[Reminder: All the plenary and workshop sessions are available in recorded format (tape or CD). See the link on the home page]
Saturday, April 21, 2007.
It's hard to imagine we are already at the final day of the Summit! Today there will be a special lunch for those who want to present their own cities as a possible location for future Summits. There are several possibilities -- many people see the need for such a Summit in their own areas.
The day began with the passing of the "baton" from the Seattle
leadership team to the leaders from St.
Louis, the site of the next Summit
(April 10-12, 2008). Then Huron Claus spoke from John 4 about Jesus' encounter
with the Samaritan woman. He spoke of the approach Jesus took with her. He did
not operate from some condensed formula for sharing truth but interacted with
the woman with perception who communicated in a simple, straight-forward manner.
Jesus was willing to cross the cultural divide between the Jew and Samaritan. We
have to be a people of conviction, willing to give our lives for that which is
our deeply held conviction. And we see in the Lord Jesus an example of
passionate intensity in working with people; that, too, is an example for us.
Then, again after a day of seminars and affinity group meetings and some great food, we gathered in the worship center. The Grace Slavic Choir, made up of members from several different churches and from different parts of the former Soviet Union, electrified us with powerful worship music that lifted us in adoration to the point where many rose in standing ovation at the end of their presentation. AnnaMaria Pasley and her group also led in worship, and later there was music presented by the West African Congregational Choir (singing in Bassa and Krahn languages) and the Vietnamese Baptist Church. But before Pastor Truong Ta closed Summit 2007 w'ith prayer, the centerpiece of the evening was the message by Dr. Viktor Hamm, "Unlocking the Gate Through Community Transformation." Dr. Hamm spoke in Russian with English interpretation by Nick Martin.
Dr. Hamm connected his remarks (Acts 13:36 "For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption") to the experience of David. God saw potential in David when his own family did not. There may not have been a formal educational background for David, but education is not the pre-requisite for service for God. David had his own preparation for his call from God.
Dr. Hamm spoke of that preparation as an example for us.
Friday, April 20, 2007.
Our
morning has begun with a plenary session in which Allen Belton (University
Presbyterian Church) led in singing and Dr. Delia Nüesch-Olver (Seattle Pacific
University) present a message on bridge building based on Acts, chapter 10.
It's in Acts 10 that Peter is called to minister to gentiles. Dr. Nüesch-Olver showed us the steps Peter was taken through by the Lord to become open to ministry to people of backgrounds other than his own -- beginning by a challenge to eat foods other than his usual. So the beginnings of the bridge for Peter was an introduction to ethnic foods!
She stated
- Bridge building begins with a conversion of the mind (as with Peter's attitudes)
- We must recognize the depth of the divide (she referred to the Emerson & Smith book, Divided by Faith as a helpful resource in understanding that divide)
- We must recognize what's on both sides of the divide (the Great Commission Church on one side and the growing and changing ethnic diversity on the other)
- We build the bridge through hospitality
- We need to recognize we deal not with individuals but with networks
- The church needs to reframe the issue of ethnicity
- Jesus has promised to be with us for all time in this process.
Through the day the conference participants participated in some of the 25 seminars available today, joined in affinity groups in the later afternoon, and in between enjoyed lunch and snacks and a great catered dinner of butter chicken with rice or roast beef with mashed potatoes (or both!).
At a quarter to 7 the worship team drew us together in
worship. We were led by the Hope of the City Church Filipino Worship Team joined
by AnnaMaria Pasley, and what an amazing time of worship it was! Bob Rasmussen
and Cal Uomoto presented the challenge and invitation for participation in the
Post-Summit EthnicImpact process. After the Offertory with music by the East
African Choir, Garrick Pang,
Summit Co-chair, introduced our speaker, Rev. Aaron Haskins, who spoke on
"Unlocking the Gate through Reconciliation."
Rev. Haskins reminded us that we know we need information, but we also know information is not enough. We are three-part beings. What we really are is spirit. God speaks to us through our spirit. God made us so that we would be dependent on Him and on one another. God's way is acceptance and unity. We need that today. It's good we recognize people's individuality, but God wants to take us beyond that. To form an authentic community of people representing the love of Christ -- not a sameness, not a melting pot, but rather a salad -- we realize that diversity is not our idea. Seasons, for example, are not our idea. We can never look down on one another because we are created in God's likeness for His glory and pleasure.
We are living in a time when everyone wants to be connected to someone major. We are connected to the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to build an authentic model of His purposes for us.
We must get connected in real life relationships if we are to experience that we are members one of another. To be connected there are several things we need to overcome.
There may not be many people anymore who are truly racist, but there is a lot of prejudice. We limit one another by prejudgment of one another. But at the foot of the cross we are all one. In the Kingdom of God it's not toleration, it's reconciliation.
We must become like Jesus in order to be a reconciler, not limited by our own culture, class, or background.
Thursday, April 19, 2007.
The opening day for Summit 2007! There's been a constant flow of activity today as everything from Communications Center to Registration to Display Area were set up and then people began arriving at the hotels, registering at the church, all while the team here has been printing, copying, organizing all the last minute items needed for a summit for 700+ people.
The first meeting of the Summit began at 7:00 PM with the El Shadai Worship Team. Opening prayers were led by Gihwang Shin and Sigrun Freeman. other music was presented by the Indonesian Presbyterian Church. The offertory prayer was led by Pastor Jeremias Onggao, and during the taking of the offering (which tonight goes to the support of the peoplegroups.info database project) Cesar Medel played guitar in Spanish classical style. Then Susana & Leon Filimonchuk sang of God's glory in Russian. The meeting ended as the Ethnic America Network National Prayer Coordinator, Linda Gross, closed the evening in prayer, praying in Thai, Hebrew, Hmong, and English.
The message was by Dr. Bruce Fong, President of
Michigan Theological Seminary. Dr. Fong spoke
of
Unlocking the Gate through the people of God. He shared from John 13:34 the
"new" command of Jesus, explaining it was new in the sense of freshness. He
challenged us to love one another with a love that keeps its luster, realizing
the reciprocity of the "one another" part of Jesus command. He noted that if we
love others as Jesus commanded we will also experience being loved if others are
also obeying the commandment. He also pointed us to Ephesians 2:11ff stating
that the work of Christ was not to destroy culture and ethnicity but to bring
the varying cultures and ethnicities into one fellowship. If we live in love for
one another people will be drawn to know Christ.