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FOUNDATIONS FOR ASIAN AMERICAN MINISTRY is a collection of the resources Iwa has developed and used over the years to enable leaders to minister more effectively in Japanese- and Asian American churches and ministries. By equipping leaders in this way, Iwa hopes to further its mission of helping Christians and churches more effectively reach and disciple the 97% of Japanese Americans and other Asian Americans who do not yet know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

Click on a Unit Number to view excerpts. The units are organized as follows:

Unit One Biblical Foundations for Ethnic Ministry is composed of two messages which address the fundamental question of whether or not ethnic ministry is legitimate in the eyes of God and in light of Scripture. The first, Adopted and Adaptive: The Role of Biculturals in World Redemption, presents how God uses bicultural people like Moses and Paul as cultural bridges to accomplish his mission in the world. The second, Reflections on Mirror Christianity, describes the biblical account of the origin of culture and gives a scriptural basis for ethnic-specific ministry.

Unit Two Audience Identification Process is the starting point for developing a ministry that effectively reaches a target group such as Japanese- and Asian Americans. It describes how we can identify and identify with the Asian Americans God wants us to reach and serve.

Unit Three Ministry Evaluation and Development Process is the next step. It explains how we can ensure that the ministries developed continue to be viable for and relevant to the target group for whom they were designed.

Unit Four Cultural Dynamics begins the process of determining how culture shapes effective ministry to Asian Americans. It presents the concept of omoiyari as a cultural key for understanding and reaching Japanese- and Asian Americans, and introduces the Cultural Continua for helping to identify a culture’s orientation and values.

Unit Five Bicultural Dynamics takes the process a step further by posing first, what would happen if two completely different cultures came together, and second, if they came together within one individual, as is the case of Asian Americans. The first part, An Exercise in Cross-Cultural Understanding, contains a structured learning experience in which two hypothetical cultures are generated and two representatives from those cultures are imagined as meeting to discuss a merger. The second part, A Model of Biculturalism, presents what takes place when a person is strongly influenced by two value systems, and what implications emerge for ministry as a result.

Unit Six Process for Introducing Change provides a process that those who have experienced a paradigm shift, perhaps catalyzed by the insights from the preceding five units, might be challenged to engage in. It describes how we can introduce positive change in the church and community—something that must take place if the 97% of Japanese Americans and other Asian Americans are to be reached. Jesus and Paul are presented as examples of God’s models of positive change agents.

Unit Seven Leadership Identification Process presents a practical example of how Scripture and culture come together to define an extremely important, but not very well-understood, function of the church. It lays out a biblically based, step-by-step, culturally sensitive process enabling Asian American churches to identify and call out the leadership chosen by God. This unit is the result of work done by Iwa in partnership with the Ministry Development Team of Evergreen Baptist Church, Rosemead, California in the late-eighties.

Click on a Unit Number to view excerpts.

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