Tag: religion

The youngest of five daughters, Nancy Yoon grew up in Koreatown, Los Angeles during the 1970’s, after immigrating to the United States at the age of four with the rest of her family. As an adult, Ms. Yoon worked in finance for a while before transitioning to more creative work in the entertainment industry. About twenty years ago, Ms. Yoon struggled with the death of her father which led her to take care of her single mother until she eventually passed in a car accident. Ms. Yoon speaks about the experience of seeing her mother’s spirit in several separate instances. Following her mother’s sudden death, Ms. Yoon felt a strong desire to change her life and eventually got more involved in the Korean American community in Los Angeles which led her to start Asians In LA (@AsiansinLA) – a social network of Asian American influencers in politics, entertainment, nonprofit and community leaders. Empowered by her unshakable faith, she tells a story that demonstrates the power of connection and the importance of representation.

Dr. Soong-Chan Rah grew up in the inner-city of Baltimore, Maryland, with three siblings and a single mother.

Sung Tse’s son brought up this haunting question the day he told his mother he did not identify as a female.

Yung Kim, who attended and helped develop the Father School program in New York, shares what he’s learned about fatherhood and family.

Yung Kim, interviewed by his niece Nina Joung, came to America at 22 years old, volunteering at nonprofit organizations while serving at his church as a youth group teacher.

With a dream to become Madame Curie, Mickie Choi immigrated to the U.S. in the early 70s to pursue her PhD.

Fighting poverty and homelessness never stops for Jean Kim.

Born in 1935 in what is now North Korea, Jean Kim lived through the Japanese occupation and the Korean War, losing her language, family, and home.

Hear how Jong Sun Yun’s immigration to the US led to his calling as a pastor, and how a stroke that left one side of his body paralyzed tested his will to continue life without giving up.

Pastor Myungja Yue recalls how her father took on the incredible feat of swimming across the Nakdong River back and forth 6 times

Hyepin Im, an MBA student in 1992, recalls how the media falsely portrayed Korean Americans as the main aggressors during the LA riots.

Suk Jong Lee reflects on the difficulties she faced as an Army chaplain, due to being both female and Asian.

Unzu Lee, currently a Presbyterian pastor, used to have “zero confidence” in her language abilities due to a sudden move from Korea to Brazil at 14 years of age.

Growing up in a church full of political dissidents, Unzu Lee learned early on that “political activism was just one way of social transformation.”

Sarang Kang is a Korean American female pastor whose visionary and assertive character sometimes ruffles feathers.

Yena Hwang, a Korean-American female pastor, grew up with affectionate and supportive parents who raised her with gender equality norms.

Growing up as a pastor’s kid (PK), Aram Bae prayed specifically that she would never be employed by the church.

Woonhye was sure she would never marry a pastor–because she had seen firsthand the difficulties of pastoral life through her father.

Pastor William Seihwan Kim was serving at a Korean church in Wichita, Kansas until a severe tumor growing on his face forced him to resign and go to Korea for surgery.

After deciding not to jump from a seven-story building, Chong Taek An paid off the debts he was trying to escape from and eventually made his way to America.

To support her family while her husband was studying, Namsun Lee took on a “man’s job” at a General Electric company in Richmond, VA.

When Jannie Chung’s brother was barreling out of control with drug use, partying, and violent behavior, her mother—desperate to turn his life around—took him to a remote Buddhist temple in Hawaii

Jwa Kyung Shin was born in 1914 in Korea. She was 100 years old at the time of the interview.

In this film Dan reflects on his journey as an activist as well as a gay man seeking acceptance from his mother and father who are conservative Christians. His father is a Southern Baptist minister in California. Dan talks openly about the challenges of being a full time activist, the emotional and mental toll which has resulted in him being hospitalized for mental health treatment, and the Christian values that enabled him to get through the difficult times even as he felt abandoned and ostracized by the Christian community in which he grew up.

Susan Knight (birth name: Yim Hee Jung), 37, was born in Seoul and currently lives in Cumming, Georgia with her husband and three children. This is her story of resilience of growing up in poverty and moving to the U.S. at age eight to join her mother and stepfather, a U.S. soldier.

The Reverend Jung John Kwon reflects on his journey in the United States. He was interviewed by his daughter Young-Yi Clinton in New York.

The Reverend Koonae Lee is the Senior Pastor of the United Methodist Church in Stratford, Connecticut.

You may already be familiar with the story of how Choi helped to bring about the repeal of “Don’t ask, don’t tell” (DADT), the U.S. policy that banned openly homosexual individuals from serving in the military.

In Genesis of the Bible, there is a story of Abraham being tested by the Lord to offer his only son Isaac as a sacrifice on Mount Moriah.  When Abraham was about to kill his son, he is stopped by the Lord

This moving documentary follows the life of Chris Hwang, a Korean-American pastor known affectionately by the homeless he serves as “Chicken Man”.  Produced and directed by Mi Jung Youm and Jason Shutt.

This film is based on a true story written by Dennis Lee and directed by Caryn Waechter. It is a tragic story of a Korean-American family in the 1970’s.