Resources List

We’ve compiled a list of resources helpful for better understanding our community and the lived Asian experience in America.

Processing Asian American Racial Trauma

Gather with Asian Americans on April 19 to process the recent events and the varied emotional responses. The Zoom meeting will be co-hosted with local therapists.

Pastor Juliet Liu

Juliet is a 2nd-generation Vietnamese Chinese American and serves as Lead Pastor at Life on the Vine Church in Long Grove, IL, and as Chair of the Board and Writer for Missio Alliance. Juliet is a graduate of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (M.Div.) and the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign (Bachelor of Arts).  Prior to coming to Life on the Vine in 2010, she ministered in Asian-American local church settings and on diverse university campuses. 

Joy Lee-Ryan

Joy Lee-Ryan is Singaporean North American. She is currently a graduate student in the Humanitarian and Disaster Leadership M.A. program at Wheaton College (IL). Her work involves coordinating and developing projects related to anti-oppressive education, the arts, gender-based violence, and social justice advocacy.

Sarah Lam

Sarah is a social media copywriter with the Asian American Christian Collaborative and a senior at Wheaton College studying Elementary Education with the ESL and Middle Grades English Language Arts endorsement..  She has grown up in the Chinese Christian Union Church located in the heart of Chinatown, Chicago.  

Jane Chao PomeroY 

Jane serves as Director of Ministry Initiatives at Make and Deepen Disciples in the Evangelical Covenant denomination. Jane has a passion to see churches be a light in the darkness of today’s world. Prior to this role, she served as Creative Director for Covenant Communications. She is currently pursuing a Certificate in Spiritual Direction at North Park Theological Seminary.

Pastor Sandra Van Opstal 

Sandra Maria Van Opstal, a second-generation Latina, pastors at Grace and Peace Community on the west-side of Chicago.  She is a preacher, liturgist and activist who re-imagining the intersection of worship and justice. In her fifteen years with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Sandra mobilized thousands of college students for God’s mission of reconciliation and justice in the world. Sandra served as Director of Worship for the Urbana Missions Conference, Chicago Urban Program Director, Latino National Leadership Team (LaFe), and Northwestern University Team leader (Multiethnic fellowship).

Pastor Charlotte Emiko Tsuyuki Lehman

An Ordained Minister of the Gospel through Illinois Mennonite Conference of Mennonite Church USA, Pastor Charlotte has served as pastor of Reba Place Church since 2009. Previous to that, she did pastoral counseling and teaching about emotional maturity alongside her husband, Karl Lehman, M.D., a psychiatrist, author and teacher of faith-based models of healing from trauma.

Pastor Gabriel Catanus

Gabriel J. Catanus is the lead pastor of Garden City Covenant Church, a congregation on the northwest side of Chicago serving immigrant families and young professionals. He belongs to a huge family of Filipino ministry leaders and healthcare professionals spread across four continents. He received his PhD in theological ethics from Loyola University Chicago and now serves as Associate Director of The Paul G. Hiebert Center for World Christianity and Global Theology. When he’s not enjoying the city with his family, he’s writing, speaking, and drinking lots of coffee.

Denise Peñacerrada Kruse 

Denise is an editor with the Asian American Christian Collaborative, a proud Chicago native, former/occasional magazine writer, and pandemic-induced homeschool mom. She and her husband Vince live with their three kids in a suburb of St. Louis.

Michelle Chu

Michelle has been ministering throughout the Chicagoland area for over 25 years. She provides counseling and care for women, couples, and families. A graduate of Trinity International University with a Master of Arts in Counseling Ministries, Michelle is married to Rev. Alexander Chu and is mother to their 3 precious children.

Lynn Catanus 

Lynn is a second-generation Vietnamese American middle school history teacher. She sponsors the Cultural Diversity Club and she is part of the District Equity Leadership Team for her school district. Lynn also serves as one of the leaders at Garden City Covenant Church. Lynn, her husband, and their two sons are proud residents of Chicago. 

Pastor Michael L. Neal

Michael L. Neal is a native of Chicago, Illinois; he currently serves as the Senior Pastor of Glorious Light Church, Chief Executive Officer of the Timothy Community Corporation and the Executive Director of the Leading with Literacy Program.

Rachel Hope Wickman

Rachel is a 23 year old Filipina-American creative living in Milwaukee, WI. She has worked with nonprofit organizations that address many justice-related issues such as human trafficking and voter rights and was previously a finalist for a national poetry slam team. She uses words and art to tell stories of hope, redemption, and resistance. 

Dr. Rajkumar Boaz Johnson

Dr. Johnson is Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies at North Park University. He earned a PhD in Hebrew Bible/Theological Studies from Trinity International University and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, a ThM in Hebrew Bible and Semitic Languages from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, an MDiv in New Testament Studies from Union Biblical Seminary in Pune, India, and a BA in Economics from Hans Raj College at the University of Delhi.

Pastor Tiana Coleman

Tiana is a pastor at Jesus People USA Covenant Church in Uptown, Chicago. When she isn’t out running, baking amazing masterpieces, taking care of her two children and loving on her husband she is deeply committed to justice and reconciliation.

Grace Chen Zuercher

Grace is serving on the launch team for A Restoration Church, a church plant in the North Shore suburbs of Chicago. Previous to that, she was the Connections Coordinator at Willow Creek North Shore. Grace is a graduate of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (M.A.) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (B.S.).

Pastor Alex Chu

Alexander Chu is the Pastor of Outreach and Community Life at Christ Church in Lake Forest and Highland Park, Illinois. He has received a Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry from Trinity International University.

Abby Nitta

Abby Nitta is a Filipino American marketer, writer and former journalist. She believes that storytelling can be a force for good and that the Divine shows up in surprising ways. She's written for award-winning news publications and currently works in content strategy in the tech sector. She lives in Chicago with her son and husband, where they're learning together how to honor their family's Filipino and Japanese heritage.

Pastor David Swanson

David W. Swanson is the pastor of New Community Covenant Church, a multicultural congregation in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood. He helps lead New Community Outreach, a nonprofit that collaborates with the community to reduce sources of trauma, and speaks around the country on the topics of racial justice and reconciliation. He has written articles for Christianity Today, The Englewood Review of Books, and The Covenant Companion. He lives in Chicago with his wife and two sons.

Pastor Gina Cherian

Gina is a pastor at a new church plant called Home Church. Prior to that, she served as the Campus Pastor of the Willow Creek South Lake Campus. As an Indian-American woman, she is committed to advancing the multi-ethnic community of Heaven in our church congregations and leadership today. She currently resides in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with her husband and two kids.

Rev. Mary Chung March

Born in Jersey City, NJ to Korean immigrant parents who also church planters and pastors, Mary is the Co-Founding and Co-Lead Pastor of New City Covenant Church. She serves as the President of the Mosaic (Ethnic) Commission of the ECC and President of the Covenant Asian Pastors Association of the ECC.

Rev. Stephanie O’Brien Williams

Pastor Stephanie Williams O’Brien is the Lead Pastor at Mill City Church in Northeast Minneapolis. She is also a professor of ministry at Bethel University and Seminary in St. Paul, MN. Stephanie has opportunities to coach leaders around the world through speaking, developing resources and her podcast Lead Stories with her friend Jo Saxton. She is a sought after leadership coach, helping women and men to be intentional with their influence in all aspects of their lives. Pastor Steph is passionate about communities and individuals participating in the mission of God to the world. Her first book was released in the fall of 2019 – Stay Curious: How Questions and Doubts Can Save Your Faith. Stay curious with Pastor Steph at: www.pastorsteph.com.

Rev. Cecilia J. Williams

Rev. Cecilia J. Williams, MDiv., is a graduate of Bethel Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity degree in Pastoral Care and Counseling, and a present candidate for a Doctor of Ministry degree at Luther Seminary coming from successful career in corporate banking and investment management. Cecilia innovated and pioneered CovEnterprises, a faith-based platform for social entrepreneurship which helped churches partner with and invest in local businesses specifically designed for community empowerment as well as helped establish Bezalel LLC, a national affordable housing initiative, designed to lead individuals into shelter security and home ownership. She currently works at the Christian Community Development Association as its President and CEO.

Rev. Hollis Kim

Hollis Kim is the Director of Pastoral Care & Development for the NWC. His work centers on both the care & resourcing needs of pastors and their families.

Jennifer Ikoma-Motzko

The Rev. Jennifer Ikoma-Motzko (she/hers) is a 4th generation Japanese-Okinawan American with midwest roots. Her family relocated from California to Chicago after the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII. Watching her grandma help organize the redress movement that followed provided Jennifer a holistic spiritual framework of pursuing both social justice and personal piety. An ordained American Baptist minister, she has lived in diverse places such as Chicago, New York City, Madison, Seattle and Sydney. Australia. Today, she resides in Minneapolis with her husband Mike and their two young children.

Der Lor

Der Lor is a minister of worship and teaching/preaching. He currently serves at Roseville Covenant Church in Roseville, MN. He is a ThM candidate at Luther Seminary in St. Paul. He lives with his wife and two kids in Maplewood, MN.

Rev. Luke Swanson

Lead Pastor of Community Covenant Church, Minneapolis, MN

Khanh Nguyễn

Khanh Nguyễn's family escaped as refugees from the war in Vietnam and was sponsored by a church in MN that introduced them to the gospel of Jesus. She is married to David and has 2 delightful children My Linh and Khoa, who go to a Chinese immersion school and like to speak behind their parents' back in Chinese 😁 Her experiences in missions, multi-ethnic church leadership, helping settle African refugees, and teaching courses on race, culture and ministry at University of Northwestern, St. Paul, has led her to start her own consulting business C3: Cultural Competency Consulting, She speaks & trains churches and organizations in areas of Intercultural Competency, Anti-racism education, Immigration & Refugee advocacy and Asian-American topics.

Paul Robinson

Rev. Paul Robinson serves as Executive Minister of the Love Mercy Do Justice (LMDJ) Mission Priority of the Evangelical Covenant Church. Previously Rev. Robinson served as lead church planter of Grace Outreach Covenant Church in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, and as senior community leadership consultant with the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation of St. Paul, Minnesota.

Carlo Vernoń

Carla serves as the Vice President of Amazon's Consumable Categories. Prior to joining Amazon, Carla spent more than 20 years at General Mills, where she served as the President of the Natural & Organic Operating Unit. Carla holds a bachelor’s degree in Ecology from Princeton University, where she currently serves as a Trustee of the University and is a co-founder of the Princeton Tiger Sisters, a network of 1250 female Princeton alumnae and students from the African American diaspora.

Drew Hyun is the Founder and Pastor of Hope Church Midtown, as well as the Founding Pastor of Hope Church NYC, a family of diverse churches in and around NYC. Drew is also the Co-Founder of the New City Network, a network of urban churches that value multi-ethnicity, Spirit-filled ministry, emotional health, and mission. Drew is also part of the Emotionally Healthy Discipleship team, a movement that is dedicated to transforming church culture through the multiplication of deeply changed leaders and disciples. Drew loves cities, ESPN, and naps, and finds it a restful Sabbath when all three come together. He resides in New York City with his wife Christina and their son David and daughter Avery. Drew is the author of no books.

Julie Won is a first-generation Korean immigrant, a strategist, and advisor for businesses and community-based organizations. With a heart for public service and a zeal for innovative thought leadership, Julie worked in IBM's public sector practice managing federal accounts. She now serves as a Managing Consultant specializing in Digital Strategy, User Adoption, and Human Centered Design. As a community leader, Julie serves on the Executive Board of the Korean American Association of Greater NY (KAAGNY), the board of Queens Community Board 2, the Advisory Board of Community Capacity Development (CCD):696 Build Queensbridge and Queens Together. As an advocate of partnerships and coalition building, Julie continues to champion greater operational efficiency in public service by leveraging technology, human-centered design, and innovation.

Candidate for City Council District 26: Long Island City, Sunnyside, Woodside, Astoria.

Aaron Chung is the founding pastor of Exilic Presbyterian Church. He graduated from Westminster Seminary California with a Master of Divinity and is currently finishing his Doctorate of Ministry program at Westminster Theological Seminary. He has church planting experience in America and was also an overseas missionary in Asia. He has written on a variety of subjects from theology to sports for websites including Relevant Magazine and The Bleacher Report. He is married to Hanna who is the real church planter, and they have two daughters, Logan and Hayden.

Joe Ng serves as an Elder at Remnant Westside Church. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife Jen, their three kids Addie, Connor and Noah, and their dog Rusty. He dedicated his life to the Lord Jesus when he was a college student at the Cooper Union. He works in finance and enjoys skiing, basketball, and pour-over coffee.