I am eagerly awaiting the results from the 2010 census because I am confident that it will validate my following assumption. I don't have hard evidence but anecdotal evidence points that there are over 100,000 Korean Americans in the metro-Atlanta area. Of that figure, we can conservatively say that 30,000 are 2nd generation. This is an assumption but I am assuming that of the 30,000 at least 10,000 are 18 years and above.
The largest ministry in the Atlanta area and ministers to 2nd generation Korean American adults has a weekly Sunday attendance of approximately 150 - 200. The church that I pastor is the second largest with approximately 100 adults at a Sunday service. There are a few more ministries that have approximately 40 - 60 adults on a Sunday. Finally there are many churches that have small ministries with about 10 - 30 adults. Even if I am generous with the figures, on a given Sunday there may be at most 1000 2nd generation adults who are attending worship services. What about the other 9000 assuming that there are only 10,000 2nd generation Korean Americans who are 18 and older?
This breaks my heart! There are so many Korean Americans who are not being reached. If I broaden the figures to Asian Americans in Atlanta, I don't know if my heart can handle the reality of the sheer number of people who are not being reached.
My prayer and hope is that this reality not only break my heart but breaks the hearts of all the shepherds and leaders of the Korean American and Asian American churches in the metro-Atlanta area. My prayer is that we see beyond the walls of our local church and no longer engage in turf wars but see the reality of the people who are "lost" and have Kingdom Perspective.
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