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| 1... Community: the life and work of AACF - What does it mean NOW? 2... Let us Not Give Up Meeting Together 3... Introduction to the Internet Superhighway |
Why Common Ground?
When her feet finally touched the ground she thought "that wasn't so bad...it's kinda fun!" Even though climbing seems crazy for most, if you're trained, use proper gear, and are attached to something solid, it's quite safe. The key in climbing is to have faith in the gear and proper training, but you still need to be attached to the rock. Our Christian lives are very similar. We can have great instruction, the best resources, but if we are not attached to The Rock we risk a tremendous fall. The Lord has intended us to live in relationship to one another as a way of keeping us attacked to The Rock. Many of us may have lost touch with the type of community that gives our faith support and encouragement. Our intention with Common Ground is to increase awareness of opportunities and to reestablish ourselves a community that will nurture our to relationship to the love of Jesus. You've probably noticed that you haven't received a copy of the Heartbeat in quite a while. In fact for several years there has not been any official publication from the AACF ministry to the alumni. Suffice it to say that we have called the code (let it die) on the Heartbeat and it is now just a pleasant memory of the past. Common Ground is not merely a newsletter for the alum of AACF, but is a platform to address relevant issues facing Asian American Christians in the marketplace. Our vision is to dialogue about issues that you face personally at the bank, hospital, store, job site, classroom, office...in the marketplace. Common Ground represents what we share about our experience as Christians, as AACF alumni, and as Asian Americans, as people struggling in the real world. We will address issues of our faith in Jesus Christ within our own context and experience. We will discuss issues on ethics, cultural sensitivity, sharing of faith, and even how new market trends can effect us and our ministry. From time to time, we will feature alumni that are successfully sharing their faith in the marketplace, and who will give us relevant insight to be a salt and light in the world. We want to provide you with tools and information that will minister to your specific needs and challenges. Looking back to our college years (way back for some of us), many of us could characterize our spiritual growth and maturity at that time as fresh, dynamic, and exciting. But the college years were "a walk in the park" compared to our present situation and we wonder if we can ever recapture what we had back then. Some of us have lost the passion we had for Christ and are living a mundane spiritual life - the dull life we so much wanted to avoid, a life barely acknowledging the presence of God. The Apostle Paul reminds Timothy "to fan into flame the gift of God." (II Timothy 1:6 NIV) I think even Paul knew how our faith might be extinguished without proper attention. For some of us, we have total freedom to share our faith and are growing like we never though we could. Regardless of where you are, we want to minister to all of you that have been apart of the AACF family. Most of us feel that its too risky to rock climb much less climb without a rope. Climbing is risky... climbing without being attached to something solid is stupid. Even though we perceive this danger we still go about living out our lives with the lack of accountability that at being attached to the rock provides. Common Ground also is a means for us to find way to reattach ourselves to The Rock through returning to a life where our faith is strengthened by growing, caring, and nurturing community. Church profiles, ministry opportunities, retreats and conferences will be an integral part of the publication to illuminate these resources. My personal vision as director of AACF is that Common Ground will grow into a full blown magazine format that truly will be a blessing to the Asian American Christian community. We would appreciate your prayers as God shapes this tool to work effectively for His Kingdom.
(Tommy Dyo has been a campus minister at Cal Poly Pomona and is currently serving at Cal State Long Beach. In February 1994 he became the director of AACF.)
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Serrated pieces of granite covered the bottom of the five story cliff
which seemed to enhance the terror of the climb. From the top of the rock wall she
was eye level with the crowns of the ponderosa pines that reached into the crystal
blue sky. Suspended over the end of the cliff Lianne, a physicist, knew that her
accidental acceleration and subsequent deceleration would result in an instant, joining
with the eternal chorus of angels praising the Lord. Uncertainty loomed in her eyes
as she contemplated the safety of the decent. Faith was tested...faith in the rope,
in the team that set it up, and faith in her salvation. Repelling down a fifty foot
cliff meant that she had to trust. And her successful completion was met with joyous
relief and jubilation.