Chesterbrook Taiwanese Presbyterian Church

Some of you were asking about Helen Roseveare, so here are some helpful links about her life as well as interviews or articles she has written. Be ready for the fight. Enjoy.

• Maintaining Spirituality is a great article about service especially in the medical and health professions. It’s a good read for everyone.
• Here’s an interview about her life on the mission field in Africa.
• Helen Roseveare’s biography Give me this Mountain, and book, He Gave us a Valley.
• A biographical overview of Helen Roseveare by Noel Piper via YouTube.
• A message given at Urbana, 1987. Here’s an excerpt:

“It doesn’t matter whether I travel 6,000 miles or just twenty minutes from home. That has nothing to do with it. What matters is whether the people we meet matter to us as much as they matter to God. I have to ask myself, What will make me care? What will make them matter to me? What will motivate me to share Jesus with them?”

• Exerpt from Noel Piper’s book, Faithful Women & Their Extraordinary God

“Rebel soldiers were starting at one end of a large room, taking women away one by one and bringing them back after they were finished with them. Helen’s first impulse was to hide and not have to bear this humiliation again. Then she thought of Jesus. He put himself forward as a substitute for us. The fellowship of his sufferings – she moved to the front, to try to protect some of the other women from undergoing a new trauma they might possibly have escaped so far.

She looked back later on this whole period and wrote: ‘We learned why God has given us His name as I AM (Exodus 3:14). His grace always proved itself sufficient in the moment of need, but never before the necessary time…As I anticipated suffering in my imagination and thought of what these cruel soldiers would do next, I quivered in fear…But when the moment came for action…he filled me with a peace and an assurance about what to say or do that amazed me and often defeated the immediated tactics of the enemy.’

She writes movingly of how abandoned she felt…’My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ His answer to her was a removal of the fear as if it had been rinsed out of her – and a strong sense of his arms around her, holding her and comforting her. She felt as if he were saying, ‘When I called you to myself, I called you to the fellowship of my suffering. They are not attacking you. They are attacking me. I’m just using your body to show myself to the people around you.”

I have a Chinese neighbor who is always giving my family food. She brings over everything, from zhajiangmian, zongzi to frozen pizza. She is constantly inviting us out to eat. She even gave me a $100 when I graduated, and absolutely refused to take it back despite multiple attempts to return it. Obviously, our family is not starving, and she knows that. I think she still continues to do this because we are her neighbors, she wants to show solidarity with us as Chinese, and because she is generous. What I wish I could do is plant a more needy family on the other side of her house, and put her generosity to better use.

(more…)

This past week, I attended the LeadNow conference which is a conference for leaders ministering to young adult demographic (20-30’s). One of the breakout sessions was led by Margaret Feinberg that dealt with the issues of our generation.

They get married later
The average age of marriage in the 1970’s for men was 20 for women and 22 for men. Presently, the average age is 24 for women, and 27 for men. One observer of the stats said that now they get married later, but out of necessity have children sooner.

Homes bigger, lots smaller
I didn’t get the exact stats, but I remember her saying the average single family home built in the 60’s was under 1000 sq ft. Now it is over 2000 sq ft. Ironically, the bigger these homes get, the smaller the lot. There are environmental (more energy, materials, unused space), financial (need to make more money to pay for mortgage and upkeep, etc), relational (more distant from family members) implications. Not to mention the fact most people do not live anywhere near their place of employment, which increases commute times, which affects time spent with family.

concerning careers – two extremes
don’t know anything, but expected to do everything
knows everything but bored out of their minds

greater debt than any other generation
Average student graduates with $18,000 in school debt. On top of that, they average $4000 credit card. The amount of grants have decreased 40% to 20% when tuition rates are going through the roof.
constantly on the move

transitory
45% of americans ages 24 to 35 expect to move within the next two years
When building a young adult ministry, use a team approach so when people leave, it won’t collapse. If there is genuine community, they may turn down jobs to stay. The nature of young adult ministry is transitory. Sometimes it hurts to seeing them leave. Love deeply anyway; give it up to God.

20somethings often struggle in the transition into adulthood
The are probably the most over managed and over achieved generation. Look at their schedules all throughout their secondary school experience. Many have no time breathe and rest. 40,000 schools in the United States don’t have recess. Their are raised in an environment where everything needs to be safe and secure. Psychology today says we are “creating a generation of wimps” because we shelter them to the point where they can’t develop coping skills when bad things happen. Breeds entitlement and privilege.

In the 80’s the #1 problem among college students was relationships (roommates, etc.) In the 90’s the # 1 problem was anxiety disorders and depression
12% of Cornell students sought mental health 60% increase from 10 years ago (?)
College students nationwide
15% suffer from an anxiety disorder
14% suffer from depression
- University of Michigan Depression Center
Anorexia and bulimia in college
40% of women at some time in college
As a result, many are pushing back on growing up. New term called “adulescence” (play on words) Below are stats of people who believed they achieved the benchmarks of adulthood (e.g. get married, own a home, kids, career, etc)
1960 2000
65% 31% Men
77% 46% Women

The Top Struggle of Twentysomething and Thirtysomethings is…
Loneliness. Even though their schedules are packed and they have the technology to be the most connected generation, it is surprising to loneliness top the list. What are the implications of this for the church? We must learn to create community and connection among this people group.

They like Jesus but not the church
Approx. 39 million 20’s and 30 year olds in the United States
25% in church on Sunday
80% said that their religious faith is very different important in their life.
57% claimed to have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life.
75% said they had prayed to God in the past week.

Some quick thoughts
Overall, I’d say most apply to our context, although not all. Perhaps one of the biggest issues Asian Americans (AAs) have to face is parental expectations. I don’t know what the stats are for AAs, but I’m willing to bet that the average age for marriage among AAs is much higher than the national average. From my observation, academics, career advancement, and financial stability must come first. To pursue marriage while in school or early stages of career development is usually frowned upon even though for many of our parents did the very same thing! Such priorities and expectations take our AA young adults from school to school and city to city which is obviously not conducive towards finding a mate. On top of that, for Christians, there are so few AA churches that serve this demographic.
After a period of time, the parents start bemoaning the fact their kids aren’t married yet without realizing that they are just as culpable. With these pressures and unfair expectations in mind, how do we create and cultivate a community that meets their needs and connects people to one another (not just romantically)? More thoughts on this later…