Refuge in Shalom

2008-06-10T14:36:00.000-07:00

Hey peeps!

I changed my blog to http://refugeinshalom.wordpress.com/

Please visit my new cite and post your comments there!!!

-- Regina

Street Chef Gospel Singer

2008-06-09T18:25:00.000-07:00

This is my first photo-audio production. It definitely has lots of room for improvement. Appreciate any feedback!

- Regina

A Street Chef in Harlem, Harry White hopes to bless people with his singing. But He needs to regain his trust in people first.

Davis generous with quake relief

2008-06-09T17:08:00.000-07:00

Davis generous with quake relie f

By Regina Wang/Enterprise correspondent

June 6, 2008

Members of the Chinese-American community in Davis have sprung into action to raise funds for earthquake relief in the wake of the devastating May 12 earthquake in China’s Sichuan province.

Michael Tan, an engineer at UC Davis, said he was worried when he got the news that an earthquake ad hit his hometown, but he wasn’t sure how great the damage was. Then, when he saw photos of children buried under debris and parents wailing next to the collapsed classrooms, pangs of pain jolted his heart.

"You look at those kids -- they could've been mine," Tan said.

The 7.9-magnitude earthquake has claimed more than 69,127 people, with 17,918 still missing, according to the latest government figures.

And the devastation continues. Aftershocks are now hitting the affected region, and heavy rain is compounding the misery as thousands are still homeless.

NewStar Chinese School, a local organization that offers Mandarin class to children, has raised at least $10,700 from the Davis community. The school has 160 students and 90 percent is of Chinese descent.

Donations will be collected for the final time Saturday morning at the Davis Farmers’ Market in Central Park, Fourth and C streets.

The responses from the community have been heartwarming, said principal Ning Wan, whose family is originally from Sichuan. For example, Davis Fire Fighters donated $500, Wan said.

The board members of NewStar plan to use the donations to build a library or a computer lab for a school there in Sichuan.

“This is a tragedy, but I feel so good that so many people care,” Wan said. “We hope to build people’s lives there.”

Bob Jennings, a deacon at the Davis Chinese Christian Church, says he has been impressed with the Chinese government’s response to the disaster. Jennings lived in Sichuan for eight years. He remembers the Tangshan earthquake in 1976, which killed at least 300,000 people, and said the government was unwilling to share much information or receive emergency help from other countries.

Now, 31 years later, the attitude has changed dramatically. The government even approved relief teams and accepted donations from Japan and Taiwan, two neighbors China often treats with reservations.

"They are acting responsibly this time," Jennings said of the Chinese government.

Tan and his family have attended the 400-member Davis church for 12 years. He said he knows at least two people in the congregation who are also from Sichuan. The church has raised at least $10,600 so far and will give the donations to World Visions, a Christian humanitarian organization that is now distributing tents and medical supplies in Sichuan and plans to rebuild schools and houses there.

As of May 20, authorities recorded 4,700 unclaimed children whose parents presumably died in the quake, Civil Affairs Ministry official Zhang Shifeng said at a news conference today. Tan has two teenage children, but he said if the government allows adoption, he and his wife would like to consider adopting a quake orphan.

Meanwhile, he was saddened to watch videos of grief-stricken parents crying over the bodies of their only children because of China’s One Child Policy.

"I haven't teared up for 30 years," he said, as his voice choked with emotion.

What Sichuan needs is long-term relief, said Billy Yip, a pastor at Chinese Christian Herald Crusades, a community outreach organization based in New York.

CCHC is planning to build an orphanage in Sichuan , to add to the two others it has built in China.

So far, CCHC has raised at least $575,000 from all over the United States.

"[The earthquake] came as a shock," Yip said. "Hopefully, the whole thing draws everyone together."

Yip said the openness and effectiveness of the Chinese government was "remarkable," especially its tolerance of the media coverage.

If you would like to contribute to NewStar Chinese School’s relief fund, please write a check payable to the school and send it to P.O. Box 74298, Davis, CA 95617-7429.

If you would like to donate to World Vision, go to http://worldvision.org.

A Royal Mission

2008-06-09T16:53:00.000-07:00

A Royal Mission

Polio survivor immigrates to America, becomes activist and earns title of Ms. Wheelchair California

by Regina Wang
Enterprise Correspondent

May 9, 2008

Before the tiara of Ms. Wheelchair California was placed on her, Shannon Coe had already possessed a crownholder’s dignity and resolve. From an infant afflicted with polio in post-war Vietnam to a refugee growing up disabled and fatherless in inner-city Los Angeles, to a human rights advocate who has traveled to 41 countries, the 32-year-old has led a life that outshines the glory from any overdue crowns.

The fall of Saigon:

When Coe was 18 months old, she was diagnosed with polio. In 1976, Vietnam was in turmoil as the Northern Vietnamese Communist regime was ready to swallow the south immediately after America’s decamping. Alarmed and desperate, Southern Vietnamese, like Coe’s family, made up their mind to flee the country by any means.

Coe, back then under the family name Hy, was considered too weak to endure the journey. Her relatives suggested throwing her into a well.

Her father stood up for his 4 year-old daughter. “Maybe in America we can find cure so she can walk again,” he said, determined to carry her out of Vietnam.

At 4 a.m. Coe’s immediate family and relatives, totaling 20 people, sneaked into a crude wooden boat heading toward Thailand, where they could find refuge and possibly sponsorship to America. Meanwhile Coe’s mother was eight months pregnant with her sister.

Now, 28 years later, Coe remembers the disorienting days her family wandered on the ocean. She also remembers moment their hope surged when a Thai boat arrived to the rescue, pulling them up from the wooden boat. She peeked down and watched the deteriorating wooden boat sink into the deep water within minutes.

After spending time in refugee camps in Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore, the family was sponsored to go to Switzerland, but her father turned it down, determined to go to America, where he believed the more-advanced medical training would promise his daughter a better life.

Coming to America:

Eventually the family was sponsored by a church to America. They were settled into the Lincoln Heights area of Los Angeles – where gang violence and inter-ethnic tensions were the norm. Coe’s father took on a menial labor job and her mother worked in a sweat shop, trying to make do with their three children in a one-bedroom apartment.

Although Coe received her first wheelchair upon her arrival in America, she was quickly sent to a special education school for children with learning and physical disabilities, segregated from the mainstream. It took the school four years to realize Coe was intellectually competent.

Yet things did not become easier when Coe left for a regular public school.

“Hey! Cripple!” a boy never failed to greet her on the way to class.

Right before she reached seven grade, her father – the man who had delivered her out of death and Vietnam – died from leukemia.

“When my father died, I came out of my shell,” Coe said, realizing she had no time to be self-conscious anymore. At age 12, she rolled up her sleeves to aim her widowed mother who spoke no English and had no experience in dealing with the American way. As the oldest daughter, Coe took on the responsibility of translating and interceding for her family.

During those arduous hours, her father’s words whispered in her ears, “Education is the key to success,” he had often reminded her. “You have to succeed in life, you have to be somebody.”

But success seemed unattainable to a struggling refugee family, to a young girl who wondered how she could claim her passion and dreams to a world that held little faith to those with disabilities.

Persistence

She is used to people staring at her, but what she cannot stand, she said, is people holding preconceived notions about her.

Growing up, when her siblings helped her up and down flights of stairs, people often watched with wonder. Coe knew many of them were simply curious, so she would answer their questions and usually, they became friends. But still, it was hard being the only disabled person in various settings.

“It would’ve been nice to have a mentor or role model,” she said.

Since she had never seen a successful professional in wheelchair, Coe remembers the doubt and fear she carried while striving her best in school because she did not know what the future held.

Neither did her relatives. They only knew that in Vietnam, disabled people were beggars. They sighed and predicted she would never get married or hold jobs.

“I need to do something to not be stuck in the box they put me in,” she said, determined to attain her aspirations.

During her junior year at UC Berkeley, Coe applied to study abroad in Hong Kong. But the education abroad office discouraged her, saying few, if any, colleges overseas were accessible to the disabled.

Coe went home and did her own research, “I wouldn’t believe there was not one single school that wouldn’t accept me because I have disability.” She called colleges after colleges – and sure enough, she found one in England, Lancaster University.

After her studies in England, she wanted to join the Peace Corps. She passed the interview with ease, but her disability and turbulent medical records – she had had surgeries to remove one lung and to install nails in her spine – made the Peace Corps reluctant to accept her.

It took her almost two years to clear her medical records, but when it came to placement, the Peace Corps discouraged her again from going to developing countries, where they believed disabled people were incapable of surviving and easy targets of robbery. After much persistence, and some legal action, they were finally convinced of her determination.

They placed her in Paraguay. For two years she organized Special Olympics projects, taught English, and gave speeches to the government.

One day her landlady told her that some idlers in the villages would hide from her when she passed by them every morning.

“They see you go to work and they feel bad just sitting around and chatting with friends,” her landlady told Coe.

And she was the only person on the team who did not get robbed.

“My friends sometimes say to me: ‘You don’t like to hear ‘No,’” Coe said with a smile. “I am not afraid of failures; I am afraid of not trying. There are so many opportunities in life. Why not take them?”

Ms. Wheelchair California

Coe knew she had a soft spot for the disabled in other parts of the world, particularly Asia. She joined a world-renown charity organization, Joni and Friends, to bring hundreds of wheelchairs to the disabled in Vietnam and Cuba. Through her volunteer work, she met her husband, Dominic Coe. It was a pleasant surprise to find out the similarities they share: she is half Vietnamese and Chinese; he’s half English and Italian. And he also lost his father when he was 13. The couple now resides in Davis.

Then at a social event, she met the previous year’s Miss Wheelchair California, Susan Rotchy, who encouraged entering the pageant. That was when she found out that Miss Wheelchair was far from being a beauty contest but “a competition based on advocacy, achievement, communication and presentation to select the most accomplished and articulate spokesperson for individuals with disabilities, ” according to the Web site.

Coe entered the pageant and was crowned the title in March.

To her, the crown shows that contrary to popular notions, having disability does not limit a person. “Women with disabilities can still be confident, capable, attractive – and we are role models to inspire others,” Coe added.

In July she is competing for Miss Wheelchair America in Maryland.

She hopes to win the title so it will help her realize her dream – bridging the disabled in America with the disabled worldwide to empower each other and improve their lives together.

Coe became a Christian during her college years at Berkley. She credited God as her source of strength and compassion.

“My faith in God has helped me realize how fortunate I am, so I can't forget where I came from,” she said. “I have decided to dedicate my life in helping those that were left behind in developing countries.”

And being a persistent person, Coe is true to her words. In May she is representing Joni and Friends to bring 200 wheelchairs to Ongole, India.

To support Shannon Coe at Ms. Wheelchair America 2009 in Maryland from July 21-27, please contact her at hyshannon@gmail.com or visit her blog http://mswheelchairca08.blogspot.com

No Dream is Too High to Reach -- A Guaynese Girl and Her American Dream

2008-05-28T15:21:00.000-07:00

There has got to be something magical about working in the tallest building in the largest city in the United States of America. 22-year-old Vanessa Ramdat knows it has got to be the case.

Just like immigrating to America after 13 years of yearning, she knows one day her hope of becoming a model will also come true.

"I'm tall and I'm pretty," Ramdat said. "I'd like to be famous. I want to be a model."

Her 5'8" frame stood straight against hundreds of postcards and key chains. Her pearl teeth contrasted her chocolate-hued face. Her sleek long hair runs down her shoulders. If it was not for the ocean blue uniform she was wearing, Vanessa Ramdat could have been ready for her first catwalk.

Growing up her parents promised her again and again, One day you will live in America. She waited for 13 years for the day to arrive. It came true two years ago when she and her mother landed in New York from Guyana. Till this day, Ramdat's eyes still gloss when she recalls the childhood promise.

And now she gets to work at a gift shop on the 80^th floor of the Empire State Building.

Built in 1930, the Empire State Building represents America's pride and prosperity. It does not matter to Ramdat that thirty some years ago it fell off the throne as the world's tallest building and now lags behind eight countries. In her eyes, this building is pure magical.

For example, her uncle, who has lived here for 25 years, has yet had the chance to tour the building.

The best part of her job, Ramdat said, is greeting everyone around the world every day. The second best part of her job is probably working with everyone around the world. 80 percent of her co-workers are immigrants hailed from South Africa, Jamaica, China, Trinidad.

"We have fun together and we understand each other," she said. Her co-workers nicknamed her "baby" for being the youngest among the crew.

The diversity of her workforce is not unique to the Empire State Building. A little less than 50 percent of New Yorkers speak another language at home. And 37 percent of the city population is foreign-born, the 2000 Census records. The phenomenon makes the city an immediate second home for immigrants.

Ramdat's worked at Conway where she had just arrived here. Her current manager happened to shop there one day and they struck a conversation. The manager asked her if she would like to work at the building of her dream.

"I couldn't stop laughing for five minutes," Ramdat said.

Now her hourly wages have doubled to $14.75. She works 37 hours a week to pay the rent of a tiny one-bedroom apartment which she and her mother share. Her father is still in Guyana.

"It's gorgeous here. I love it," she said of the city.

Terminator is My Man

2008-05-23T13:33:00.000-07:00

Arnold Schwarzenegger stunned the public when he announced his candidacy in 2003. And California stunned the rest of the world when it overwhelmingly picked him as its governor.

This former bodybuilder has redefined people's perceptions. Born in 1947 in Austria, Schwarzenegger probably has one of the most unlikely pasts than your average politician. He won the title of Mr. Universe at the age 20, got himself out of Austria, and became a top movie star in Hollywood.

A so-called "self-made man," Schwarzenegger said he had overcome challenges against him ever since growing up. His faltering relationship with an abusive father and a distant brother grew so sour that he did not attend their funerals. He fought against his parents' wish for him to be a policeman or a businessman. Bodybuilding, he had decided, would bring him to America and make a name for himself there. When he was exploring the dream of becoming a Hollywood star, he was told that his funky last name, jarring foreign accent, as well as abnormally-sized muscles would get him nowhere. He ended up blazing trails in many uncharted territories.

Schwarzenegger built a popular image of himself after starring in films that have defined the 80s and the 90s for most Americans, such as True Lies, Terminator, Junior and the Kindergarten Cop. In 1986 he married Maria Shriver, a member of the Kennedy family. By 1994 he was invited to mark his prints in front of the Grauman's Chinese Theater.

Then in 2003, he announced on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno his intention to run for the California recall election.

His record of Republican views or his ties with the good old American tradition were irrelevant to the California voters who were eager to take Gray Davis out of the office. Perhaps, they thought, this 7-time Mr. Olympic champion could restore California to its leading positions in economy and technology.

He first defeated his contenders by winning 48 percent of the vote. Three years later, he triumphed again with 55.9 percent of the vote.

Time Magazine chose him as one of the top 100 most influential people in the world for four consecutive years, until this year. Many Californians are not happy with him because of his steep budget cuts, particularly in education and health care. In 2008 the budget crisis has hit $16 billion. But he refused to raise taxes to solve the situation. Consequently, many schools will be closed dosed down and teachers laid off.

Yet he was obviously burdened by the cuts. He said he chose to ignore the ruling of the Supreme Court of overturning the ban on same-sex marriage, because he wanted to focus on the budget system, according to a Sacramento Bee article.

It is hard to define Schwarzenegger and fathom his next move. Maybe his wife says the best when asked to describe him in a Time interivew:

"That's what caught my attention, believe it or not, about him—that he was irreverent, funny, free-spirited. I hadn't met anybody like that."

2008-05-21T12:53:00.000-07:00

In my article about how two New York Jews see the "Jews against Obama" T-shirt controversy, I'm deeply grateful for my two interviewees, Martin and Shmuel. When my professor assigned us to interview a person in Manhattan and write something newsworthy out of the interview, I barged into Martin's office out of desperation and asked him if I could get his comments on the controversy as well as his perspectives on being Jewish American. Martin graciously said yes and let me phone interview him that very night.

I met Shmuel at a world-famous camera store on Ninth Avenue, B & H Photography. I approached him out of the blue, and he kindly explained to me what it meant for him to be an orthodox Jew and his perspective on the presidential race.

They could have turned down my interview requests, but instead they spent hours telling a stranger their stories. I appreciate their openness and sincerity, which not only helped me understand more about Jewish culture, but also the similarities we share as human beings. There are perhaps more we share in common -- such as connecting with people and improving the place we live in -- than the cultural and ethnic differences that often divide us.

Talking with them made my day and made my trip to New York totally worth it. I would have had no idea how diverse the Jewish community there was, and probably seen this Jewish designer's perspective as representative of all Jews.

http://www.papierdoll.net/themag/2008/05/13/fashion-designer-launched-jews-against-obama-line/

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/05/19/jewish_voters/

http://www.indypendent.org/2008/05/15/schmucks-against-obama/

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/21/america/jews.php

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1211288137944&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c39_a11480/News/International.html

2008-05-11T22:51:00.001-07:00

On Cynthia Ozick's The Shawl

In her short story, Ozick expressed the horrors of the Holocaust in her exquisite and magical language. The horror was further intensified by Rosa's enduring love to her dead daughter, Magda. After moving to America, Rosa is still tortured by her lost years. The memories and habits of the old country got in the way of the new one. She realizes that America, just like Poland, has its own issues of race, class, immigration, and assimilation. Her identity shifts and fluctuates as she moves from a third-generation Jewish Pole who takes pride on her Polishness, to a detested Jew persecuted by the Nazis, to a refugee in America.

The trauma of the Holocaust lingers regardless where a survivor ends up. But only in America, where equality is perused and persisted, a new definition of self identity emerges. It doesn't mean everyone is on equal footing, but you have the opportunity to cross over the old taboos in your home country. And Rosa's encounter with Persky demonstrates that. "Your Warsaw is not my Warsaw," she said to him initially, rejecting his offer of friendship because she believed she was of higher class than him in Poland. But Persky persisted in his effort by telling her that her America is also his America.

Rosa might not like her new status as a refugee, but through her friendship with Persky, she finds freedom from her haunted past. she sees that she should not be limited by how her family and the Nazis define her. Socially constructed self inadvertently divides us and blinds us from discovering our similarities with one another.

A country of immigrants, America is intertwined with, blossomed in and complicated by various cultures. I believe the future of America lies in the vibrancy of different cultures coming together. And journalists are in a unique position to be the agents of unification and reconciliation.

2008-05-08T13:44:00.000-07:00

On William Faulkner’s “The Bear”

“I could say I don’t know why I must do it but that I do know I have got to because I have got myself to live with for the rest of my life and all I want is peace to do it in,” said Isaac McCaslin to his cousin in “The Bear.”

Isaac McCaslin is seeking redemption for the sins of his ancestors, who represent the white race in America that has usurped power that belongs only to God. With their stolen power, his ancestors determined to acquire more power through acts of racism, incest, adultery, murder, domination. How far away have we gone astray from God’s intention and grieved His heart! Isaac laments and vows to cut himself out of the generational sin in exchange for inner peace.

As a person of color, I gave Isaac a thumbs-up for denouncing the sins of his fathers and relinquishing his privilege. But as a fellow Christian, I was disappointed to see him cutting himself out of a bigger picture, a greater calling that God has called all his children to commit and that requires us to surrender our rights and serve one another.

In Ephesians 2:14-16, Paul exhorts the church to not be disheartened by divisions, but to hold on to the hope in Christ:

“14For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, 16and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.”

Without the power of cross, we would find the enormity of our present racial, socioeconomical, and gender divisions too horrendous and painful to address. And without committing to the calling of reconciliation, Isaac McCaslin cuts himself out of His mercy, hope, and redemption. As Christians we ought to desire and pursue something more than individual peace.

2008-05-04T01:22:00.000-07:00

On Philip Gourevitch’s “We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will be Killed with Our Families”

I don’t know about you, but when I was reading this book, I could hear drips of blood dribbling off my hands as I flipped through the pages.

Gourevitch was familiar enough with American journalism and the desensitized American public that he knew merely using the word genocide would fail to explain to us how at least 800,000 human beings vanished on the face of the earth in 100 days in 1994. And consequently, we could clear our conscience of it as quickly as possible. So he painstakingly brought us on a journey of paradigm shift, explaining to us that we are not better off by ignoring the issue, because we are good at repeating the same mistake.

But what horrified me was not just a systematic scheme to eradicate an entire people group, but the air of irrelevance, perhaps even slight contempt, when I first heard of the ethnic cleansing in a part of the world that we do not expect much from.

Sometimes we refuse to look at global issues intently in the eye because as Americans, we have the power to avert our attention to other things. At the same time, as Gourevitch argues, we could easily make these issues worse by only looking at what we want to look at. In the case of Rwandan genocide, the United Nations, the Clinton administration, the international relief organizations all made the same mistake. Yes, we know globalization has made this world a village, but does that mean we hear and serve our neighbors? Our ignorance, arrogance, and self-interest hold us responsible for the deaths in Rwanda. Our hands are all soiled with blood.

Now I wonder if I should treat the recent ethnic tensions in Kenya and the current unrests in Zimbabwe with the same attitude.

Good journalists make things relevant and understandable to the readers. They earnestly pursue the whole truth, instead of superficial, quickly generalized dichotomies that fill the space – democracy or dictatorship, enemies or friends. We know better that human beings and their actions are more complicated than a simple good or evil. As journalists, are we doing a disservice to our readers by desiring to simplify issues?

I lost track of the number of interviews Gourevitch conducted throughout his nine trips to the Central Africa. The stories of his interviewees weaved a powerful account of the genocide, which could only happen when he invited everyone to the table: Hutus and Tutsis, Presidents and rebel leaders, mass murderers and widows, natives and foreigners, and anyone in between.

Gourevitch did his job. Vigilantly he clarified a maddening mass murder and presented in front of our eyes.

But have we done our job by making the time, mustering the interest and courage to embrace this story of our time?

So it will happen again, when we, the descendants of Cain, refuse to be our brother’s keeper.

2008-05-01T21:32:00.000-07:00

On Gay Talese’s “Frank Sinatra has a cold” (for Talese's article, click here)

As a journalist, I sometimes feel like a psychoanalyst trying to have my interviewees reveal the most telling information about themselves -- preferably an anecdote or slip of the tongue. In his celebrated article on Frank Sinatra, Gay Talese achieved all of the above without even interviewing Sinatra.

What Talese did was trailblazing in the realm of journalism. He gave the traditional who-what-when-where-why a fictional-writing twist. Talese talked to perhaps anyone who knew Sinatra in one way or another: his bodyguard, manager, family members, or even those Sinatra vaguely remembered. But these pieces of information tell us more about Sinatra than perhaps what he knew about himself: his anguish of living up to an idolized public image; his bruised ego seeing the coming of age of the Beatles; his hidden toupee and arthritis; and his Italian-American heritage.

“Frank Sinatra Has a Cold” was written more than 40 years ago, but Talese provided vivid contexts that even those who have never heard the voice can feel connected to the singer. He immortalized an icon who represents not only a music genre but a generation, and whose influence remains undying.

But don’t mistake Talese’s fictional-writing style for a sloppy and unaccountable attitude. He spent three months researching and writing about Sinatra, according to a NPR interview. Talese’s new journalism style has much to offer – particularly as print journalism faces serious transitions. Good writing as well as reporting cannot be replaced by the speed-driven blog enterprise. And it is the journalist's commitment to offer his and her best to the world.

2008-04-19T14:43:00.000-07:00

Group takes journey aiming to foster racial understanding, unity

Regina Wang | Enterprise correspondent | March 28, 2008 12:04

A few days before Barack Obama responded to his longtime pastor's inflammatory comments and addressed the pain and complexity of race in America, a group of Christians signed up for a four-day trip that paired each of them up with a partner of a different race to experience a cross-cultural journey.

While some of the 33 participants came with
skepticism, questioning if race really is, as
Obama said, an issue America cannot afford
to ignore, many pondered the role of the
church in an increasingly diverse America.

These people were from all walks of life and
various ethnic backgrounds, perhaps defying
some stereotypes of evangelical Christians: a
46-year-old Guatemalan immigrant, an
African-American fiction author, a Hong
Kong-born and Stockton-raised lawyer, just
to name a few. Twelve faculty and staff
members of North Park Seminary in
Chicago also joined the trip.

From March 13 to 16, the journey embarked from Oakland and meandered through the Central
Valley until it reached Los Angeles. At each site, the history of different ethnic groups unfolded through videos, testimonials and discussions.

The trip, titled Journey to Mosaic, was designed and sponsored by the Evangelical Covenant, a
denomination with a track record of embracing diversity in race, culture and class in church outreach and planting. University Covenant Church in Davis is a member.

Greg Yee, the associate superintendent overseeing Covenant churches in the Pacific Southwest
region, said he has led 11 trips and every one of them has amazed him.

'This trip is to create a safe place and time for the church to talk about race,' Yee said. 'We're not here to come up with a six-step program, but to feel the pain where pain is and feel the joy where joy is. That's why we're here, because we need each other.'

According to Yee, the shifting demographics reveal an America that has never been seen before. By 2050 in California, whites will no longer be the majority, as Hispanics increase to 52 percent. A little-known fact is that Filipinos outnumber Chinese in the Asian-American community in the U.S.. Demographic shifts are particularly evident in Evangelical Covenant churches, where the growth rate for all ethnic churches is 159 percent, as compared to 53 percent in the ECC as a whole, Yee said.

Race is never an easy topic to approach, many confessed during the trip, especially among people
from different ethnic backgrounds. Occasionally, tensions thickened the air when this oft-avoided topic conjured up some of the deepest hurt. Tears streamed down cheeks. But more often than not, laughter burst forth when good humor was shared by good company.

An African-American woman talked about her worry for her children as stereotypes against black males dominate the media.

'I got to explain to my grandkids 'why is there such a fear?'' she said.

A white woman pondered her place in the midst of race talks.

A Hispanic American pastor expressed disappointment when he saw the suffering of migrant
workers unaddressed by many church leaders.

'Most Americans see lingering racism - in others,' Yee said, who helped facilitate discussions. 'That's the problem with our churches - we don't see it in our churches. Martin Luther King Jr. said '11 o'clock Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America.' We might be doing worse now as the immigration reality adds to that. What can we as a church do differently to reflect the kingdom of God?'

With these burning questions, the Journey participants explored various historical sites to learn the stories of ethnic groups. They met founding members of the Black Panthers and witnessed how inner cities like Oakland are still paralyzed by the cycle of poverty and addictions with a high number of black incarcerations.

The bus took them to the heart of the agricultural industry - the Central Valley - where they met the right-hand man of Cesar Chavez, Pablo Espinosa, and listened to the stories of farm workers.

In Los Angeles, they visited the Japanese American National Museum, where they walked inside a reconstructed internment camp house and felt the weight of their suffering as internment camp survivors told their stories.

Paty de la Roca, a participant from L.A. and an immigrant from Guatemala, said it broke her heart to hear the experience of each ethnic group in America.

'It's important to know how they came and their suffering. It helps me love them as brothers and sisters,' she said.

The immigrant experience did not end with Japanese-Americans. This country of immigrants
continues to be transformed by the new faces of Americans - but not without resistance.
Moving from a black and white dichotomy, the influx of Hispanic immigrants creates a new
dimension.

California, if counted as a country, would be the fifth largest economy in the world with agriculture as its top industry. Eighty percent of the crops are harvested by migrant workers. Caught in the middle of the immigration debate, their voices are often unheard, said Walter Contreras, director of mission mobilization and connection for the Evangelical Covenant.

Contreras said the church cannot ignore the presence of 12 million Hispanic Americans - regardless of their citizen status - because God cares for those who cannot speak out against injustice. He notes that Leviticus, a book from the Old Testament says, 'When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.'

'Can you see the humanity, the pain and the suffering?' Contreras said. 'If you're a pastor, you got to feed everyone in the community. We need to wrestle with God's justice and compassion.'

Along with contentions between whites and people of color is the interracial tension among Asians, blacks and Hispanics. In addition, there are intergenerational tensions within each ethnic group, between those have established themselves in America and the newcomers.

The church needs to be aware of these dynamics, said Soong-Chan Rah, a Korean-American
professor at North Park Seminary.

'Because we (people of color) are invisible in the society, we're trying to find our names and
recognition in the dominant culture - but not necessarily for one another,' Rah said, adding the
church has been 'a great offender for creating invisibility for minorities' as it pays little attention to the dynamics of multiculturalism.

The participants also visited Skid Row in Los Angeles, where they joined Fred Jordan Missions, a
longtime Christian service organization that provides food, clothing and rehabilitation to the
homeless people in the area.

Robert Tashiro, the organization's director, said one of the greatest challenges his organization
confronts is responding adequately to the shifting faces of suffering. Back in the '40s, homeless
veterans could be seen lying on the sidewalks of Skid Row. But in the past 20 years, the working
poor - especially women with their children - has replaced the veterans, he said. In fact, 70 percent of the Skid Row population is now women, many from South and Central America.

'The migrant experience in America is tragic - they're getting taken advantage of,' Tashiro said.
Last year in Los Angeles 500,000 people were declared food-insecure, a term coined by United
Stated Department of Agriculture describing those who live with hunger and fear of starvation.

'A Christian's responsibility is to educate themselves on the issue of poverty. They can't ignore the problem of suffering in modern society,' Tashiro said.

At the end of the trip the group worshiped at Fountain of Life Church, a multicultural and multiclass Covenant church in Long Beach. The worship music is an eclectic mix of contemporary, salsa, hymns and gospel.

The experience of worshiping together with people across racial and economic lines shed rays of
hope for Paul Bramer, a Canadian from Chicago.

'What I witnessed today was the hope, the Christian response to the social problems - they don't need to be separated and dissing one another, but they can genuinely worship and fellowship together,' Bramer said.

Many say this four-day experience has affirmed their understanding of God's call for all people of
faith to cross the racial and economical lines, where God's love transcends all divisions.

Nicole Hughes, an African-American mother and business owner from the Bay Area, remembers
growing up with a strong sense of shame when watching negative stereotypes of blacks on TV. Now, she says racism still lingers, but it is carried out subtly with a smile on the face. But this trip showed her the importance of knowing other people's stories.

'Regardless if we don't look alike, we still have a common denominator, and God requires us to take the time to get to know each other, including whites,' she said.

Ginny Olson, who is white, said trips like Journey to Mosaic give her a desire to cross over all
boundaries. She was struck by an image when she had lunch with her fellow journey participants in L.A. 'I found myself sitting across the table from a man from Scotland, a man from Russia, a woman from Chicago, a woman from Slovakia, and a woman from Guatemala at a Korean barbecue restaurant in L.A. - that's surreal but that's the kingdom of God, isn't it?' she said.

University Covenant Church, at 315 Mace Blvd., will offer a six-week Sunday school class titled
'Race, Faith, Relationships: Building a Closer Church Family' starting Sunday.