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CAMBODIANS IN CRISIS

A Study of the Cambodian Population
In Long Beach, CA

6. Potential Missional Strategies

Studying the Cambodian immigration and urban experience in the Long Beach area has opened our eyes to the many physical, emotional and spiritual needs of Cambodians as well as other Southeast Asians. This community has some issues which are common to most South-East Asian immigrant communities (e.g., the clash between the original immigrants and their children who grow up in a different culture). But, it also has some unique needs, such as the appallingly high incidence of mental health issues as serious as post traumatic stress disorder. Therefore, the community demands a unique strategy and approach and not a “one size fits all” church growth approach. Within the confines of this paper, we cannot analyze and formulate a comprehensive response. However, we will put forward certain concepts with regard to culture, service provision and church planting that we believe will be key in the formulation of that wider strategy.

A. The Inevitably of Enculturation 
The process of “enculturation” should be understood and incorporated into any missional strategy as we cannot effectively approach a community without a thoughtful appreciation for the relevant anthropological and cultural issues. We prefer to use the term “enculturated” rather than acculturated to describe the process of becoming more Americanized or westernized. Immigrants that come into another context (or country) add to their culture rather than merely shedding cultural distinctives and identity. Acculturation is becoming pejorative in some circles because it connotes the stripping away of ones cultural identity; thus acculturation can be taken to mean a loss of culture. In our view, God can work though culture and so we can embrace certain positive aspects of a community’s culture. This being said, we also recognize that there is an inevitably of enculturation or acculturation that takes place with immigrant groups as they become more steeped in American society.

Rev. Dr. Ken Uyeda Fong, pastor of one of the largest Asian American churches in the US and widely regarded as an expert on Asian American ministries paints a picture of the enculturation process of immigrant churches settling in the US. He articulates in his seminal book, Pursuing the Pearl: A Comprehensive Resource for Multi-Asian Ministry, that the immigrant churches in America are like rivers flowing inevitably towards the ocean. The rivers are immigrants and their specific cultural and language groups with their unique distinctives. As time moves forward, eventually the rivers mix into bays where the water is neither the fresh nor salty, but a brackish mixture of the two. The immigrant language is lost and the culture is mixed with Western culture with the result that the cultural distinctives are being blended. Inevitably, all the waters will mix into the deep blue sea. 

Fong argues that if we look at the aquatic life in these rivers, bays and the ocean, certain types of fish live in certain types of water. First generation people are the imported bass (or 1.0 generation) that thrive in the pure monoculture rivers of fresh immigration. The salmon or (1.5-2 generation) are unique in that they can live in salt water, but can also move upstream into the fresh water rivers. These would be bi-cultural types of people that can survive in both waters and may also serve as a bridge between the separate waters. Finally, there are the acculturated cod or the 3.0 generation and beyond that only live in the sea and will only be caught if someone intentionally goes into the unknown abyss to reach them (Fong 1999:197-97).

In our view, any strategy must reach all three groups so that a sense of community may be preserved and built and important inter-generational relationships may be maintained. Only reaching the original immigrants is to ignore the coming generations and their acculturation/enculturation process (already a major current problem). Only reaching out to the 1.5/2 generation alienates or excludes the older people and original immigrants who are necessary to any healthy multi-generational church and community. And to only reach out to the 3.0 generation is to ignore the huge needs of the other two groups and to pretend that the real transitional problems faced by immigrant groups do not exist.

B. At Least Three More Models of “Church” Needed
“No one language, other than English, unifies the groups: the main languages used include Vietnamese, Khmer (or Cambodian), Hmong, and Lao; and dozens of minority languages are spoken as well.” (SERAC 2000:7) 

There is a great chasm between the American-born Cambodians and their parents’ generation. There are significant differences between the various Southeast Asian groups but their language and many of their experiences draw them closer than their differences can push them apart. There is a push and pull of “diversity and unity” among Southeast Asians that, if it can be understood, would be a unifying thread for strategic and vital church plants. We suggest below three models of doing and being church that should be seriously considered in the context of reaching the Cambodian community in Long Beach.

Model One: A model of church that appears to be needed in the Cambodian Christian community is one where the leadership of the more Americanized and English speaking congregation is affirmed as pastors. It is common in immigrant churches that the dominant leaders in the church are only those born elsewhere, usually in the country of origin. As a result, the church exists to minister primarily to the first generation immigrants and is also a place for cultural preservation. All matters of direction and activities of the church tend to center on the immigrant language group. 

The English speaking members are usually assigned to take care of the youth group but do not affect or have input into decisions relating to the “adult” congregation. The youth group is usually comprised of those who do not have children or do not speak the immigrant church’s language. In most cases, the English-speaking leaders are volunteers or are paid very little. The “youth” (ages 23-33) typically migrate out the confines of the church in droves because the church offers very little attention to them.

 
One solution would be to coach current eldership to see the benefits of an eldership that includes elders/pastors who minister to various sections of the Cambodian community. In this model, the senior leadership of the immigrant church would affirm leaders who are ministering to the second generation congregation as equals not merely subservient to the immigrant leadership. The major obstacle to this approach is that it is a great challenge for Asian church pastors (with values often influenced by Confucianism) to affirm anyone younger than themselves. In the early years of new immigrant churches, we have seen very few churches that affirmed second generation leadership. Though challenging, Cambodian church leaders can learn from the mistakes of the Japanese, Chinese, and now Korean pastors who have lost many of their potential members because they did not address the changing needs and affirm new generations. Some Cambodian churches need to plant Americanized churches, within the current structures to reach the enculturated Cambodians. Ken Fong suggests:
“First, a good number of first-generation churches will need to be convinced of the futility of the plans to reach saltwater generations by offering them variations on freshwater themes. The leaders must have enough clarity of vision to know that Asian Americans from the third generation and beyond will best be reached with pastors and churches that naturally resonate with the themes and issues of more Americanized Asian Americans. 
Second, once these freshwater leaders see the handwriting on the wall they should remove any and all obstacles that would prevent or bog down the launching of these new ministries. Many of the would-be pastors of these new churches speak to me of great personal discouragement. Beaten down and battered after years of lobbying for the legitimacy and urgency of AM [Asian American] ministries, by the time they leave the staff of a bilingual or multilingual church, many of them are not sure they still want to pastor a church, let alone plant one without any kind of substantial support and blessing. It would make a world of difference if first-generation pastors and their congregations would sponsor new works, offering spiritual and financial support for up to five years, with no strings attached. Unfortunately, too many new churches aimed at AMs flounder and even fail for lack of real support during those crucial first years” (Fong 1999:218-19).

There are some substantial issues here concerning whether the current church merely sponsors a “church plant” with 1.5 or 2.0 generation members initially or whether the church first validates 1.5/2.0 leaders and members within its current structure (whether they have separate language congregations or not) and builds a community of respect ,co-operation and understanding with a common vision. In our view, to merely separate the three generations would be to promote segregation of ages and approaches, which is not found as a biblical model. It may be hoped, however, that the original church (now more cohesive and inclusive) would eventually “plant out” or sponsor other new churches, preferably also multi-generational in nature. This strategy would require considerable time and patience but would yield great fruit.

Model Two: A Pan-Asian Church: “Our vision for reaching Americanized Asian Americans must definitely go beyond what is familiar or comfortable (Fong 1999:219). So what would a new church look like? What is needed? 
One other type of church that should be considered as part of any missional strategy would be a multi-pan-Asian American church. This would not focus on Cambodians, but rather on enculturated Asian Pacific immigrants. As noted by SEARAC, “No one language, other than English, unifies the groups” (SERAC 2000:7). Even though distinct cultural patterns exist within each people group, many Americanized immigrants have similar struggles, and Southeast Asians specifically share common bonds and experiences. Most first generation churches are losing their “children” and do not relate to the non-churched local community. There is great opportunity here to reach the 95% of the community who are unconvinced of the Gospel.

One should anticipate opposition from many first generation leaders for fear of losing part of their congregations. Much dialogue and openness would be required to effect this model to avoid churches and leaders competing against each other. We need to be reminded constantly that the enemy is not the pastor down the road! In this model, we would not encourage people serving in their churches to leave, but present this option as one primarily for displaced Christians or people who have not been reached. Nonetheless, as with mega-churches, there may occur some significant church transfer initially which would undoubtedly be controversial.

Strategically, it would be best to identify, affirm and support key local leaders who share this vision of ministry. Established Asian-Pacific American churches have been planting churches among similar socio-economic backgrounds but they have not planted cross-culturally. This may be a strategic partnership whereby such churches tangibly reach out to this community as a mission. Specific details on how to plant this type of church will need to be reserved for another paper. 

Model Three: The third model which may be viable is the development of churches which are specifically targeted at and pastored by the 1.5 and 2.0 generations of Cambodians who currently feel so excluded from church leadership and meaningful participation. While this may initially cause considerable suspicion (and possibly schisms) with the older first generation pastors, it may be only way to stem the serious loss from the church of the younger Cambodians in these following generations. Experience within other Asian groups over many decades has shown that this may unfortunately be the only way to revitalize the church within such a community. Indeed, some articles have suggested that unless a new approach is taken, the Cambodian church structure as it is now seen could effectively disappear within ten years. Ted Olsen in Christianity Today (December 8, 1997) asked “Where will this church be in ten years? . . I think the church will be gone by then.” This may be a dire and overly pessimistic prediction but it indicates the crucial challenge facing the Cambodian church now. We would hope that the development of such churches and their new crop of leaders would ultimately be understood as a positive and necessary force rather than a competitive or destructive force. Both the development of these churches and such reconciliation will take godly strategies, as well as much prayer and patience.

C. Services and Community
Alongside or integrated with any church planting strategies would have to be an approach that addresses the very real social and structural issues facing the Cambodian community. It is not within the scope of this paper to specifically address the types of services required. However, it is clear that mental health issues must rank high on any such list. Anecdotally, support for school children (and their parents) with an issue as seemingly simple as homework appears to be very important, as noted in the interviews with various community leaders. In listening to some members of the community, an unexpected need may be for some form of permanent memorial for the victims of Khmer Rouge genocide- a place for the survivors to grieve and remember those lost. Much study is needed in this area. 

We are not advocating that the church try to take over the provision of services. Rather, there needs to be a co-operation with government authorities to ensure: (a) the effective and equitable delivery of such services and (b) that the right mix of services and income support is achieved for this community. Given that many people experienced in this area such as John McKnight (as quoted in the Introduction to Urban Mission Course Reader 2003) provide convincing arguments that the mere provision of services does not materially or positively affect the quality of life of its recipients, two responses are demanded of the church. First, to be an advocate for structural change regarding the delivery of “services”- what should they be, to whom, in what form and how much? Second, the church needs to be creative in devising ways to empower the local community and to help “create community” where it can. After all, who should understand community better than the church? The notion is to recognize the abilities in the community and to affirm and develop them, rather than to focus on the deficits and merely offer handouts. As advocated by Kretzmann and McKnight (as quoted in the Introduction to Urban Mission Course Reader 2003), an asset-based community development approach would be productive in this community as they need to see what assets/skills they do have. Consistent with that approach, there is also the continuing necessity of building and re-building relationships in the community. By being involved in all of these ways, the church will be forced out beyond its doors into engaging the messy realities of the lives of the broader Cambodian community. That kind of incarnational involvement should, in and of itself, increase in a positive way the role of and profile of the church in the life of the Cambodians in Long Beach.

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