Gabe says that his mom was Japanese, his dad was Hispanic, and they are both first-generation Christians. “I grew up in a predominantly Hispanic Assemblies of God church, which was bilingual, so we had worship and preaching in English and Spanish. For the majority of my life, I had to assimilate. I always felt kind of out of place because when I was at school what made me stand out was being Mexican but when I was at church what made me stand out was being Japanese, so I never really felt like I could bring my full self to the table of any of the environments that I was in, except for my home.” Gabe’s parents grew up on the East side of Denver, which was heavily Hispanic. His Japanese mom spoke Spanish and learned how to cook Mexican food, but then with academics, his Japanese heritage came to the forefront.
Gabe says he played sports and a number of instruments, and he really loved his youth group. “If I got in trouble, they would ground me from youth group.” When Gabe was 16, he finished high school early and entered a youth ministry program with the AG church. Eventually, he became a youth pastor at 19. Gabe married Ceceilia at 22 and they had 3 children by the time he was 24. Gabe says, “My wife was the worship pastor, I was the youth pastor, and we both had full-time jobs. Plus we had 3 kids. We were overwhelmed and burned out. I found the Vineyard when I played bass at a young adult service at Canyon View Vineyard, but I didn’t know it was anything more than a local church. It was a large church and their nursery was always staffed so we could drop our kids off and sit in the service and receive, and that was important. It was really painful exiting our previous church and I was pretty sure I would never do ministry again after that. But we heard Kirk preach and felt like he was so down to earth and that we belonged there. I was super refreshed by it. We decided to wait awhile to join the worship team, but when we started playing we felt some healing take place. About 7 months later I ended up joining the staff of Canyon View. In my time there, I had various roles. I led the middle school ministry, youth ministry, and young adults. I also had the opportunity to preach every 4-6 weeks for Kirk. We were there for about 5 years.”
Gabe says that he and Ceceilia began feeling a call to senior leadership, but they had some specific criteria. “Ceceilia and I felt called to co-pastor. We also wanted to be in a more racially diverse area, and in a college town. We ended up moving to Arlington, TX to be the successors to the pastors there. Even amidst our transition into senior leadership, I was the youth pastor here until about a year ago. I feel called to support youth pastors and help train them, and I get to do that in my current position as a co-lead pastor. I am grateful that we are in a multiethnic city with a multiethnic church. It’s been a really enriching experience for me, and my kids will grow up knowing that they are who they are and that their ethnic identity is a part of who God designed them to be. The AAPI Association is helping me to uncover that area of my ethnic identity and my Japanese heritage that was previously unseen.”
Gabe says that he and Ceceilia became lead pastors in 2021, and since then the church has shifted from predominantly white baby boomers to at least a third of the church being young families of color. “Diversity is one of our values, which means are multi-ethnic, multi-generational, and have men and women leading at every level in our church. I just want everyone to feel like they have space and to feel that we’ve done the work of crafting an environment that was created with them in mind.”
Gabe offers the following encouragement to other multiethnic pastors: “Take the time to ask yourself where you are withholding your ethnic upbringing for the sake of assimilation where God might be inviting you to bring that to the table for the benefit of the communities that you’re in, and to the benefit of the Vineyard. There might be a sense in which God is inviting pastors and leaders to bring more of themselves to the table, not to be self-aggrandizing by any means, but to better serve their communities, and I would just encourage them to do that with humility, but also with courage.”
Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Month. So what? Why “celebrate” yet another distinct group of people and why does it matter to our Vineyard Family?
A little googling revealed that AAPI month has been going on since the Carter administration. And yet, it’s only very recently that I even learned that AAPI month actually exists. Growing up, a month for us was never really emphasized, and I recognize that my recent experience of a rediscovery of AAPI month is typical of what AAPIs experience about a myriad of things.
There is a tendency to disappear, to assimilate, and not bring attention to ourselves. However, as a follower of Jesus and one who tries to recognize every person’s God-given worth and value, I have come to understand that, actually, living in this way does not honor the creativity and intention with which the Lord has made me, purposefully, in my Asian-ness.
The Lord is actively healing the ways in which I have denied or suppressed thoughts about my culture and re-making my identity in Him and, gloriously, that my being AAPI is welcomed in that process.
I believe this month is a means by which we are able to bring others along – to raise awareness and understanding, that stories across ALL of our experiences matter and that the fruit of doing the work of raising awareness, greater understanding across cross-cultural lines, and calling forth more and others to the table is a holy work. I am hopeful that it will encourage more leaders in authentically and fully contributing to our faith communities, and that it will lead to the Vineyard looking more like Heaven.. how fun would that be??
Developing cultural intelligence and making room for minorities:
Many Colors: Cultural Intelligence for a Changing Church by Soong Chan Rah
Invitation to Lead by Paul Tokugawa
Leading Across Cultures by James E. Pluddemann
Insight into AAPI identity and struggles:
Learning Our Names: by Sabrina S. Chan, La Thao, E. David de Leon, Linson Daniel
Intersecting Realities by Hak Joon Lee and Ken Fong
Doing Asian American Theology by Daniel D. Lee
Invisible: Theology and the Experience of Asian American Women by Grace Ji-Sun Kim
A lot of Asian Americans wrestle with invisibility. As an immigrant growing up in the late 80s and 90s, the message was clear: assimilate. Don’t rock the boat. Being quiet and working hard leads to success and to the “American Dream.” However, the end result of those thoughts was a denial of myself and how the Lord made me with my particular cultural background and all that came with it. It acted as a muzzle in the ways in which the Lord actually wanted to speak up and share my experiences and thoughts.
A re-claiming of the Lord’s intentionality in creating us as AAPIs has been happening amongst Asian Americans of late, and it is beautiful to witness how specific stories and experiences do bring so much healing and life to others once they are shared.
In the short time that the AAPI Association has existed within the Vineyard, the camaraderie and healing that has taken place have been extraordinary. There is a greater feeling of relatedness and family as we have shared our stories and experiences with one another and have found fellowship within our larger Vineyard family. We are understanding that bringing our whole selves, including our culture, our experiences, and our stories actually matters to the Lord, and the very things about ourselves or our experiences that we have maybe tried to ignore or suppress are actually a part of how He wants us to do ministry and serve others. He created us AAPI intentionally, for a purpose. He delights in His creation over us as AAPI people. We matter to Him.
Embarrassingly, I only learned in the last few years how long AAPIs have been in America. I was never taught AAPI history growing up so I imagined that Asians had only very recently arrived in this country. However, learning that AAPIs have been here for hundreds of years and that there are families here who are 3rd or 4th generation has helped me to understand that, yes, we do indeed belong here and have been here for quite some time.
It is daunting to realize how just learning about AAPI history could have shaped my self-identity in positive ways. It is important to look back and acknowledge the truth about AAPIs who wrestle with constantly feeling like they are perpetual foreigners based on their outward appearance.
Failing to acknowledge the rich history of AAPIs in America is a failure to fully understand American history. Likewise, in our Vineyard family, it is important to remember and acknowledge all of our AAPI pioneers in Asian-American ministry, those who have paved the way for all of us who come behind them. They have been co-laborers with Christ in the Vineyard for decades and have modeled for us how to bring their AAPI selves into a church movement which historically, for AAPIs, can be a lonely place. They have paved the way to belonging, and we are so grateful.
AAPIs belong in the Vineyard and have much to contribute. This is only the beginning and we are hopeful to enter a season where more of us are able to experience a greater, deeper sense of belonging and family in this movement that we love so much and are called by the Lord to serve.
AAPIs are under-represented in our movement. The acknowledgment of our presence and contributions this month gives us hope and helps us understand and actually experience that a thriving future for all minorities is possible in the Vineyard.
The creation of the Associations has given us hope. This is a way of bringing heaven downward as pictured in Revelation 7. Personally, even the short period of time that I have been a part of the Associations has not only expanded and deepened my idea of belonging and family in the Vineyard, but has also allowed me to connect with people in a way that has brought me to a greater level of knowing and feeling that I belong in the Vineyard. It has been instrumental in honestly continuing in the work God has called me to, and beyond that, propelling me towards more.
I am convinced more than ever that these associations matter, as my participation in them has been life-changing. They are of great importance in leading to greater health and longevity in ministry and that particular care, attention, and resources are directed towards us as AAPIs is an answer to prayer. It communicates being seen and being valued in a way that I had not yet experienced in the Vineyard. It meets a felt need for many who are leading and serving in spaces where we acutely experience loneliness in this area of cultural identity and ethnicity.
This is a way forward in that through the work of the associations, we experience El-Roi — the God who sees. He sees us and welcomes us to the table and says, “There’s room for you!” I believe He is expanding the Vineyard table and, AAPIs, God is calling you forward toward whatever it is you are called to be and do. There is still room, and, in this season, let’s show up as our full selves to fill the House of the Lord.
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