Transient

"I go through life as a transient on his way to eternity, made in the image of God but with that image debased, needing to be taught how to meditate, to worship, to think." -Donald Coggan.

I arrive in this week with a great centre of heaviness and levity...thus leading to me a place of contemplation. Faith often arrives to me in moments of surprise. I realize that I am truly a vagrant along this ragged journey of faith. Poor and wretched but with a great sense of God's panaroma of mercy around me. That along this road, I can sense the doting father with His stirring for me to come home. I realize most of the accomplishments, accolades and measures of spiritual success are pale disguise for my heart. The words of Paul Tokunaga remained with me from the Eastern Chinese Bible Conference, "I am not fine." Not fine in my heart. Not fine in my walk. Not fine with the level of love for those who are around. I am just not "fine." And as I finished writing that, I sense this freedom in knowing that I will never be fine but I will always be loved. That is the promise. That is the echo of hope that centuries of pilgrims, saints and martyrs have resonated with. So I arrive this week with that echo that comes from the grind of daily life. Each step comes with it the weight of the day...but also the wonderful horizon of the arms of my savior...bidding me to come home.

Back to the Future...Ministry at Chinese Christian Herald Crusades
After prayer and meditation, I have decided to come back to Chinese Christian Herald Crusades on a part-time basis! I will be serving with Ellen Hwang and her staff at the Herald Youth Center, consulting and training their ministry partners and also develop a ministry strategy for them. I will be at the New York City Chinatown Headquarters for one week out of the month and off-site for a bit. I am excited that I will have an opportunity to serve again at the ministry that started my whole journey of as a servant. I will also work on their team on developing an English website. Please pray that I will have a heart of service to the team and that I will continue my passion for the Chinatown community and that God will be honored in my time there.

Asian American Laity Project (Kleros)
I am planning on following with several individuals who are interested in serving with me on a forming committee and also another group of individuals who are interested in possibly working together to assist in fund devlelopment. I am excited as the momentum for the project is building from the PaLM and IVCF luncheon with Paul Tokunaga. I will be also sending Summer Updates this week! I has been a fruitful summer and I want to proclaim God's goodness in His direction for the project. Pray for provision and for a strong team to come alongside me. I am not good at asking for help and to have people come forward and say "hey, I wanna be part of this Peter Ong..." are like music to my ear.

3rd Asian American Emergent Skypecast
The 3rd Asian American Emergents skypecast will be online Sunday, September 24th, and you’re invited to skype in! The conversation begins at 9:00pm Eastern / 8:00pm Central / 6:00pm Pacific. (Skype DJ Chuang if you run into tech issues.)

This 1-hour monthly skypecast is a safe place to dialogue about topics related to Asian Americans and the emerging/emergent church. The consensus I’m hearing is to focus on one question rather than on three, during the skypecast. So, we’ll aim for that. Right now the only topic at play was suggested by Ben: “Social Justice and the Asian Church — why are Asians so adverse to reaching out to the poor and marginalized?”

I am looking forward to being part of this great conversation again!

Exit Wounds Article
I just finished a story for an online Asian American website and it was a lot harder for me to write since it was for a mainstream secular audience...It is about the flight of the second and third generation Asian Americans from the Asian ethnic church and their entrance into mainstream or multi-ethnic churches. I was having such a difficulty with re-entering that writing world and stumbled through it. I pray that the editors will extend grace to me and that when it is posted that God will use it to bring insight for people. Special thanks to those who contributed...Karen, Kara and John Kim, Ben Kong, Vicky and my idol, Joseph Tsang for their contributions.

Speaking Engagements
Now the summer is officially over, I am on the road again preaching! I am preparing my talk for my monthly preaching at the Mid-Hudson Chinese Christian Church. I will be preaching on my favorite parable...yes...the proverbial Prodigal Son...it is titled..."Mercy's Call on Distorted Love."I recently received "Communicating for a Change" by Andy Stanley and enjoying his insight on preaching narratives...I am going to use some of the principles for my speaking engagement and see how it goes.

OneHouse
OCTOBER 21, 2006... Unity finds its purpose...I have this unguarded anticipation that God will do a mighty work in the hearts of those who come...my talk will be an exhortation towards mercy and practical grace...as well as debunking of the most absurd assumptions about poverty. Check out the OneHouse website for more details. Pray for me and the team as we are preparing. Funding is coming along! HALLELUJAHOOO! Also, I will get to work with Neah Lee who I admire and adore.

Misc.
Being apart...Pray for my time in the city for one week will not hinder our marriage...in the midst of all of this, pray that we mutually support each other in where God has called us in this season.

Harvey's wedding
Pray for my brother in Christ, Harvey's wedding. I am excited to be in the wedding party and hoping to connect with him as I am in the city for some time of prayer and preparation for the big day.

Car (putt putt putting along). Repairs cost more than $1,200 for the car...but it is working well and pray that this little expenditure is not a commonplace or we gonna have to be creative in my transportation...

Me and my big mouth...I am going to the dentist for the next several months because of my diagnosis of periodontal disease...they will have to do some deep cleaning, scaling and pull out stuff....arrrgh...pray for my fear and costs!!! Insurance doesn't really cover this! Yikes...but my wifey has been so supportive!

Love you guys! thanks for reading...talk to you soon.

To Financially Support the ministry please send checks (make payable to PaLM) to:
PaLM
48-19 196th Street
Fresh Meadows, New York
11365-1316
please mark memo: Asian American Laity Ministries or Peter Ong
All donations are tax-deductible

Somewhere in Between

Dear friends and family,

This week of the 5th anniversary of 9/11 caught me off guard...as the nation returned to this tragic event I found that the memories of this day haunted me with a renewed verve. On the days following the anniversary have been particularly somber as I remember the details of each of the moments that marked my heart since....

At the very worst I remember the relentless fear and paranoia that pandered to the most unreasonable and general violence. Some regarded their pain by spilling out their hearts in senseless hedonism, grabs for numbing pleasures. illicit sexuality. At the best, I saw a city surging with compassion and love. The moment that defines so much was when I arrived in Chinatown on September 13th...to prepared to counsel the teens at the youth center, but I discovered that there were hitting the streets bringing donated items to the rescue workers. One of the youth told me, "Peter, there is time to be sad and there is time for hope...remember that the people need us and they need to hear about God..." I sat in silence and prayer for this moment to see how the words of this young teen stirred this vision of holy hope. Beauty for Ashes.

There was a song that stayed with me during this time by Lifehouse called "Somewhere in Between" that verbalized my heart as I wrestled through this collision of grief with doubt, insomnia, escapism, and the worse distraction...the busyness of ministry.

Asian American Laity Project:
I had several meetings with local pastors and it was very encouraging to share our hearts and their insights about the Laity Project. One of the ideas that came from the meetings was the development of a lecture series featuring local and national Asian American leaders for the laity to gain some insight and counsel.

As part of my fund development, I am following up with the attendees of the Paul Tokunaga special luncheon and some people who attended the Asian American Leadership Roundtable at ECBC. I am also working with some local church leaders to discuss forming a committee that will help fundraise and coordinate with me for the project. Please pray for provision according to His timing for this important project. Pray for God to raise up a discerning group of leaders to help serve on this committee.

MISC.
I went to Dentist office for the first time in ___ years and it turns out that I have periodontal disease and have to have some extensive work done on my teeth. The cost is close to $2,500 and we are trusting that th is my first step towards having healthy teeth.

Last week in our trip back to NYC, Jamie and I had a pretty bad flat but we were blessed to be near a mechanic and we had to get our tires changed. This week I am going to get our car fixed and we are hoping to take care of an existing problem. Pray that it will not cost too much and these unexpected costs are taking its toll.

Please pray for Jamie as she is starting her first semester at Maxwell School where she will get a dual degree with her College of Environmental Science and Forestry studies. She is working hard to finish the degree so we can get our lives started on our next stage. Pray for her as she seeks counsel and that I would be a good support to her efforts.

thank you for reading and praying.

To Financially Support the ministry please send checks (make payable to PaLM) to:
PaLM
48-19 196th Street
Fresh Meadows, New York
11365-1316
please mark memo: Asian American Laity Ministries or Peter Ong
All donations are tax-deductible

Cloudy Witnesses

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Welcome to another edition and prayer update. This has been a vibrant week of incredible moments of clarity and affirmation the work that God is doing in the Asian American church. I was especially encouraged for the direction of the ministry and nourishment for myself personally this past week.

As I was driving to NYC on Thursday night from Grace Christian Fellowship (see below for more on that) at Cornell, I was praying for the upcoming days for Labor Day weekend at Eastern Chinese Bible Conference (ECBC). I knew that there was a decisive moment to see a hint of what I wanted to do with the Asian American Laity Project. I had planned these programs with the expectation of raising the support for the project.

I the agenda was the Friday joint Intervarsity and Pastoral and Laity Ministries luncheon with Paul Tokunaga with pastors and laity. Then there was Asian American Laity Roundtable on the first day at ECBC. And as I drove, I was stirred by a holy imagination for an Asian American church marching towards victory...and this week...was just that...there was light in the darkness; hidden wounds were pierced by authenticity, tears, brokenness, honesty, and visions of hope. These cloudy witnesses were beginning to speak and create vocabulary for the state of the Asian American church and there was healing.

Fund Development
This week was a promising sign as support came in steadily. I was really encouraged by the support cards and the notes that people have written to me. I am so thankful for the prayer of these supporters and I am pressing forth. Someone approached me and asked me how is my funding coming along and I had a very poor and unthankful response...Jamie reminded me that my heart was not in the right place. God is providing. He is working and most importantly, His timing is perfect. I trust in Him and I trust His people. I am learning to love this process because in it, I am forced to wait and I am being still...so that His name will be proclaimed in all the nations. I will be meeting with some pastors this coming weekend to discuss the project and to get their feedback and their response for an invitation for partnership.

One of the best aspect of this waiting has been a time for me to cultivate the vision of this Pastoral and Laity Ministries Asian American Laity Project. Through this time, I have had the opportunity to listen to the hearts of other leaders and servants who are serving with such devotion. I am growing in affection for the church and yearning for the fullness of the impact of what God wants to do through this.

Eastern Chinese Bible Conference (ECBC)
In 1998, I attended ECBC and it changed my life with messages by Bruce Fong that called us to a commitment to Christ. At that ECBC I met a sister Alice who brought me to a Redeemer Church smallgroup, where I was challenged in fellowship and supported me as I took the first tentative steps as called me into full-time professional ministry at Chinese Christian Herald Crusades. It was an instrumental conference and after two years of not attending, it was great to be back and to see how the conference had grown. To my joy, the youth I worked with years ago at Teen Eastern Chinese Bible Conference are now adults! I was challenged by Paul Tokunaga's messages and was nurtured by the community of others who have suffered and love the Asian American church. Here was some highlights:

* Asian American Leadership Roundtable
I facilitated a roundtable with DJ Chuang (L2 Foundation), Greg Jao (IVCF), Anna Lee (IVCF), Glennis Lo (EPIC), David Park (Asian American Blogger extraordinaire), Paul Tokunaga, and Lisa Yu (IVCF). About 35 people took time out of their freetime to "eavesdrop" on our conversation dealing with the Asian American church and the challenges of first and second generations ministries. I was amazed by the scope of the discussion and some of the hopes for the future and some exciting things that a new generation of believers are undertaking. I really enjoyed meeting David Park and DJ Chuang for the first time and we had an impromptu podcast/roundtable with Jamie, Anna Lee and Intervarsity volunteer Ho-Tay Ma, but unfortunately, our beloved Dave Park accidentally erased it...and lost all the glorious moments of our conversation (especially part when "someone" flushed the toilet in the middle of our convo).

* Workshop
I did a workshop entitled "Because the Bible Says So" and other ways of alienating seekers. It was a great time of serving and teaching some ways of ministry that challenges the status quo of evangelism and debunking some of the tools we use. Great responses from the participants and I learned and was blessed by their sharing.

There were many moments I was able to counsel and hear the broken hearts of God's people. There was weeping...there was curiosity of how to live out this ragged faith...and I had improvised workshops on dating, marriage and of course ministry and the state of the Asian American church. Overall, it was an amazing time of serving this conference that has poured so much into my life. Pray for the future of the conference and that God will raise up need leaders for it to thrive and flourish for His name.

Pastoral and Laity Ministries/Intervarsity Christian Fellowship luncheon with Paul Tokunaga
Over 60 Pastors and leaders of the Tri-state area came together to hear Paul Tokunaga share about Level 5 Leadership for the church. It was a great partnered event and as a continuation, it was a talk that served the lay leaders a great deal and it gave me a picture of what the network/fellowship for Asian American Laity Project can look like. There were ministry representatives from IVCF, Campus Crusades, and Chinese Christian Herald Crusades. Jane Hyun, the author of "Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling" made an appearance. Overall it was a great opportunity to meet over food and exchange our hearts for the Asian American church.

Partnership with ISAAC
As part of the Laity Project, I am exploring some possibilities of partnership with the Institute of Asian American Christianity. They are developing a similar vision for the Laity and ministry that is committed to a "...Christ-centered faith and calling must be integrated with Asian American cultures and identities. This is a crucial element in the life-long journey of following Jesus towards Christian maturity and wholeness. It is an important way to embody God’s fullness in the world." Pray for wisdom and guidance as we seek a partnership together.

Grace Christian Fellowship (Asian American Intervarsity Christian Fellowship at Cornell)
Jamie and I had our first meeting at the Grace Christian Fellowship at Cornell. I will be serving as a volunteer staff with Intervarsity focusing on the Executive Team (see pictured). Please pray for unity and vision for the team and my role to serve them. They are a great group of young people and infused with holy passion.

Mid-Hudson Chinese Christian Church
I will be preaching at MHCCC at the end of the month and also having a meeting with their leadership to discuss ways they are forming their English ministries. I am excited to be part of this and wanting to serve them on this very wonderful journey of a growing generation of a church.

OneHouse 2006
I am being challenged as I prepare my talk on October 21 Asian American unity worship night of One House. As I prepare and develop a vision for our call for social justice. I am excited to work with musician Neah Lee and also with sponsors Bread and Water and World Vision. My talk will focus on the book of Isaiah and Jesus's ministry on earth. The talk will be focus on the inclusiveness of the gospel to reach the outsiders so that it points to an exclusive God. Please pray for the team as we are under a great spiritual weight and doubt for finances for this event. But we ploughing forth to honor God's vision for unity and justice. I am really excited for what God will do through the worship, through Neah and talk.

Article for Asian Avenue website
I am writing a feature article for Asian Avenue website called Exit Wounds: The Disconnected Asian American Faith" about the malaise of young professional Asian American who have left church and discovering a new pursuit of meaning in a post-college era. I wanted to write about conversations regarding faith and why this group of Asian American young men and women don't find church a place of community and discovery towards a discourse on broader issues of life. Interviews with church leaders, congregations, post-moderns, college campus ministries and clergy will offer some insight on the spiritual landscapes of this population. I will also like to profile some churches on both coasts to discuss what are some churches doing to effectively reverse this trend of flight from the Asian American ethnic church. I will profile New York City churches and West Coast churches as well. This will offer a compelling and intimate look at the state of this generation's pilgrimage towards faith. Keep an eye out for it.

Misc.
Jamie and I just completed Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University at Syracuse Alliance Church that helped us to think through our financial planning. We are so blessed by this course and would recommend that anyone who is still struggling with finances, debt and anxiousness regarding finances this is a great course for you to take. We feel that it was God's grace that directed us to learn this very early in our marriage. Pray for us in this period of time to focus our role as stewards of what God has given us.

Pray for our church community as we are seeking a home for us to serve and to find authentic community where we are challenged and lifted.

Thanks for reading...I know it was long but I hope it was worth it.