Follow the Author
Russell Jeung
Follow
At Home in Exile: Finding Jesus among My Ancestors and Refugee Neighbors Kindle Edition
by Russell Jeung (Author), Gene Luen Yang (Foreword) Format: Kindle Edition
4.9 out of 5 stars 22 ratings
See all formats and editions
Kindle
$9.99Read with Our Free App
Paperback
$29.96
1 Used from $15.309 New from $28.93
====
Russell Jeung's spiritual memoir shares the difficult, often joyful, and sometimes harrowing account of his life in East Oakland's Murder Dubs neighborhood and of his Chinese-Hakka history.
On a journey to discover how the poor and exiled are blessed, At Home in Exile is the story of his integration of social activism and a stubborn evangelical faith.
Holding English classes in his apartment (which doubled as a food pantry for a local church) for undocumented Latino neighbors and Cambodian refugees, battling drug dealers who threatened him, exorcising a spirit possessing a teen, and winning a landmark housing settlement against slumlords with a gathering of his neighbors—Jeung's story is, by turns, moving and inspiring, traumatic and exuberant.
As Jeung retraces the steps of his Chinese-Hakka family and his refugee neighbors, weaving the two narratives together, he asks difficult questions about longing and belonging, wealth and poverty, and how living in exile can transform your faith:
"Not only did relocation into the inner city press me toward God, but it made God's words more distinct and clear to me...As I read Scriptures through the eyes of those around me—refugees and aliens—God spoke loudly to me his words of hope and truth."
With humor, humility, and keen insight, he describes the suffering and the sturdiness of those around him and of his family. He relates the stories of forced relocation and institutional discrimination, of violence and resistance, and of the persistence of Christ's love for the poor.
215 pages
Language
English
Publisher
Zondervan
Next page
New children's books bundles!
Book bundles for children's growth and development. Shop now
Product description
Review
"Activist. Theologian. Hakka. Chinese American. Follower of Jesus. These words describe Russell Jeung and yet do not fully comprehend the story he has crafted in this masterful book. Part autobiography, part community history, and part liberation lived theology, At Home in Exile captures the heart and soul of following Jesus through living in community among the poor in Oakland. Follow and be transformed."--The Rev. Dr. Frank M. Yamada, President, McCormick Theological Seminary
"An important biblical theme is that God speaks to His people while they are in movement, migrating or in exile. Russell Jeung invites us to recognize that we learn about God and about what God is doing when we live into our own experience of exile and choose to live and minister among migrants and exiles. At Home in Exile is autobiography, theology, and missiology. This book challenges us to see that exile is a unique place to serve God and to learn about how God is at work in the world."--Juan Francisco Martínez, Professor of Pastoral Leadership and Hispanic Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary
"At Home in Exile is more than exploring Asian-American identity, although that certainly undergirds the story. Russell Jeung's journey is also one of deep Christian faith, committed urban life, and community activism, which together convey a compelling challenge for all followers of Jesus---namely, to embrace our ultimate identity as exiles in Christ who can speak truth to power in all cultures."--Al Tizon, Executive Minister of Serve Globally, Evangelical Covenant Church
"At Home in Exile is the incredible story of a committed Christian disciple living in a poor, drug-infested, and refugee-ghetto neighborhood of Oakland, CA. As an evangelical Stanford-educated professor and a fifth-generation Chinese American, Jeung has tried to live out Jesus in this neighborhood as an exile in the US, suffering alongside refugees from Cambodia, Laos, and Burma and undocumented Hispanics. He sees the church as a mother and a home providing hope for compassion for the downtrodden, the disinherited, and the disheartened. His autobiography is truly captivating, inspiring, and moving, challenging all of us on a fundamental level to re-examine our lives of following Jesus."--Andrew Sung Park, Professor of Theology and Ethics, United Theological Seminary
"Displacement and longing for a home are not only a contemporary reality for many, but also an interweaving thread throughout the Biblical Narratives. Russell Jeung's account of his family history and diasporic calling are profoundly moving and inspiring to all Christ followers. In these stories we learn how to journey like Jesus and make sense of our own wanderings and hope for our eternal destiny."--Dr. Sam George, Executive Director, Parivar International, and Co-editor of Malayali Diaspora: From Kerala to the Ends of the World
"I can't remember the last time that I read a memoir where I was laughing hysterically and weeping uncontrollably in back-to-back paragraphs. With much talk about justice among evangelicals these days, Russell Jeung offers the real story of an honest, embodied life of justice. If every student I have ever taught said they wanted to be the next Russell Jeung---nothing would make me more proud. Please read this book."--Soong-Chan Rah, Milton B. Engebretson Professor of Church Growth and Evangelism, North Park Theological Seminary; Author of The Next Evangelicalism and Prophetic Lament
"I know Russell Jeung to be a world-class academic, but he is quite unlike many scholars in that he lives out his resulting convictions in his daily life. That by itself is highly noteworthy. However, as demonstrated in this remarkable book, Jeung is also unlike the typical scholar in that he is a masterful and compelling storyteller, taking the reader not just into the daily lives of impoverished immigrants in Oakland, CA, but also inside his own struggles and transformation as he comes to identify with the poor. His talent for narrating these intermingled stories caused me to think more deeply about my own story as a grandson of immigrants from China. And as a devout Christian, it also made me question many of my own choices to avoid regularly intersecting my life with poor immigrants, especially those from parts of Asia that are in my own backyard. By showing himself to be a flawed and humble example of someone who clearly wants to follow Jesus, Jeung manages both to inspire and instruct the reader to take concrete steps in the direction of "the least of these."--Rev. Dr. Ken Uyeda Fong, Executive Director, Asian American Initiative and Assistant Professor of Asian American Church Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary
"I've gotten to know Dr. Russell Jeung these past few years. I've stayed in his home. I've visited the men and women he has served. I've witnessed his sacrificial love for the Cambodian families and other refugee families in Oak Park. He is an inspiration to me and to those who know and respect him. His book about his life with Cambodian refugees reveals the strength and depth of my people."--Ken Kong, Director, Southeast Asian Ministries-- The Navigators; Director, Southeast Asian Catalyst
"In a watershed moment for refugees and immigrants, Russell Jeung felicitously reminds us of God's love for the least of these. This book powerfully illuminates the plight of the poor and disenfranchised while pointing towards the hope that is rooted and ultimately found in cruciform communities that express their faith in love."--Dominique Gilliard, Board of Directors, Christian Community Development Association
"Jeung takes us into a decades-long journey of relocation into an urban com- munity. He writes with the insights borne from lived experiences. Jeung writes with the acuity of a scholar, the heart of a pastor, and the soul of a Christ follower. A compelling commentary on consumerism, materialism, success, patriarchy, power, and marginality. At Home in Exile is informed by Jeung's Asian American identity; he gives tremendous insights for people of all backgrounds. His family history takes the reader through a journey that touches on Hollywood's history, immigration history, the emergence and destruction of Chinatowns, and family and social services. It is a portrait of the unexpected way perceptions of race touch many of society's institutions---which has surprising implications for today's contentious issues."--Nikki Toyama-Szeto, Director, International Justice Mission (IJM) Institute for Biblical Justice; Author of God of Justice
"Many times, it is so easy to get severed from one's root and faith along the way of pursuing the American Dream in the US. It is heartening to read the life of one whom God blesses with many achievements and yet does not get disconnected from one's faith and root. I am confident that this book will inspire many others to participate more in their "exile" communities and find it at home there."--Kenneth VanBik, PhD, Lecturer, Department of Linguistics and Language Development, San Jose State University
"Russell Jeung has taken elements of the Christian faith and theology, the US West Coast Asian American history/experience, life in my beloved Oakland, CA, and his own life, and woven them together in a way that is educational, engaging, and authentic. He wrestles with some of the deeper complexities of urban ministry, community justice, Christian community, life calling, and family safety in a way that gives the issues their due challenge and also gives the reader some helps on how to navigate them with intellectual and personal integrity. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in seeing how a humble "Disney princess" has sought to be faithful to his heritage, his community, his calling, his family, and his God."--Rev. Phil Bowling-Dyer, Director of Diversity Training, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship
"Russell Jeung is a rare person who embodies courage, authenticity, and integrity in a culture of consumption and assimilation. Unlike other books, At Home in Exile is a page turner because the author, as one of the residents, narrates the stories of Oak Park community of refugees and migrants. It is among the poor and broken, in which Jeung, a fifth-generation Hakka Chinese American, experiences the beloved community that resonates with the early Christian community under imperial Roman culture. Jeung takes the readers on his intimately courageous journey who enter into his world with a sense of belonging and ancestral roots. This is a must-read book for the homeless mind on this shore that longs to retrieve buried memories and roots for social change."--Rev. Young Lee Hertig, PhD, Cofounder/Executive Director, ISAAC/AAWOL (Institute for the Study of Asian American Christianity) (Asian American Women on Leadership)
"Russell Jeung writes with great compassion, insight, clarity, and humor about his remarkable faith journey as an Asian American Christian. This book is required reading for anyone interested in race, religion, and social justice. Prepare to laugh, cry, and transform with Russell Jeung!"--Carolyn Chen, Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies, University of California at Berkeley
"Russell Jeung's book At Home in Exile, at first glance, may be read as a wild adventure tale of ragtag bunch of misfits in exile, whether it be Russell---a descendant of the Hakkas, or the Cambodian refugee grandmother, or the African American gang members who stole his laptop, or the veteran who keeps waiting for his big check---all living in public housing complex. But it is so much more as he weaves the stories of their lives to lift up social injustice, racism, poverty, and obeying Jesus in a delightful storytelling! I was inspired, challenged, and my faith and conscience pricked at times reading Russell's obedience of truly walking amongst and embracing the poor. At the same time, his transparency of his own humanness facing at times the raw reality of humanity and poverty and living in a crime- driven neighborhood makes his faith ever more real. Finally, I was inspired to want to do more as he shares the beauty, joy, life, and hope that can be found even amongst the poor and those in exile and the interconnectedness amongst all of us."--Hyepin Im, President and CEO, Korean Churches for Community Development
"Russell Jeung's memoir of life in East Oakland is warm, humorous, and challenging. He wears his learning lightly, but it's obvious that he can teach us a thing or two about the way faith affects life."--Tim Stafford, General Editor, God's Justice: The Holy Bible
"Russell's life journey is a prophetic challenge to our Evangelical affluent upward mobile suburban culture. A rarity among privileged Ivy-Leagued Asian American upbringing, his story is a must read for those who are considering a life with a purpose beyond a white picket fence in an upscale suburban neighborhood. The various lives mentioned in At Home in Exile fulfill a longing to see modern-day monastic examples of those who have given up the American dream for an intentional life of hardship and danger for the sake of the gospel. Written as a narrative of intriguing relationships through communal living, Russell's humor and raw wittiness is accompanied with deeper theological reflection. As a Hakka, a "guest" in exile living among refugees, Russell reminds us of the simple gospel message---that as incarnate sojourners in a broken world, we find Jesus and trust that the Kingdom is near."--David Ro, Director of the Christy Wilson Center at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary; East Asia Regional Director for the Lausanne Movement
"Russell's life long journey to live incarnationally will tug at your heart, fill your mind, and convict your soul. The story of Oak Park is a gritty life-on-life ministry that shows how a lived-out calling can bring personal discovery, multiplied disciples, and community transformation."--Tommy Dyo, Strategic Partnerships and Development, Epic Movement, a Cru Ministry --This text refers to the paperback edition.
About the Author
Dr. Russell Jeung is a leading sociologist of Asian Americans, race, and religion. He is professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University and author of Sustaining Faith Traditions: Race, Ethnicity, and Religion among the Latino and Asian American Second Generation (with Carolyn Chen) and Faithful Generations: Race, Religion, and Asian American Churches. Dr. Jeung is also executive producer of Prophetic Voices, a social media project addressing key social issues of the Asian American community within and in the public square. He serves as Board Chair of New Hope Covenant Church and lives with his family in East Oakland, CA. Along with his wife, Dr. Dr. Joan Jeung, they have two foster daughters from Burma and a son.--This text refers to the paperback edition.
Product details
ASIN : B01CXDN2TM
Publisher : Zondervan (4 October 2016)
Language : English
File size : 1136 KB
Simultaneous device usage : Up to 5 simultaneous devices, per publisher limits
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 215 pages
Page numbers source ISBN : 031052783XBest Sellers Rank: 1,022,383 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)365 in Religious Studies - Sociology
853 in Religion & Sociology
891 in Sociology of ReligionCustomer Reviews:
4.9 out of 5 stars 22 ratings
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Follow
Russell Jeung
Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs, and more
Customers who bought this item also bought
Page 1 of 12Page 1 of 12
Previous page
Brown Church: Five Centuries of Latina/o Social Justice, Theology, and Identity
Robert Chao Romero
4.7 out of 5 stars 166
Kindle Edition
$34.05$34.05
Growing Healthy Asian American Churches
Peter Cha
3.7 out of 5 stars 6
Kindle Edition
$19.27$19.27
Becoming All Things: How Small Changes Lead To Lasting Connections Across Cultures
Michelle Reyes
4.8 out of 5 stars 78
Kindle Edition
$15.99$15.99
Mudhouse Sabbath: An Invitation to a Life of Spiritual Discipline: An Invitation to a Life of Spiritual Disciplines (Pocket Classics)
Lauren F. Winner
4.5 out of 5 stars 169
Kindle Edition
$11.99$11.99
Subversive Witness: Scripture's Call to Leverage Privilege
Dominique DuBois Gilliard
4.8 out of 5 stars 135
Kindle Edition
$16.99$16.99
Family Sacrifices: The Worldviews and Ethics of Chinese Americans
Russell M. Jeung
5.0 out of 5 stars 7
Kindle Edition
$28.66$28.66
Shoutin' in the Fire: An American Epistle
Danté Stewart
4.9 out of 5 stars 120
Kindle Edition
$14.99$14.99
Customer reviews
4.9 out of 5 stars
4.9 out of 5
22 global ratings
==
Top reviews from other countries
Brian Hui
5.0 out of 5 stars Re-explores faith through the lens of a powerless exile (like Jesus)Reviewed in the United States on 5 October 2016
Verified Purchase
This is a truly unique book. And the best book I've read this year. Part memoir / sociology / theology / Asian corny hilariousness. It's funny, it's educational, it's deeply moving.
Russell moves into and ultimately finds home in the Murder Dubs of Oakland. But it's not a triumphant American superhero story. Nor is it a sappy romance about 'the poor.' It's a complex, humble story about how he found community, identity, and ultimately Jesus in his mostly Cambodia refugee & Latino neighborhood.
It's a story that asks: What if Jesus wasn't as much an American superhero, but more like a Chinese Hakka exile (his ancestors)? What if Jesus was more like my Chinatown grandma than that powerful hipster pastor I'm always jealous of? He re-explores things like MISSION, JUSTICE, COMMUNITY, FAMILY & CALLING through this lens.
I finished this book richly proud of my Chinese ancestry, broken over the plight of disenfranchised non-model-minority Asians in the Bay Area, hopeful about what God is still doing through amazing yet mostly "invisible" people, but challenged to live my faith in a way that may run counter to the power and reward structures of our world.
Read less
11 people found this helpfulReport abuse
F. Mok
5.0 out of 5 stars Nerdy Asianz in the HoodReviewed in the United States on 21 October 2016
Verified Purchase
An awkward Asian American intellectual reflects on being a missionary exile in East Oakland
Russell Jeung’s new book is called At Home in Exile: Finding Jesus among My Ancestors & Refugee Neighbors. An alternate title could have been "Nerdy Asianz in the Hood".
Make no mistake about it - Russell Jeung is a nerd. He absolutely fits the model minority stereotype. How to tell? Exhibit A: When you graduate from world-renown Lowell High School in San Francisco, get a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Stanford University, and then later obtain a PhD from UC Berkeley. Check those boxes for Jeung. He now works as a sociology professor at San Francisco State University.
I met Jeung for the first time at his book launch. Exhibit B: When you are decidedly unimposing physically. Jeung doesn’t wear glasses but his look fits the nerd mold. He is rail thin and doesn’t appear to do any strength training. His body language is awkward and although a fluid public speaker, had trouble speaking into the mic.
After graduating from Stanford, instead of taking the high-speed on-ramp into a Silicon Valley tech job, his journey takes an abrupt left turn off the freeway. Jeung didn’t spend a week in the hood, like the typical urban “missionary". He didn’t spend a summer or even a year.
He lived in the Murder Dubs of East Oakland for twenty years.
The neighborhood surrounding 23rd Avenue and International Boulevard in Oakland has been the epicenter of the city's drug dealing and violent crime since the 1990s. I didn't notice any drug deals happening when I parked in the neighborhood but I was nervous about my car being broken into. I was also surprised by how many people in the the neighborhood were of Asian descent.
Jeung’s perspective of the hood is neither patronizing nor glamorous. He comes from a place of humility. The hood taught him about life, the gospel, and justice in a way that suburban existence could not. He recounts life at the Oak Park Apartments as an incredible learning experience. The Cambodian refugees living there taught him profound lessons about hospitality and community. The lessons did not come easy. Jeung recounts an instance when his laptop was stolen by a neighbor and he attempts to buy it back from a shady character named Roach:
Wanting to catch my enemy, I reported this information to the Oakland Police Department. They said I should arrange a meeting time, and then they would wiretap me under my clothes. I could obtain a verbal confession from the thief, and then they would swoop in for the arrest. As this was the stuff of television cop shows, I was all in. I arranged a meeting time and place with Roach and got my cash payment in mint condition, small denominations. Then I contacted the sergeant of OPD Robbery Division, reporting that the “eagle has almost landed.” The sergeant checked, and then informed that the electronics technician was away on vacation. “Jeez,” I thought, “no wonder no one ever calls the police.” pg. 47
Exhibit C of nerdiness: When you say the “eagle has almost landed” to a police officer. This kind of geek humor occurs throughout the book. The humor underscores an important theme in the book - the marginalized view government institutions with well-founded suspicion. Governing authorities tend to benefit the privileged and being poor is more about powerlessness and alienation than simply a lack of financial resources.
Jeung also discusses his Chinese ancestry. He writes:
I feel slightly proud about being Chinese in the United States, because I was different and unique. But then I thought about it. There are about 1.4 billion Chinese in the world. What’s so special about being one of every five humans on earth? Perhaps I stood out because I was Chinese American, an overseas Chinese. Yet that’s not a unique status, either. There are 47 million others just like me. That’s not special Disney material at all. pg. 54
Exhibit D: When you cite global statistics regarding your ethnicity. And yet this ambivalence about ethnic identity resonated with me. I want to feel special about my Chinese heritage but it doesn’t feel very special given the numbers. Undeterred, Jeung researches his family’s history and discovers his Hakka roots. The Hakka are an ancient Chinese tribe who were known for being “ rebels, nomads, and pirates”. He recounts some fascinating history of discrimination against his ancestors in Monterey, California. His comments at the end of this chapter are helpful and inspiring to me:
Unlike Americans, who value egalitarian relationships, the Chinese recognize the hierarchical nature of relationships that have uneven power dynamics. Since it is easy for those with power to become paternalistic or patronizing when they serve others, we must learn Christ’s humility and self-emptying. . . When doing ministry, our joy and strength cannot be based on our own success or power. We receive these gifts only when being guests of the King and recognizing our limitations while in exile. pg.115
In 2000, Oak Park Ministries, the advocacy group Jeung helped found, won a lawsuit to revamp their dilapidated apartment complex. The apartments were rebuilt and many of the kids received their own bedroom and yet the renovations (fencing, security gates, and lighting) changed the atmosphere and culture of the apartments. Jung reflects candidly:
Whenever I get together with Oak Park youth, we fondly recall the old days of pandemonium and rue the new Oak Park. Our story of community organizing for justice didn’t necessarily have a happily-ever-after ending. We obtained justice, but lost a bit of community. pg. 141
In line with Jeung’s themes, Disney fairy tale endings are for the movies. In the pursuit of justice, we can fall prey to idealistic notions of success. That’s not the nature of urban ministry and the reality of a broken, fallen, sin-cursed world. We can deceive ourselves with metrics indicating we’re making a difference and I deeply appreciate Jeung’s willingness to face truth at the expense of his ego.
Chapter 5 is my favorite. It’s a story of nerdy Asian American courtship and parenting. This is Jeung’s first impression upon meeting his future wife, Joan (pronounced Joe-Ann):
Instead, I opened the door to a magical scene as if The Lord of the Rings had been set in East Oakland. In front of me, I gazed upon an elfin creature - if you can picture a Korean American female elf - with the sweetest, most delicate heart-shaped face. . . After the Oak Park community met Joan, members gathered and formed the Fellowship of the Ring. They recognized that I had been a bachelor far too long, and the fellowship initiated a collective quest to convince Joan to marry me. Such a venture was quite perilous, and many hearts has already been broken in vain attempts to secure such a ring. pg. 152-153
Exhibit E and F of geekiness: When your first impression of your wife-to-be evokes a scene from Lord of the Rings AND when your friends deem you incapable of wooing a woman on your own and form a team to aid you. On early dates, he talks about getting into arguments with Joan about how to shuffle a deck of cards - Jeung prefers the riffle shuffle because it “more elegantly and efficiently randomizes the cards”. This guy is too much.
I love how he talks about Asian American parenting, particularly the obsession with our children’s education. This is the sacred cow of overachieving Asian American parents. It’s a controversial topic in their New Hope Covenant Church community. Oakland has two distinct socioeconomic areas - the flatlands encompassing East Oakland where the student population is overwhelmingly low-income and the hills where the schools boast wealthier families and higher test scores. Panda Dad Jeung and his Tiger Mom-ish wife compromise and send their son to a higher performing flatland school. He also discusses the journey of how he and his wife fostered two Bumese teenage girls into adoption. All of this discussion centers around the theme of our shared identity as exiles - we belong neither here nor there - and therefore, to sink deep roots as we invest in and love the city and its exiles (Jeremiah 29).
In the end, Jeung is the exception that proves the rule.
He is a nerd only because of his intelligence, awkwardness, and education. But I know hundreds of nerdy Asians including yours truly and he resembles none of them where it counts. At the core, a nerd is fearful, passive, and insecure. Jeung does not check those boxes. Two attributes stand out about him:
Humble courage: Urban ministry requires a sense of adventure but it takes an entirely different category of courage to embed yourself in a marginalized community for twenty years. It requires humility to come as a guest - in the posture of a learner - and to recognize your impact will not be immediate, broad, or widely recognized. You die to the idealism and walk in simple obedience to love your neighbor. You may experience more of the gospel first-hand than what you impart to others.
Self-awareness without self-loathing: I used to hate being Chinese American. I hated feeling out of place in the US and out of place in Asia. Even today, the awareness of being a cultural exile tempts me to resent my ethnic identity. I see that among my peers. We don’t quite know what to do with our Asian-ness. It’s so easy to hate on our immigrant parents and their backward cultural values. But Jeung’s memoir points to the truth of the gospel: that every culture has redemptive elements. Let us therefore celebrate the gospel values we have inherited from both Asian and American cultures. In this, there is a Spirit-filled self-awareness that is not self-loathing.
At the book launch, when asked who the intended audience of the book was, Jeung replied it was primarily for the Asian American church. He explained we’re often perceived as bridge builders but bridges are trampled on. He wrote this spiritual memoir to highlight how our unique cultural perspective plays a vital role in the American church. Our value of community and humility against the backdrop of an individualistic and self-promoting society make us the destination rather than the means.
Read less
9 people found this helpfulReport abuse
S. Lee
4.0 out of 5 stars Honest and heartwarming, with a dash of jokes.Reviewed in the United States on 18 September 2017
Verified Purchase
The grandeur of this autobiography is not the grand things Russell has done or experienced (as jaw-dropping as some of them are). No, rather, it is his candor and glee. Russell, it seems to me, does not seem obliged to write an embellished, poetic lore of his conquests and defeats. Instead, he slips in “dad jokes” (at least, I would categorize them as such or “professorial jokes”) here and there — not taking himself too seriously. What he does take seriously are the joys and sorrows of his life with his community — Oak Park and his family. The first half is dominated by OPM (Oak Park Ministry) and the second half his nuclear family: the highs and lows of each. The highs are definitely eye-opening wonders, but the lows are heart-wrenchingly painful. And such are the stuff of life.
Russell, whether with intention or not, seems to tug at Asian American Christian (particularly Evangelicals) hearts. Though he did not blow out of proportion the prestigious sacrifices he made (such as going to Stanford for undergraduate but devoted a bulk of his life living with the marginalized in mold and roach infested apartments and turning down two promising academic careers to be with his church’s community), any Asian American pressured by the model minority myth will be keen on these sacrifices, especially. I doubt Russell shared this to make us feel guilty or shamed (even more than we might already feel!), but to offer his life as one example of a non-model-minority Asian American Evangelical (though the other extreme to avoid is moralistic Asian American Evangelicals…!).
Towards the end, he seems to make a Christian endorsement of Confucian systems (esp, food and sacrificial forms of love). This isn’t to say Confucianism must be adopted by Asian/Asian American Christians, nor that it is 100% sanctified. No, Russell seems to say that Confucianism affected his life in more ways than one, which God graciously adopted and used to sanctify him and his community.
The other motifs Russell used, exile and hakka, are worthy of further reflection. But, alas, this post is already too long.
sooholee.wordpress
Read less
Report abuse
Jerrbear
5.0 out of 5 stars Living out one's faith by exampleReviewed in the United States on 25 July 2017
Verified Purchase
a fascinating memoir of a 6th generation Chinese American Christian who discovered that his own spirituality and life-changing decisions are tied to the little-known experiences of the early Chinese Americans. Jeung combines his PhD in sociology, his evangelical penchant for Bible-verse-dropping, and his own sense of humor in an accessible way that should be read by many who want to understand a different path within American Christianity, one that invites us to inhabit the same space as the marginalized, advocate on their behalf when necessary, and simply be a friend. Highly recommend.
Report abuse
PeggyTraveller
5.0 out of 5 stars A 'Must Read' for Concerned CitizensReviewed in the United States on 22 April 2017
Verified Purchase
This book is a must-read for anyone concerned about our country, about broken promises to immigrants who helped our armed forces and about the state of well-being of many citizens. It also outlines some of the disgraceful treatment of immigrants to California by our famed 'Robber Barons.'
It is a book that should be assigned as required reading for every member of the US Congress, Executive and Judiciary. Perhaps these affluent and uncaring because often (willfully) blind people .would learn something important.
Report abuse
See all reviews
==
