Comments on: look to asia

By: Kuya G

Kuya G — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 20:45:54 +0000

I am an Asian-American youth pastor working with Filipino churhces, first in Chicago and now in Orange County. From my small experiences in Asia, it seems that there is a definite, even dramatic, break for youth culture. And there are many concerns, sometimes reactive, as Asian youth desire to break from the filial system in pursuit of more individualistic tendencies.

But, in light of all this, it would be interesting to see how Asian-American Christians, especially younger christians, see themselves not just culturally, but also missiologically.

By: Jose

Jose — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 17:43:04 +0000

That last question seems to be the one that concerns me the most. As I see the youth of America as very “miss independent”, what will the animae, asia rock, asian family dynamic do to the american Teen? So far they have captured a huge audience through cable TV, comics, and movies. Even G.I Joe is influenced by Animae cartoons (have you watched it lately?) But I would venture to say the american teen won’t hold to the asian family values until the adults in the culture hold it to some sort of value, especially the men of the families.

By: mrs. ellis

mrs. ellis — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 07:37:20 +0000

these guys can help, too:

http://www.persecution.com

peace + blessings,
donna

By: David Mackey

David Mackey — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 01:55:34 +0000

Fascinating watching and reading. I’ll wait and see how this turns out, I can’t wrap my mind around what will happen – too many variables.

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 02:41:46 +0000

Interesting article, as an Asian youth worker, well a youth worker in New Zealand which is geographicaly Asian but demographicaly European (though becomming Asian). I’ve had a fair bit to do with your ‘typical’ Asian young person and the facts quoted in the video are very descriptive of what I see.
One observation I would make though is that Asian culture tends to subvert, After WWII many Japanese took on the culture of their captures (European/North American) _ it’s a cultural value. But in doing that they also subverted it, accentuating and overplaying aspects’. In the 60′s you had the whole Beateles phenomenon, screaming teenager girls and the like. In Japan the screaming is amplifed a thousand times and it’s boys screaming too, hence subverted. Asian Teen culture tends to be North American and European Culture interepreted through Asian eyes.
What you end out with is something very different. But it is not just Japan – it is across Asia (I suspect it has been the historical cross polinisatin of cultures that have made this a regional phenomenon) MTV Asia is a prime example – a very American slice of pop culture that has been subverted and rechanneled as something authenticaly Asian.
Asian and European/North American culture then are intimatly linked, I think we do need to look more to Asia, but in doing so I think we may see something that is also slightly familiar.

Great Blog by the way

By: bob c

bob c — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 23:57:28 +0000

Curious how commerce is the driver here – Europe reigned as a buying base, but demographics there have aged. So now Asia can buy for their adolescents.

What about the influence of continents where adolescents are not a dominant buying base – Latin America, Africa.

The core of it for me is how much of “teenage culture” is premised on commerce & consumerism. Is the precursor of what is to come focussed only on what 15 yr-old girls will buy ?

By: Ryan Cardinal

Ryan Cardinal — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 22:53:19 +0000

Hey Marko,

Love the site, what a great resource. And great post! As a small church youth group, we’ve talked a few times lately as to what it would be like to be Christians amongst real physical persecution.

I am really curious, do you know of any resources (online or written) that would talk about what is going on specifically in youth culture in a place like China within the church? How as Christian young people do they live, function, and grow in their faith as a community of young believers amongst persecution?

Thanks for all your work and to the YS team for committing to being beyond reproach on every level.

-Ryan

By: marko

marko — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 17:49:53 +0000

bj! wow — as soon as i saw your name, and before i read your comment, i thought to myself, “i wonder if that’s the bj slinger i worked with at scripture press back in the dark ages?” wow!

By: WorshipCity

WorshipCity — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 17:41:37 +0000

Great comment by Paul. My mind was wandering that direction until I read your last thought re: American Youth & their independence and the family structure of the Asian culture.
What great questions! As a Youth Director/Worship Pastor at my church I’ve totally seen the beginning churnings of this. The number 1 way I keep up with my youth is through texting. EVEN IF IT’S TEXTING THROUGH FACEBOOK! It’s sent to their phone and they respond with their phone. They ALL have phones! Then it’s through calling and typically lastly through email.
They’re engrossed with entertainment. Spending more money on games, going to see movies, renting movies, music, etc.
AND I think that this will probably be a bigger problem for “us” or the “leaders” than it will be for them. Our students, or at least mine, don’t seem to be caught up in racial or ethnic circles. It seems they are much more willing to mingle with kids sharing the same life experiences/troubles/heartaches/joys/etc. no matter if that student is white, black, yellow, orange, etc.
LOVED this post, sorry for the ramblings here, its the way I process. You’ve got me thinking!

By: Mr. B. J. Slinger

Mr. B. J. Slinger — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 17:40:03 +0000

Mark: I was pleased to discover your blog this morning. Humility among American church leaders is a high priority for our mutual intercession. Thanks for drawing that to our attention. You may or may not recall that we served together at Scripture Press about 20 years ago. God bless your leadership with YS.