Awhile ago, I wrote about the bubble. I read an article today that was linked off of Yu-Ling's blog that

You can read the article: The Tiger in the Academy.

In a nuthshell, the article talks about the influence and movement of Asian-American Christianity and the role that it is poised to play on the Christian scence on campus. It talks about the vast influx of Asian-American Christians who are passionate to serve and excited for the gospel. On the other hand there are those non-Christians who come for academic fullfilment so that they can get good jobs and get rich, who end up seeking for something more... The whole issue of Asian parents is addressed, where their high expectations of their children to acheive sometimes discourages asian students to pursue fulltime ministry. Well, why is this of any relevance?

For me, I began my Queen's schooling going to for Christ (aka crusades). Mainly it was because people I knew at Queen's were there and that is where I felt that I would grow. I was involved in their engineering Bible study and managed to take quite a lot away to stay afloat spiritually first year. All in all, I tried to attend as much as I could, but it was tough for me first year, and a battle at every turn to stay in tune with God (more on that in another post maybe).

One night, I was sitting in my res room trying to get some studying done, when I received a phone call that went something like this:
me: Hello?
o: Hi, my name is [....] and I am from crusades.
I was wondering if you wanted a mentor?
me: Oh hi o, what kind of mentorship are you talking about?
o: [ goes on to explain what mentoring ... ]
me: hmmm..it'd be cool to meet up some time I guess...
o: [ proceeds to make an appointment with me to meet up ]

and the rest is history. O, if you're reading this, God works in mysterioubs ways. There is a point to all of this...bear with me. To make a long story short, Oz brought me to cooking contest at ccf and that made me decide right then and there to at least check out CCF the following school year. But then, I often ponder on why we exist as a CCF. Like, my mind is always brought back to one time we were promoting a CCF event, and someone walked by and commented something to the effect of "... Christianity isn't for Chinese only ... " And often times, amidst all the fun and fellowship we have, I can totally see how some people would perceive our fellowship as a place "for Chinese only." Granted, there are non-asians in our fellowship (for which I'm thankful), but oftentimes it might feel like we are very exclusive, without actually trying to be.

Reading this article, and other recent revelations have led me to a few formulations to begin to answer "Why the Bubble Exist?" There are many quirks of being an asian, particularly a Chinese family, that affect the way that we go about ministry, or God's will. Like, I've spoken to many people who want to go into fulltime ministry, but who's parents want them to at least work a few years in their vocation before going into any kind of ministry. It's a sad but apparent fact that many parents force/chide their kids into disciplines such as engineering, commerce, lifesci, etc. For many students, there is an unwritten (or blatantly written) expecation that in order to be a success they have to fulfill their parent's visions for them. Whether that be being a lawyer, a top-notch executive, an accountant...the list goes on. You know what I'm talking about... It's something that others who are outside our cultural context may or may not understand, and it is an advantage of being in the support of brothers and sisters who understand us in that light.

At the same time, there is a pressing need for CCF to reach outward. Outward to non-Christians of asian descent, but also to those non-Asian. Actually, there is a pressing need for fellowships of all backgrounds to reach outward; and this is going to require community...unity. And it is how God wills it, to be a multi-facted, multi-cultural body of Christ. I've highlighted (and the article does more justice to) the reasons why we as a bubble exist, but more importantly there is a need for all Christians from various backgrounds to come together and find ourselves a ONE in Christ. God has blessed our generation and our race with large movements everywhere, just read about China, or the students coming over and their thirsty souls. Read about the exploding house churches in China, the faith of Christians in China who put ours to shame... We are truly blessed, and we have a lot to learn.

Yet, at the same time, it is time to move and mobilize ourselves. It's obvious that two is better than one, and that a banded community is stronger than fragmented cultures that are strewn across campus. I believe the time is now and we should take advantage of this kairos moment.

God is moving and shaking at Queen's. Grab hold and come join in the work where he's at; with your black, brown, white, yellow, brother and sisters in Christ.

GOOO read the article!