South Asian Population Surge in the United States:

The U.S. Census is reporting that South Asians are growing faster than other Asian groups in the United States.  The story and the data were posted recently at Indiawest.  Since a number of my readers are engaged in work among South Asians, I thought you might find the data interesting.  I have added a few personal comments in highlights: 

South Asians led all Asian groups in the United States in the rate of population growth from 2000 to 2010, according to a new compilation of 2010 census data.

Bangladeshi Americans had the biggest percentage increase over the decade, skyrocketing 157%. The Pakistani population had the second highest population bump with a 100% rise. [The bulk of Bangladeshis and Pakistanis are Muslim. It would appear then that the South Asian Muslim population is growing more quickly than the Hindu or Buddhist.] The Sri Lankan and Indian American populations increased 85% and 68%, respectively.

The next five highest percentage increases among Asian American population groups were: Taiwanese, 59%; Thai, 48%; Indonesian, 51%; Filipino, 44%; and Vietnamese, 42%.

The total number of Indian Americans in the U.S. in 2010, including Asian Indians of mixed race, was 3,183,063 [That is a number worth paying attention to.]. Indian American made up 18% of the Asian American population in 2010, up from 16% in 2000.

The 2010 count for other South Asian American groups (including mixed race) was: Pakistanis, 409,163; Bangladeshis, 147,300; Sri Lankans, 45,381, making the total South Asian American population of 3,781,907 in 2010.

Chinese Americans (not including Taiwanese, who are counted separately by the Census Bureau) remained the most populous Asian group in the U.S. with a population of 3,794,673. Filipinos were second at 3,416,840 and Vietnamese were fourth with a population of 1,737,433 in 2010. [Thus, Asian Indians are the 3rd largest Asian group in the nation and are growing at a faster clip than most others.  What are the implications for the Church?]

According to 2007 to 2009 data, Indian Americans led all Asian American groups in the country in median household income at $86,660. The next highest total was $77,596 for Taiwanese households.

Taiwanese and Indians also led in per capita income among Asian American groups, with $38,312 and $36,533, respectively, followed by Malaysians ($33,264) and Sri Lankans ($32,480).

The study, “A Community of Contrasts: Asian Americans in the United States, 2011,” was issued by the Asian Pacific American Legal Center and the Asian American Justice Center.

Other data in the report showed the Bangladeshi community in America had one of the lowest rates among all Asian groups of mixed race population at 4%. Generally, South Asians intermarry with other races less frequently than other Asian groups.

Only 6% of Pakistanis, 8% of Asian Indians and 9% of Sri Lankans were counted in the 2010 census as being of mixed race.

The Asian group with the highest rate of mixed-race individuals was Japanese Americans at 35%. Only 3% of Hmong and Bhutanese were of mixed race.

According to the 2007-09 American Community Survey, naturalization rates are highest for Vietnamese at 73%, followed by Taiwanese at 67% and Filipinos at 64%. Among the South Asian groups, Pakistanis had the highest rate of naturalization at 57%, while just 50% of Bangladeshi Americans, 47% of Indian Americans and 43% of Sri Lankan Americans were naturalized.

The largest number of legal permanent residents, by country of birth in 2008, eligible to become citizens was from the Philippines at about 280,000, followed by 200,000 from India Americans and a similar number from Vietnam.

These totals could become significant in next year’s presidential election, as Asian American groups seek to register naturalized citizens and get them to the polls.

Sri Lankans had the highest foreign-born rate of all Asian groups at 76%, followed by Malaysians (73%), Bangladeshis (73%), Indians (70%), Taiwanese (68%), Pakistanis (65%), Koreans (65%), Indonesians (65%) and Vietnamese (64%).
The leading six Asian countries for immigrant visas issued from 2001-2010 were: Philippines, 350,694; China, 286,008; India, 267,403; Vietnam, 193,049; Bangladesh, 84,643; Pakistan, 69,202.

Of the immigrants from India granted permanent resident status in 2010, 45%, or 31,118 people, came the U.S. on employment-based visas; 32%, or 21,831, were immediate relatives of U.S. citizens; 21%, or 14,636, came under family-sponsored preferences; and 2% (1,324) were granted status as refugees or under asylum statutes.

Pakistan, by contrast, had 34%, or 6,247, under family-sponsored preferences; 16%, or 2,896, on employment-based visas; 47%, or 8,522, as immediate relatives on U.S. citizens, and 3%, or 507, refugees or asylum grantees.

The report estimated that in 2010 there were about one million undocumented immigrants from Asia in the U.S. About 280,000 were from the Philippines, 200,000 from India, 170,000 from Korea and 130,000 from China. India’s total was down from an estimate of over 275,000 in 2005. [Fascinating! This is an untold part of the "illegal immigration" story.]

According to the report, South Asians are more likely than the other Asian subgroups to speak a language other than English at home. Bangladeshis have the highest percentage at 92%, followed by Hmong (91%), Pakistanis (86%), Vietnamese (84%), Taiwanese (82%), Laotians (81%), Cambodians (81%) and Asian Indians (77%).

From 2005-09, Hindi speakers in the U.S. were estimated at 527,481, trailing only speakers of Chinese (2,380,453), Tagalog (1,441,799), Vietnamese (1,200,709) and Korean (1,041,030) among Asian languages.

Numbers of speakers of other South Asian languages were: Urdu, 326,310; Gujarati, 304,102; Punjabi, 209,835; Bengali, 188,452; Telugu, 171,015; Tamil, 132,573; Malayalam, 116,486; Marathi, 53,436; Kannada, 37,377; Nepali, 37,240 [This, is significantly higher now with the influx of Bhutanese-Nepali refugees.  Some of them are accounted for in the census, but not all. I would guess that the number of Nepali speakers may be actually twice this total.]; and Sinhalese, 22,336.

Only 22% of Indian Americans five years of age and older from 2007-09 were limited English proficient, compared to 46% for Bangladeshis and 28% for Pakistanis.

Taiwanese and Indian Americans led all Asian groups in higher educational attainment, with 73% to 68%, respectively, having a bachelor’s degree or higher. In third place were Malaysians at 57%.

The percentage of Indian Americans living in poverty was 8% in the 2007-09 time period. Poverty rates were highest for Hmong (26%), Bangladeshis (20%), Cambodians (18%) and Pakistanis (15%). Both Indians and Pakistanis in the U.S. had 9% of the seniors ages 64 or above living in poverty. In the Bangladeshi community that figure was 16%.

The survey also has Asian American data on unemployment, occupations, home ownership, health disparities, suicide rates and the uninsured. [I would very much like to see this information as well.]

Discipleship Triangles for Yeshu Bhaktas

Recently, I've been working on adapting the diagram that I showed you last week for use in thinking through discipleship issues, spiritual disciplines, and the like -- especially with regards to South Asian Christ-followers.  Here is what I've come up with.  Would welcome your feedback:

Instructions for teaching about the Discipleship Diagram:

This diagram is intended to help us teach several things:

1.      It provides us with a list of key spiritual disciplines and arranges the disciplines into three categories.  This isn't meant to be a comprehensive list of disciplines, but does cover the basic ones that I teach.

2.      It provides English and Nepali (Sanskrit) terms for many concepts that are very important for teaching about discipleship.

3.      It helps us to get some idea of how the spiritual disciplines are related to other vital areas of our spiritual life. And, importantly, depicts discipleship in a non-linear way rather than a typical, Western step-by-step manner.

Part A: Truth is the Core

Truth is at the center of our diagram because it is at the center of all things.  The difference between a Christ-follower and everyone else begins with their relationship to Truth.  Christ-followers are those who have heard, believe, and obey Truth (Rom. 2:8, Eph. 1:13, 1Pt. 1:22).  Others are ignorant of the truth, reject it, and even oppose and suppress it (Rom. 1:18, Eph. 4:18, 2 Tim. 3:8).  But the Bible says that freedom (Jn. 8:32), sanctification (Jn. 17:17), renewal (Rom. 12:2), and salvation (1 Tim. 2:4) all come from Truth.  Thus, Truth should be a central concern for the Christ-follower and the one who is trying to disciple others.  Also, since the Bible is God’s revelation of Truth, it must play a central role in all discipleship (2 Tim. 2:15). Disciple-makers must understand their task as essentially about the impartation of truth to others.

Part B: TriEak Parmeshwar

The Bible reveals that Truth is not a WHAT but a WHO. God is truth and all truth flows from Him.  He is the God of Truth (Isa. 65:16) who cannot lie (Heb. 6:18).  His Son, Jesus, said, “I am the Truth (Jn. 14:6).  The Holy Spirit is called the “Spirit of Truth” who will guide us into “all truth” (Jn. 16:13).  Clearly, our relationship to Truth is the same thing as our relationship to God.  In fact the most foundational Truth is that God exists eternally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  He is TriEak Parmeshwar, the 3-in-1 God.  God is Truth and thus God is at the center of our discipleship. Thus, we may say that the disciple-maker's efforts to impart truth and her efforts to introduce someone to God are one and the same.

Part C: Regeneration

The beginning of our relationship with God is called regeneration.  This is what Jesus was talking about when he said that we must be “born again” (Jn. 3)  When this happens, our old, sinful, darkened, and shameful life passes away.  Everything becomes new in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17).  Our sin and shame is taken away.  Satan and all evil spirits are rendered powerless against us. The Holy Spirit comes to live inside us. New spiritual and eternal life begins.

Key elements of regeneration from discipleship perspective include experience, sacrifice, and surrender.  Experience (anubhav) refers to a person encountering God as living and real.  Prayers are answered, God’s power is displayed through signs and wonders, God communicates through dreams and visions, the love of God is manifest in Christ-followers who serve and bless others. This also refers to the experience of regeneration – the result of the Holy Spirit indwelling a person.  Sacrifice (balidan) refers especially to the story of Jesus’ birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension.  A person experiencing God as living and real must be presented with the message of who Jesus is and what He has accomplished and promised.  Surrender (sharaana) is something of a culminating piece of regeneration.  The person God is regenerating will finally give their lives to Him in faith.  The Nepal/Sanskrit word we are using her is “sharaana” which literally means to “take shelter in”.  Surrendering to God through Christ means that a person runs into the shelter of Jesus’.  The disciple-maker must carefully consider the one(s) she is discipling. Are experiencing God as living and real? (not the same as believing God exists -- one can be a theist and ignore God, but cannot both experience and ignore God).  Are they being told the story of Christ?  Are they being meaningfully called to enter the shelter of Jesus?

Parts D & E: Discipleship Roots and Spiritual Disciplines

The regenerate person begins to experience transformation into Christ-likeness.  There is a sense in which this can be automatic.  Often the experience of regeneration will overflow in a zealous pursuit of God through worship, prayer, or other disciplines.  However, over the long-run of a Christ-follower’s life, this transformation process must be intentionally nurtured.  This may be called discipleship because it refers to the process of following Jesus as a teacher we desire to imitate (Luke 6:40). 

There are three roots for the discipleship of Christ-followers.  The first root, devotion (bhakti), is rooted in the soil of an individual’s personal relationship with God.  Growing from this root are Prayer (prarthana), Bible Reading / Study (shastra), Worship (puja), Meditation (dhyana), Fasting / Penance (uposhya), Confession (swikar), and Joy (anandena).  The second root of discipleship is spiritual fellowship (satsang).  The soil for this root is the relationship Christ-followers share together before God.  Springing forth from this are fellowship (sangati), corporate worship (upasana), the teaching ministry (shiksha), sacramental life (samskara), Body-connections (sharir-sambandha), accountability (sahadharma), giving (daana), and joy (anandena).  The final root is service (seva) which grows from the soil of Christ-followers who are engaged together with a world that needs the Truth.  From this root grows disciplines of service (seva), giving (daan), proclaiming the message of Christ (prachar), missions (prerit), intercession (antar-binti), and joy (aanandena).


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That's it. Again, would love your feedback and suggestions.  This is in the initial stages now and I'm sure will undergo many revisions.

In Cape Town: Reflecting on the Journey

Hi everyone! Well, as you've guessed by now, I have safely arrived in Cape Town, South Africa -- now to ready my heart and mind for the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization.  I have a strange feeling being here, across the planet, alone.  It is a first for me, although I enjoy being alone sometimes. Still, I feel strange being separated from those closest to me.  Did manage to figure out Skype (which kills Yahoo Messenger, btw) so that I could talk with Katherine.  And now have an unlimited connection here at the hotel, so will be able to do that more.

So, I wanted to tell you all that on the way here, I broke (repeatedly) my cardinal rule as a proud introvert -- I chatted with people.  Yes. Multiple. It started with the University of Western Australia Rugby team that was eating near me at O'hare.  Got the interview here.  They had some interesting things to say.

Then it was a hairstylist from Mali who needed some help navigating the airport in Washington D.C. Next was my neighbor sitting next to me on the way to Senegal was a young research scientist, a Muslim raised in the U.S. but on her way back home to Senegal to give a year of her life to doing cervical cancer screening. Wow! She and I talked a lot about Lausanne and I was impressed by her commitment to many of the same issues.  Gradually, I began meeting fellow Lausanne delegates also in transit.  There was Eldon, Paco, and Niove among others. And lastly, two 3rd generation South Africans of Indian descent (one Hindu and the other Muslim).  We spoke most of the way between Johannesburg and Cape Town.  They basically told me everything I needed to know about the city and what to do and eat.  I must find a "gatsby" at some point, I've been told

I usually totally ignore the people I cross paths with while travelling (and I don't at all feel convicted about that, by the way). But I just felt myself compelled to engage. Especially to ask questions and listen.  I find myself wanting to know what the world is saying about the issues we are wrestling with at the Congress.  G and A, whom I hope to connect with again here in Cape Town spoke much with me about relationships and conflict between people of different religions as well as the important of people from the U.S. learning to listen to the rest of the world.

Anyway, I am deeply grateful for those I have been able to meet up to this point.  I am learning from everyone.  And, right now, I'm very impressed by the kindness and warmth of South Africans.  Almost everyone I've met has just seemed cheerful, helpful, friendly.  Keep praying for me please as I continue to listen.  Speaking will come later.  I leave you with a picture from the window of my hotel room -- just to help you see how rough I have it here. ;-)

Repentance, Sinfulness and Hinduism

Let me take the opportunity today to share with you all a question that I recently received from a friend engaged in work among South Asian Hindus in a North American city.  Since responding to this email, I’ve found myself feeling the need to share my response with several others.  Perhaps, you also will find reflecting on this question and my response to be helpful.



First, here is the question that I received:

Dear Cody,

Yesterday evening at our church prayer meeting, I mentioned my plan for this Sunday's lesson, and someone prayed that the [South Asians we are reaching out to] would repent of following after the wrong gods and turn to Jesus.

That got me to thinking about the issue of repentance. Without some understanding of the need for repentance, what does "following Jesus" mean? I acknowledge that God meets people where they are; whatever small steps we may take towards Him are all valuable. The Holy Spirit initiates everything, and in fact, "No man can come to the Father unless the Father draws him."

Still, when you have a moment, please share your thoughts on the place of repentance in coming to Christ. My sense is that when we mention the word "sin" "sins", Hindus think of really awful things like murder, and do not think of themselves as sinners. One Sunday I was with the children in the church's "Children's Church" program, and each child was to draw the silhouette of his/her hand on a piece of paper, then write on it one sin they had committed and then tack the hand onto a large cross. The Hindu children denied everything! They did not lie; they did not take someone else's things; they obeyed their parents.

When we were in South Asia, it seemed to us that Hindus thought of sin in terms of failures in their religious ritual observances. The moral sins they seemed to gloss over as "mistakes." These were excused more readily.

It's great sharing with you, but perhaps I should not trouble you...

 Jaya Masihi,

[A Friend]



And now, my response:


Dear Friend,


I appreciate the chance to hear your reflections on these things.  Of course, the issue of how repentance fits into salvation isn’t exclusively a South Asian one.  That is, I don’t know that people from Hindu backgrounds are especially handicapped in understanding their need for a savior, their sinfulness, etc.  Honestly, this subject is one that I’ve wrestled with in every ministry context I’ve been in – Americans, Chinese, Burmese, Ethiopians, Nepalis, etc.  How repentant does a person need to be?  How sinful do they need to think they are?  I’m not even sure if I’ve really figured this out in my own heart as it applies to my own life.
     
Nevertheless, there are a few thoughts that come to mind that I think might be helpful for you to reflect upon.  I know I could write pages on all these, but I’m going to try to make myself be brief.


Centered Set v. Bounded Set


The first thing I’d point you towards is Paul Hiebert’s work regarding “Centered” and “Bounded” sets.  You may be familiar with this already, but I’ve found it extraordinarily helpful in thinking about my mission field.  It helps me to forget about drawing artificial lines between who is saved and who is not – as if I can know.  It reminds me of my call to make disciples rather than converts.  From this view, repentance no longer becomes a question that primarily bears upon a person’s “profession of faith”.  Rather, it is an issue of critical importance throughout the life of that disciple.  From this perspective, I am reminded that for Shanti (a new follower of Jesus) to turn away from false gods was not just something that she did.  It is something that she must do, continually and for the rest of her life.


If the concept of centered and bounded sets is unfamiliar to you, I strongly suggest that you check out the following resources.  First, there is Hiebert’s original, ground-breaking article.  Second, you can watch this brief summary video on the topic.


Guilt, Shame, Fear
Repentance is an appropriate emphasis that really does transcend cultures.  However, it may be the case that Western theology has tended to favor a particular interpretation of “metanoia” that emphasizes “guilt/innocence” in a way that is difficult for people from other cultures to quickly grasp.  Here’s the announcement of Jesus:


“καὶ λέγων ὅτι πεπλήρωται ὁ καιρὸς καὶ ἤγγικεν ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ: μετανοεῖτε καὶ πιστεύετε ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ.”



“The time is fulfilled.  The kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent and believe the gospel.”  (Mark 1:15).


We could translate the last sentence more literally as, “Change your mind and believe in the gospel.”  Certainly a mind-change about behavioral morality should be a part of that, but must that be the primary emphasis?  What if the person we are sharing with can much more easily grasp the concept of shame and honor?  Of fear and freedom and power?  I think a key is to come to understand what is the “bad news” as, in this case, South Asians understand it.  Where has sin and Satan taken hold of the people and the culture?  This is the point where we must preach the gospel vigorously.  I recommend taking a look at chapter 5 of my book Ethnographic Chicago, which talks about spiritual conflict in a folk Hindu context.  I guess my point is that rather than work so hard to get Ethiopians, Nepalis, Pakistanis, or Burmese to agree with us as to what their problem is and why they need a Savior, why not discover what they already believe to be the problem?  Why do they think they need a savior?  Whatever the answer is found to be, does the gospel say anything about that?  Did Jesus die for that?


Sinfulness in Hinduism
On the issue of sin itself.  If I find myself in a situation where I have a Hindu telling me that they aren’t sinful, I need to find a humble way to explain Hinduism to them a little better.  Let me explain.  Some time ago, I got word that a few of the older men in our Nepali community were feeling hesitant to continue coming to our Satsangs because of our frequent use and broad application of the Sanskrit/Nepali term “paapi” (meaning “sinner”).  I came to understand that this term had a very narrow application among Nepalis.  It referred to criminals and to the absolute dregs of society.  Once I discovered this, I took the time to teach about the word from a Biblical perspective.  I warned against the dangers of comparisons and told the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector.  The story, which I told in a very interactive way, was very well-received.  I also used that teaching time to remind everyone of a famous Hindu mantra.  It was a mantra that most were somewhat familiar with, though many have not taken the time to consider the meaning.  The most memorable line of the mantra goes like this:


“Paapoham paapakarmaanam paapaatmaa paapasambuva”

Which means, “I am a sinner by birth and deeds, my soul is depraved by sin; I am conceived in sin.”  John Calvin couldn’t have said it better himself.  I also had a conversation personally with a Hindu man about this topic.  I found that he was hesitant to disagree with Jesus’ assessment of his soul.  And he seemed downright embarrassed to discover that a mantra he had heard all his life confirmed the fact that he indeed was a sinner.  Of course, it still doesn’t mean that he’s going to understand sin primarily as an issue of guilt that must be atoned for or misdeeds that must be confessed.  He may more easily conceive of sin resulting in shame and separation from God and/or leading to his victimization by and bondage to evil spirits.  I’m okay with that.  What I’m praying for is that he’ll see his need to be saved – his need for God’s Muktidata (salvation-giver).


Airport Pick Up

Let me close with a story that illustrates well for me what I think needs to happen in people’s hearts:
     
It was a Tuesday, a couple weeks ago. I was in the international terminal at Chicago O’Hare awaiting the arrival of flight 37 from Seoul which carried a bunch of Koreans and a few Bhutanese-Nepali refugee families. I was there to pick up a young Hindu couple who I end up being related to through my Nepali sister’s family. Anyway, we had to wait a long time for them to clear customs and I found myself pacing back and forth throughout the terminal.

Well, I walked all the way down to the far end of the building and then pivoted back towards the area where some of my Nepali friends were sitting (they had come to help me greet the new arrivals). They were sitting in an area near an escalator that led to the intra-airport train that took people to domestic terminals. As I began making my way back to that seating area, I saw a small group of people quickly emerge from one of the gates and hurriedly proceed towards the escalator. Leading the group was a middle-aged woman wearing a blue IOM (International Office of Migration) vest and rather impatiently commanding her followers to hurry along. She was followed by a young (mid to late twenties) Nepali couple who were each holding small children (toddlers) in their arms. The husband was mustached, maybe 29, and speedily walking about 10 paces behind the IOM worker. He was intently following, occasionally giving a nervous look back to his wife who was perhaps another 10 steps behind him. The IOM worker was halfway up the steps before the Nepali man reached the bottom of the mysterious moving staircase. He hesitated for a couple seconds and then, prompted by the impatient IOM worker, lunged onto the first step.

A few seconds later, his wife reached the escalator. I was now maybe 20 yards away and saw her look down at the moving stairs and simply freeze. Somehow, in that second, I knew her. She was my sister. She was Nepal. She was all nations. She was Jesus. I knew her heart. And I was Jesus. And I was the Church. And I was her brother. And I was my same old sinful self.  

I moved quickly now as I heard the IOM worker, now at the top of the escalator, somewhat angrily barking at the woman to come up the stairs. I saw her husband looking back helplessly as the machine carried him further and further away from his bride. In seconds, I was standing at her side. “Topailai dar lagyo?” I asked gently. She turned to see a big, white American speaking to her in her heart language. Her eyes were filled with tears, her face was simple and pretty, her arms were tired from holding her baby for hours – she exuded fear from her whole being. And yet, without even a tinge of surprise to hear me speaking Nepali and with absolute trust, she replied, “Yes,” with a graceful tilting of her head.  

I reached my arm over the handrail that divided us and firmly gripped her right arm. Her small frame gave off no resistance as I gently but forcefully led her forward. In a second, she was on the step. A few seconds later, she was gone – off to face an airport train, a connecting flight, and countless other scary and imposing challenges.  I took a deep breath and turned towards my Nepali friends. Only one word came to my mind, “Bichaara.” I figure that there is no good English word for this. It means something like, “I feel pity and love and compassion with and for that person.”

I have not been able to escape that moment. Those few seconds, for some reason, landed so powerfully upon me. Later in the day, I couldn’t help but cry as I relayed the story to my wife. My feeling has been that somehow, God was able to compress everything that I am into that one interaction. That is who I am. That is who I want to be. That is what I want my life to consist of.     


The following Sunday I relayed that story to our community during the Satsang.  Then I explained that sin leaves us in the condition of that young woman.  Scared, paralyzed, helpless, separated from the one who loves us (God).  We look down at the moving steps and realize that we can do nothing, absolutely nothing to close the gap between ourselves and God.  Then there is a voice in our ears.  “Are you afraid?” it asks.  And that’s Jesus.  And he’s down at the ground-level with us.  And he has learned to speak our language.  We are afraid.  But, just like that young woman, we have an opportunity to trust him.  And if we say, “Yes," if we trust our lives to him, he’ll reach out a gentle and firm hand and take us to our Father.    


Well, so much for brevity.  Thank you for reading through my Blog-pistle today.  May the Lord bless you as you serve Him!