<\/p>\n
Do you ever ask kids, \u201cWhat do you want to be when you grow up?\u201d<\/p>\n
Tim Mason\u2019s answer always came easily: \u201cI want to be a missionary!\u201d<\/p>\n
Now Mason is the pastor of Calvary by the Sea in Honolulu. Fulfilling that childhood dream was not as simple as continually listening to his inner child, but his path did bring him to Japan and eventually to serve Japanese people in Hawaii.<\/p>\n
That childhood dream was begat out of a visit from Katie Clark, a missionary to Papua New Guinea, who visited his congregation in Coon Rapids, Minn. \u201cI hung on to every word she said. She was sharing the message of her work with kids and even though I had dreams of being a pilot or a doctor, this dream of mission work was always there,\u201d Mason said.<\/p>\n
Mason spent 10 weeks in New Guinea before finishing his undergraduate degree. His goal was to get his Ph.D. in order to teach at a seminary or university abroad. When doors to Germany for his internship site were closed, his adviser opened another to Japan.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had no idea or interest in going to Japan,\u201d Mason said, \u201cbut I had one of the\u00a0best years of my life in Tokyo.\u201d<\/p>\n
That year taught Mason about the complexities in Japanese life and converting to Christianity. Japanese people who decide to become Christian are choosing to believe in something that is not Japanese. This is especially delicate when it involves the eldest son in a family, since much of the Shinto or Buddhist understanding of the afterlife is tied to the correct practice of the rituals at the time of death.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the eldest son hears the gospel and hears there is a God and the God is love, then they care for the poor and the hungry and want to become a Christian,\u201d Mason said. \u201cBut his decision threatens the entire thread of ancestors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mason notices that many people that move to Hawaii from Japan are more easily able to practice Christianity. \u201cThere is a lot of freedom to explore different expressions of faith that isn\u2019t present in Japan,\u201d Mason said. \u201cThe pressure is not from society; it\u2019s from their family system. Hawaii frees up everybody to explore different things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Being on an island presents unique cultural challenges that the gospel helps him address. \u201cWhat I\u2019m doing with grace through Lutheran theology is the heart of what you preach in a Hawaiian culture that\u2019s a mishmash of different religions, beliefs and values,\u201d he said. \u201cYou stick to love, acceptance and grace. You treat people with respect because you\u2019ll see them next week, since we\u2019re all stuck here together on this island and there\u2019s nowhere to run. The relationships are important and what\u2019s respected is authenticity.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the important characteristics about Calvary by the Sea is that it\u2019s a place for people to come for healing. \u201cThis is the place where broken and rejected people come and find acceptance,\u201d Mason said. \u201cI don\u2019t care what baggage they have when they arrive. They need to hear the gospel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Calvary by the Sea also lives the gospel by feeding people. Between 1,500-2,000 people a month come to the church\u2019s food pantry. \u201cEverybody is hungry, so this is our niche,\u201d Mason said. \u201cWe also provide places to do laundry, take showers and provide legal aid. That\u2019s a huge part of our ministry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another unique feature is the congregation\u2019s involvement in environmental stewardship. With their proximity to the ocean, they have a large invasive species of algae that they pull up and give to local farmers to use as fertilizer. They can then use that opportunity to teach kids and school groups about marine stewardship.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re a welcoming place,\u201d Mason said. \u201cWe understand that people will make a judgment within seven seconds so we have \u2018tribes,\u2019 basically ushers, who put together the sanctuary. When new people arrive, they feel welcome. That\u2019s a huge part of our congregation that they take a lot of pride in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Being in Hawaii also means that people are coming and going frequently. \u201cIf people come for a few weeks, they can still be welcomed to join the choir. It\u2019s immediate\u2014they\u2019re part of us. It\u2019s one of the things I love about this place.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mason has embraced his life in Hawaii and his congregation has embraced him. It\u2019s a childhood dream come true.<\/p>\n
Simon Lee, Pastor of the Chinese Lutheran Church of Honolulu, took a different route to arrive in Hawaii. Lee was born and raised in Hong Kong and attended Luther Seminary, where he received a Master of Arts in pastoral counseling in 1978.<\/p>\n
He was called to the Chinese Lutheran Church on July 4, 1981, and realized immediately that there was a problem. Lee is fluent in Cantonese, but 95 percent of that congregation was from Taiwan\u2014and only spoke Mandarin.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a brand new experience,\u201d Lee said. \u201cI can speak some (Mandarin). I thought I was quite fluent, but they had a problem listening. I was called, and they gave me the opportunity to learn and grow.\u201d<\/p>\n
At first, they didn\u2019t have a church building, so the congregation held two services that worshipped at the English-speaking church in the afternoon and evening.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy the grace of God, we grew so much that the facility could no longer accommodate us,\u201d Lee said. \u201cSo we tried many other places until we purchased land in 1997.\u201d<\/p>\n
Land in Hawaii, as you might guess, is not cheap. For $1.4 million, they were able to buy a tiny parking lot\u2014less than half an acre. Then, they had to raise funds for an architect and building contractors to build the new church. By the very end of 2004, the project was finished. The Chinese Lutheran Church of Honolulu was dedicated and opened on Jan. 1, 2005.<\/p>\n
Another interesting dynamic in the congregation led to the creation of a third service. Many of the church\u2019s second-generation Chinese members are English speakers, so a service held in English and geared toward youth started in 2002. In 1981, when Lee was first called to the church, attendance was about 80 people. Now, with three services together, there are more than 400 attending.<\/p>\n
As with Calvary by the Sea, Lee\u2019s congregation deals with Hawaii\u2019s constant turnover by actively reaching out.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery year, we have an average increase of 30-40 new members and many are baptized,\u201d Lee said. \u201cUp through last year, I baptized more than 1,300 in this church and many of those were adults. It is encouraging!\u201d<\/p>\n
The Chinese Lutheran Church of Honolulu has strong connections across the globe, including a church plant in Geneva. In addition, former members who have moved back to mainland China have started churches or small groups. In Taipei, Taiwan, English summer camps are hosted and missionaries are sent to help. The congregation has also sent 20 members to seminary and many of them have graduated to serve congregations as pastors all over the world.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s next for Lee? \u201cI was called in 1981 and I have been here for more than 34 years. I\u2019m now 68 and hopefully I can retire when I\u2019m 70,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m still looking for the pastor to take my place, but I\u2019ll continue to stay to support the ministry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lee was given the Luther Seminary Faithfulness in Ministry Servant Cross Leader Award in 2008 for his vital role in ministry after serving for more than 25 years.<\/p>\n
As Lee\u2019s career as a pastor will soon come to a close, it\u2019s clear that the impact from his ministry will be felt for generations to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pastors Tim Mason, \u201991, and Simon Lee, \u201978, minister to unique congregations<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3044,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5590","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"issue-fall-2015","9":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n