Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
We rejoice in the rich tapestry that makes up the Christian church. During the month of May, we observe Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month by celebrating the histories, cultures, and contributions of people of Asian descent to the church body. Here we have highlighted the life and ministry of some key Asian Christian leaders.
The following resources are a mere sample of many Asian leaders, theologians, and histories. Our hope is to encourage you to learn the many ways Asian Christian leaders are shaping our church today.
 | Mai Hariu-PowellExecutive Director | The New York Project |
Mai Hariu-Powell oversees the New York Project: a 10-year joint initiative of Redeemer City to City (CTC) and Redeemer Presbyterian Church to see the body of Christ triple in New York. She also coordinates fundraising specifically for the New York Project. Before she joined City to City, she worked at Redeemer Presbyterian Church to open W83 Ministry Center for the West Side congregation and then to launch the Downtown congregation. Now that City to City has moved into our new building, we want to get to know our neighbors better. Read Mai's responses to our questions below.
How did you get involved with Redeemer?
I first learned about Redeemer through the Counseling Center. I began attending Redeemer and became a member in 2004. My husband Paul and I are members of Redeemer Downtown and live in the Lower East Side with our dog Beemo. The vision of Redeemer — a church not for ourselves but for the city — has deeply formed, shepherded, and challenged me as a Christian. The vision continues to challenge me year after year to love and pray for our city and our collective church.
What role does City to City play in the Redeemer Network?
Redeemer City to City is a global organization that comes alongside leaders to start new churches and strengthen existing churches in cities. We believe the local church, fueled by the Holy Spirit, transforms lives and cities. I work at City to City NYC, as the Executive Director of the NY Project. The NY Project is a 10-year strategy we launched in 2016 (along with Redeemer Churches through the Rise Campaign) to start new churches, raise up new leaders, and to build a new home (for Redeemer ES and CTCNYC) for the gospel movement in NYC.
We’re excited that we got to “go in” on the building together with Redeemer ES. Our team of around 25 trainers and coaches run 10 training programs, and we love that we have a home to host and care for NYC planters. If you are ever in the building, come up to our floors and say hello.
How can we pray for you and your work with CTC?
The audacious goal of the NY Project was to help launch 250 new churches and with one year left to go in our 10-year timeline, and we are at 185. That’s 185 new churches that didn’t exist in NYC before 2016 — including Redeemer Lincoln Square, Redeemer East Harlem, and the newest Redeemer Brooklyn. Through the work of the NY Project, we now have an ecosystem of church planters and churches representing 36 different denominations and church planting networks. Praise God!
Pray for the collective church in NYC. God has done amazing things in NYC through churches. To God be the Glory! Please pray for protection: for Redeemer and for churches in general.
What is your history with the Asian American church?
I was born in Japan. When I was 7, our family moved to the States. The immigrant experience has deeply formed me in how I understand Jesus and what it means to be welcomed in.
When we moved to the States in the 1980’s, my parents were not Christians. My dad knew Americans went to church, so we showed up at a church. The ladies there cared for my mom by teaching her how to cut coupons and buy groceries. They gave us English lessons and welcomed us. That was powerful. From the start, I experienced church as a place where people help strangers and those in need. It was through this expression of the church’s hospitality, and then through friendships with Christians, that I came to faith at a young age.
 | Rev. Wei HoCampus Minister | RUF Gotham |
Rev. Wei Ho is the Campus Minister for Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) Gotham. RUF Gotham is a campus ministry of the PCA reaching college students from Midtown Manhattan campuses. We took the opportunity to interview him to hear the story of his experience as an Asian-American Christian. Read his responses to our questions below.
What is RUF Gotham?
RUF Gotham is a campus ministry of the PCA reaching college students from Midtown Manhattan campuses such as Hunter College, Fordham Lincoln Center, John Jay, and other local schools. We launched right as the Covid pandemic hit New York back in March-April 2020, and by God’s grace, we just celebrated our five-year anniversary. I named the ministry “Gotham" because we prayed for a ministry to reach NYC students, and Gotham is a storied nickname for NYC (that actually predates Batman comics by about 120 years).
What do you see on the horizon for RUF Gotham?
Our ministry has tended to uniquely attract students who call NYC home. At RUF, we don’t measure success by a bustling college meeting, but by whether or not time spent in RUF has helped to prepare our students for a lifetime of walking with Jesus. My desire is to see young lives continue to glorify God as they live, work, join churches, and raise families in this great city well after their time in college ends. Our ministry’s full name is “Gotham Student Movement,” and so I pray expectantly for students to catch a vision of Christ and his good news for their campuses.
How can we pray for you, your work, and RUF Gotham?
- Pray for our students that they would meet Christ; that they would receive deep healing for the wounds they carry and a deep sense of calling, purpose, and meaning for their lives in God’s world; and that their doubts and questions would carry seeds that bloom in deep faith.
- Pray for me: for strength, patience, and encouragement as I continue to pursue students with a shepherd’s heart; to always seek God’s face above all else; and for other staff to join me in this good work.
- Pray for more supporters of RUF Gotham and the several other RUF groups in NYC so we can continue to reach and equip students for Christ and His Kingdom.
Who are some of the Asian American Christian leaders who have influenced you?
- Michael Oh, the current CEO of the Lausanne Movement. Hearing his testimony as a college student at an Urbana conference opened my eyes to God’s reconciling love both between God and humankind, as well as between people groups.
- Current PCA leaders/pastors: Billy Park, Abe Cho, and Aaron Chung as examples of pastor-teachers, church planters, and mentors.
What is your history with the Asian American church?
My introduction to Christianity goes hand-in-hand with the Asian American church. My father, who was not a Christian at the time, decided one Sunday morning to take us to a nearby predominantly-white church in Atlanta. They told my father that they hosted a small Chinese church on Sunday afternoons. We started attending, and that’s where I first heard the gospel and believed in Christ. We later transitioned to a different Chinese church in the area for the rest of my youth years and even post college. I value the Chinese American church community for teaching and modeling for me what it means to be a follower of Christ with my distinct cultural identity, the importance of Christian fellowship and hospitality, and the Great Commission.
Who are some of your favorite Asian American Christian Contemporary music artists that we should be listening to?
Eric Owyoung and Future of Forestry (formerly Something about Silas). The band name was inspired by a CS Lewis poem. Eric’s rendition of “O Holy Night” for The Gospel Coalition’s Advent concert back in 2020 was amazing!
What are some of your favorite Christian books by Asian American authors that we should be reading?
I’m currently reading “A Letter to the Asian American Church” by various contemporary Asian American Christian leaders and authors. Other authors I’ve enjoyed include: Makoto Fujimura, Esther Liu, Alexander Jun, Faith Chang, Soong-Chan Rah, Te-Li Lau, and Peter Cha. There’s also a great children’s book called “Taste and See” by Irene Sun that connects God’s love with the food he provides his people in the Bible.
Contemporary Asian Christian Leaders
Judy Cha (PhD, LMFT) is the director of Redeemer Counseling Services. RCS' chief aim is to make the Gospel central to mental health care by prioritizing what the scripture says about humanity and integrating psychological insights to provide contextualized care that is both effective and meaningful.
Elise Chong is the CEO of Hope for New York (HFNY). Growing up in a first-generation immigrant family, Elise became aware of the needs of the poor and marginalized at a very young age. During college, she had the unique opportunity to spend the summer teaching NYS Regents Math to immigrant youth in Washington Heights. It was that experience that further solidified her understanding of how race, class and economic disparities tangibly affect the social fabric of entire communities, families and individuals. Elise received a BA from Cornell University, a M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary, and was awarded a fellowship and received a MPA from New York University's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.
Dr. Aaron Chung is the founding and senior pastor of Exilic Presbyterian Church, a PCA church in NYC. He graduated from Westminster Seminary California (MDiv) and Westminster Theological Seminary (DMin). He has church planting experience in America and was also an overseas missionary in Asia.
Dr. Alexander Jun is a professor of higher education at Azusa Pacific University, and he conducts research on equity and justice in higher education around the world. He also serves as the executive director of Korean American Leadership Initiative (for Korean-American elders in the PCA). He worked alongside Mission to the World (MTW) with his family for three years in Cambodia. In 2017, Alex was elected as the moderator for the 45th General Assembly for the Presbyterian Church in America, the first minority to hold this position. Alexander earned a PhD in Education Administration and Policy from the University of Southern California.
Rev. Joel Kim is the president of Westminster Seminary California. In May 2017, he was appointed as the fourth president of WSC. He previously taught at Calvin Theological Seminary and International Theological Seminary in Los Angeles, and has been active in teaching globally. Rev. Kim is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and has served as a pastor in several churches in Michigan and Southern California since his graduation from WSC in 1997.
Dr. Lloyd Kim is the coordinator of Mission to the World, the mission-sending agency for the entire PCA. He is a former PCA pastor and holds an MDiv from Westminster Seminary in California and a PhD in New Testament studies from Fuller Theological Seminary. In 2004 Dr. Kim and his wife, Eda, a medical doctor, were sent by MTW to Manila in the Philippines. In 2007 he worked as country director of Cambodia and helped facilitate the planting of several churches while also serving as field director for the Southeast Asia Partnership. In addition, Dr. Kim taught and provided teaching resources for several theological institutions as the director of theological education for Asia-Pacific.
Dr. Robert Kim is the Associate Professor of Applied Theology and Church Planting at Covenant Theological Seminary in Saint Louis, Missouri. Robert is a second-generation Korean-American who was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. He earned a BA in Sociology from UC Irvine, MDiv from Gordon-Conwell, ThM from Fuller in Intercultural Studies, and a DMin from Reformed Theological Seminary. Prior to teaching at Covenant, Robert served for 13 years as a church planter, pastor, and regional network director in Philadelphia. He is a teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA).
Dr. Kyuboem Lee (BA Biblical & Theological Studies, Wheaton College; MDiv Urban Mission, DMin Urban Mission, Westminster Theological Seminary) was born in Seoul, South Korea, then spent his teenage years as a Missionary Kid in Nairobi, Kenya. He came to the US as an international student, and has lived, church planted, and ministered cross culturally in Philadelphia since 1993. Kyu has taught urban mission at the graduate level since 2006, and he serves as assistant pastor at Renewal Presbyterian Church. Dr. Lee spoke at our Called to Joy event in February 2024.
Maria Lui Wong is the Provost of City Seminary New York, the Director of Walls-Ortiz Gallery and Center, the Co-Director of Ministry in the City HUB, and a member of Redeemer Downtown. At City Seminary, Maria cultivate spaces for faculty, staff, students, and visitors to interact in creative ways. She says that "This process is a way that we 'become' God's peace in the city, living out our faith in unexpected ways as well as pointing others to Christ."