every corner, and all its citizens rejoicing and singing and dancing, their faces representing every ethnicity, every culture, every race and color, both genders.

Having passed happily through the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship network in college, I was shocked to graduate and enter the larger Christian community to find that ... well, people in the real world didn't care about ethnic ministry or racial reconciliation or world missions or doing something about the fact that at no time in this country is racial segregation greater than on Sunday mornings. I felt so disappointed in my fellow believers. When I talked about racial reconciliation, about the kingdom of God being the City of Zion -- yes, I said CITY, about Jesus loving the poor and the young and the female and the unlovable, about God caring about those suffering from AIDS in Africa and those who can't read in rural China and the drug addicts in American prison who aren't receiving the proper treatment, people looked at me like I was crazy, or too liberal, or too idealistic, or ... something. This reception was even more severe from other Asian-Americans, we who as a group tend to be more exclusionary, more racist, more complacent and socially quiet than any other ethnic group growing in this country. I felt so disappointed in my fellow Asian-Americans.

But then yesterday at 3:40 p.m., Korean-American PEK stood in front of me talking about those very issues as if to say "DOI, of COURSE we should be concerned and passionate about these things. You dare call yourself a follower of Christ and NOT care about these things as He did?" I was SO PSYCHED. Here was at least one other Asian-American who would NOT look at me funny if I talked about the things I was passionate about, like urban ministry and serving the poor and racial reconciliation and making our church a true haven for people of all ethnicities; who would NOT think I was strange and overly idealistic for wanting to DO things instead of just TALK about them; who would NOT think I was delusional for thinking God had a bigger heart than just for us complacent, suburban, privileged believers.

So our community better watch out. Habitat For Humanity, Big Onion Walking Tours of Historic Harlem, Komen Foundation Race for the Cure, Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry, BigBrother/BigSister, mentoring, feeding, caring, delivering ... I want to do it all and now PEK wants to as well. NHF is going to get a big ethnic kick in its pants, and I can't wait for us to explode as a result ...