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First Asian American Collective gathering to be among several Asian meetings in Nashville

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[2]NASHVILLE (BP) – The Korean and Filipino Southern Baptist Fellowship groups plan to hold their annual meetings in the days surrounding the two-day annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention.

The Council of Korean Southern Baptist Churches in America will meet Monday through Wednesday, June 14-16, at First Baptist Church of Goodlettsville, 613 S. Main in Goodlettsville, 15 minutes north of downtown Nashville.

The Filipino Southern Baptist Fellowship is to meet from 2-6 p.m. Monday, June 14, at Lincoya Hills Baptist Church, 3143 McGavock Pike in Nashville.

And new this year, the Asian American Collective is to meet at 4 p.m. Sunday, June 13, in Room 101-A/B of the Music City Center downtown. The Collective consists of members of the eight organized Asian national fellowships within the Southern Baptist Convention – Cambodian, Chinese, Filipino, Hmong, Japanese, Korean, Laotian and Vietnamese – and other Asian people groups that don’t yet have an organized fellowship, such as Burmese and South Asian.

Peter Yanes, the SBC Executive Committee’s executive director of Asian American relations and mobilization, said he arranged the Asian American Collective “to bring these fellowships all together so they will be engaging more in SBC life and in the Great Commission.” Yanes came to the EC in January 2020.

The Asian American Collective will host for its first annual meeting the Asian Kick-Off Gathering of pastors and ministry leaders. One of the highlights is to be the launch of the newly formed Burmese National Fellowship, which consists of at least 80 churches that worship in a Burmese cultural context.

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“Asian Americans are diverse and consist of more than 35 ethnicities, each with vastly different backgrounds of languages, cultures and history of immigration,” Yanes said. “These differences and distinctions become more complex when you include the generational gap within Asian American churches. Though Asians have been the mission field for many years, Asian American churches have been becoming a mission force, more engaged and committed to carry out the mandate of the Great Commission.”

Korean Council

The 40th anniversary celebration of the Korean Council is to start with prayer – and include early-morning prayer each day of its annual meeting – and feature worship, Bible study and messages. Its theme is Revive the passion for the Great Commission.

Guest speakers will include Ki Dong Kim, pastor of Precious (SBC) Community Church of Yorba Linda, Calif., Monday evening, June 14, and Edwin Y. Lin, pastor of Shining Star (SBC) Community Church in Falls Church, Va., Wednesday evening, June 16.

In addition, Jason Allen, president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, will address the group Tuesday morning, June 15. Johnny Hunt, executive vice president for evangelism with the North American Mission Board, will speak Tuesday evening.

As usual, Tuesday afternoon is left open so Korean Southern Baptists can attend the SBC Annual Meeting. Tuesday evening will focus on home missions. Wednesday evening will include a commissioning service of those newly sent out by the Korean Board of Missions.

Among the many displays set up at the Korean Council’s annual meeting will be one by Pastor Young Hyun Han of Amarillo (Texas) Korean Baptist Church. He has just published Jesus is the Christ in Korean and English. It is a three-month daily devotional that each day asks “why” and “how” questions for a more complete understanding of Scripture.

The Wednesday business session of the Korean Council is to include election of officers, reports from each of its entities – Education, Home Mission Board, Foreign Mission Board and others – and other routine business.

Filipino Fellowship

The four-hour annual meeting of the Filipino Southern Baptist Fellowship of North America is to include worship, preaching and routine business, including the election of officers.

Guest speakers will be Sonny Vilaliz, pastor of International Christian Church of Virginia Beach, Va.; and Lt. Col. (retired) Felix Sermon, pastor of Grace International Christian Church of Virginia, and president of the Filipino Fellowship.

Other Asian meetings

The 36th annual meeting of the Vietnamese Baptist Union of North America is set for July 1-4 at the Marriott Hotel at Legacy Town Center in Plano, Texas. Among guest speakers will be Ronnie Floyd, SBC Executive Committee president and CEO.

The 30th anniversary celebration of the Hmong Southern Baptist Fellowship has been set for Oct. 7-9 in Princeton, Wis.

“The other Asian groups are still not comfortable at having their annual gathering this year” because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Yanes said.