Cultural Roots and Spiritual Fruit

At Urbana 03 I finally gained a passion to act on what I knew deep inside: that I’m Asian American and it’s worth exploring what that means. I would like to think that issues of race have always been important to me, but that isn’t so. I didn’t really start looking at my own ethnic identity until a college class hit me with everyday racial issues. As I began to grow in my life with God, I began to see a bigger picture of what God was calling me to do.

My story starts in Hong Kong, where I was born. At the age of two, we moved to Texas. My mom was a single parent who raised me in a house full of relatives. I grew up in the church and was able to experience God in a very culturally diverse setting. While I have lived in predominately white communities, I grew up in a culturally diverse church. I don’t remember having too many problems with being Asian but there were a few times where I did notice that my family was different.

I was younger than the other freshmen when I started at the University of Nevada at Reno, but with the same eager anticipation of figuring out what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go. At our student orientation I encountered numerous clubs and organizations that wanted me to experience all that they had to offer. Then I bumped into some people I knew at the Intervarsity table, and they invited me to the “Brain Freeze,” a wild time of eating extraordinary amounts of ice cream. I ended up joining this crazy group of people, and immediately began growing as a person and in my relationship with God. I joined a small group and then became part of the missions team, learning and maturing in Christ in many ways.

As a psychology major, I started taking “diversity” classes that were intended to raise our awareness of the diversity in our world. When I took a course called Psychology of Racial Differences, I started learning about my own culture, being Asian, white privilege, prejudice and the injustice that goes on everyday, not just for race but also for gender, age and sexual orientation. Eventually I learned that God cares about different cultures and different identities and the many unique characteristics of all his people.

Prior to this course I was ignorant of much of my own ethnicity and the diversity of others. I learned being Asian doesn’t make me automatically immune to judgments and prejudices. I started noticing that when I walked into a room I was usually one of only a few people of color. When I went out to the movies, bowling, eating or other activities, I noticed that I rarely saw black people. I started to wonder where people of color were. I noticed that I didn’t really have a racially diverse group of friends, even though I’m Asian. As a minority college student, I thought that I was racially reconciled and didn’t have problems with race or color or ethnicity, but God began to show me that I do.

As I became more involved in Intervarsity, I also became more involved in other parts of campus life. My other clubs had the same problem that I saw in Intervarsity—there wasn’t a lot of student diversity.

I began to look at the campus as a whole and encountered the same problem. There are many students of color at UNR but as a community, the city of Reno is predominately white. And while ethnic clubs and organizations are present and active, most of the other clubs and organizations are predominately white.

Lounging at Urbana
I attended Urbana last winter and experienced God in an amazing way. I led a small group with one of my best friends and experienced such love from people I had never met before. Our fun-loving small group included Rita (Chinese American), Gemma (Filipino American), Julee (Korean American), Betsy (Indian), and Hannah (our token white friend). We shared and learned so much about one another and fully experienced what Urbana was designed to be.

Each day, Urbana offered 300 engaging seminars, exhibits by mission agencies, and get-away lounges. One of my favorite places to go was the Asian Student Lounge; I didn’t want to leave. The ambiance of the place captivated me and all I wanted to do was hang out and experience being Asian. I met Intervarsity and IFES staff from all over who shared and talked to me in ways that had me feeling accepted and loved.

I enjoyed the creativity that I found in the feng shui’d atmosphere of the Asian Student Lounge. There, God began pulling at me to start something at the University of Nevada in Reno. I was energized as I started thinking about what could happen on my own campus. Almost immediately I started talking to Mac, one of my staff workers, and I couldn’t control the gibberish that I was spewing out about having something like the Asian Student Lounge or a Bible study for Asian Americans. This started the amazing roller coaster ride that I’m on now with my co-leader and friend, Terry, and two dozen Asian-American students from my campus. As we experience God in new ways, we are having the ride of our lives.

Asian American Bible Study
After Urbana there was a time when I started letting my own head get in the way of what God wanted me to do. I had dreams of leading a Bible study that was geared toward Asian Americans, but I also contemplated becoming a volunteer staff worker with Intervarsity at Reno. Sometimes I wanted to completely forget about my experience at Urbana and do nothing at all. My journey involved many conversations with people to figure out what was best and what God was calling me to do.

Through it all Terry and I decided to start an Asian-American Bible study with the same format as the other chapter Bible studies, but different in the application and presentation. As we talked to others about the vision we had for the study, they got keyed up too. The vision grew into a clear picture of Asians getting together and being excited and comfortable with one another in learning about God and how he loves people in all their diversity.

Our initial meeting was a fun get-to-know-you type of thing. We had home-cooked Filipino food and a great time of sharing and laughing. Every week I saw people growing. We have built a community where we are bound by our “Asian-ness” and our eagerness to learn more about who God is to us.

Dhyan, Aaron, and Sandra are three students whom I’ve gotten to know so much better through the Bible study. Dhyan is Nepalese, Aaron is Chinese/Japanese from Hawaii, and Sandra is Filipino. Each one has a newfound understanding of who Jesus is. My heart soars to new heights when I see spiritual truths begin to make sense to them, and it breaks when they struggle with the hurts that seem to engulf their joy. Through the time spent together in common culture, Jesus is beginning to seep deeper into their lives.

Each week Terry and I meet with Asian students eager to hang out and share our common curiosity of who this Jesus guy is. My life has been changed by coming together and learning more about my Asian brothers and sisters. I feel at home with them, which allows me to be more vulnerable as a Bible study leader. I’m able to be more open about my parents and the tradition of family pride and doing well in a culture that doesn’t always accept the “American” way of life. I can express the many struggles that are tied directly to my Chinese heritage. Because the group already understands my Asian culture, I can bypass explaining the intricate details of my background and begin to grow and change things at a deeper level. This is also true for others who have become more honest and vulnerable about the details of their lives. People are starting to be more real with others, and honest with themselves. They are also starting to build lives that include the one true God.

It’s difficult to express the uniqueness of having a Bible study that is geared toward Asian Americans. When our group began, many members brought up questions regarding ethnic identity and racial issues. This Bible study came about because although we are one body under Christ, he has made us unique, and we experience God in unique ways. The Asian culture we share in common binds us together, and our Bible study gives us a comfortable place to support each other in the struggles and joys of our daily lives as we trust in the Lord to meet us there.

—Coral Peterson is a fifth-year senior studying biochemistry and psychology at the University of Nevada-Reno. She is currently applying to medical school and hopes to do mission work in the future. Music and photography are her favorite art forms.