| Month's Details for: April 2001 |
by Keith Carey
By the 1820s, the Spanish Empire was beginning to weaken, and Mexico gained her independence. The Europeans thinly settled much of the northern regions of Mexico. By 1848, there were still only 14,000 Anglos and Hispanics in all of California, according to National Geographic. U. S. aggression would soon change that. The U.S. attacked Mexico and annexed what are now Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Also in 1848, Americans discovered gold in California, and the gold rush began with a passion. By the end of 1849, there were 100,000 settlers in California. Most of these new settlers were American, but some Chinese also came looking for gold. Sometimes they were attacked by American mobs that jealously guarded their claims. Ironically, there was very little gold in this land. But the legacy of searching for God, gold, and glory continues to this day as more immigrants come to make a better living in this rich land.
Today’s Immigration Scene in California
California has emerged as a world leader in the New Economy. What is the New Economy? It’s the high tech industries and world trade. Along with computer engineering, it includes the digital technology that fuels the entertainment and theme–park industries. Some of these jobs are in firms that create special effects for movies and video games dubbed “SiliWood,” a hybrid term coming from “Silicon Valley” and “Hollywood.” The New Economy produces high paying jobs for those who speak English and have technical education.
Indian Nationals and California’s New Economy
India’s “reservation” system has also thrust out some of her brightest and most talented people. Through the reservation system, which parallels Affirmative Action in the U.S., lower caste people are given preferential treatment in highly–paid positions. The Brahmins, who are used to having what they call “thinking” jobs, will sometimes take their skills elsewhere. Other unreached people groups that have traditionally done well economically join them. The Patels are a high caste people who are known for “growing gold” wherever they go. Jains, Sindhis, Bahais, Parsees, and Patels are all people groups that have fared well in India.
Could it be that God is using this situation to draw India’s most resistant peoples to Himself? All of these groups are highly unreached with the gospel in India, and they aren’t likely to listen to low caste people who have found Christ in that country. At this time, they are still unreached in California, and we will pray for some of them this month. But each of these groups has a good chance to find Christ in this land where missions once dotted the El Camino Real (the King’s Highway).
There are more formal groups like Mission America which is a coalition of more than 400 national Christian leaders who represent more than 70 denominations and 57 ministry networks. Through the Lighthouse Movement, a home–based prayer movement, these leaders hope to enable believers to share the gospel with every person in America. There is the Ethnic America Network, which represents churches and agencies within the larger coalition that ministers to ethnic groups in the United States. Will these groups reach out to the more resistant Hindu and Muslim peoples who come to California?
Time is on the side of those who want to see these new Americans reached for Christ. A case in point is the Southeast Asian refugees that came to America in the 1970s and 80s. Most of them were Vietnamese, Laotian, and Cambodian Buddhists. Although all of these groups still have their Buddhist temples, a large number of them have become Christian since arriving in California. In February of last year, the Barna Research Group conducted a poll and found that between 1991 and 2000, the percentage of born-again believers among Asian Americans went from five percent to 27 percent. Could it be that many of the assimilating Southeast Asians have found Christ here?
Many of the Koreans came to California as Christians. But they face some common problems while assimilating. They call their people who are midway between both cultures the “1.5 generation.” These people are somewhat Korean in their outlook, and somewhat American. Most of them have spent part of their lives in each country. They might watch violent TV programs, speak fluent English, and not understand the value of traditional Korean respect for their elders. Yet they like Korean food and don’t feel comfortable with the general Anglo culture. What will happen with the assimilated Koreans in the next generation? Will they remain Christian? And will those that do have a living faith?
California and Transculturalism
In the 1500s, the newly–formed Spanish Empire roared out of Europe with lightning speed. Expanding their empire for God, gold, and glory, they conquered and settled California. For the most part, those who came for gold went south to conquer the powerful Incan and Aztec Empires. Others, the Franciscans and Jesuits, came to glorify God by establishing a series of missions in the fertile land of California. The spiritual legacy of the Spanish padres lives on to this day.
California has a long history of ethnic diversity. But the floodgates flew open in 1967 when U.S. President Lyndon Johnson’s administration introduced changes in immigration laws. The new policy was to welcome immigrants that filled a current need. Since that time, California has become the most linguistically diverse state in the union, where people speak more than 200 languages and dialects. In the Los Angeles School District alone, there are roughly 80–90 languages spoken, making educating children a logistical nightmare.
Why are so many people from around the world in California? Simply put, they are looking for “gold,” i.e., wealth. As you will see later, they may encounter God while seeking the gold.
Indian nationals have done well in both regards. Consequently, the U.S. has accepted about 722,000 immigrants from India in the last 30 years. They are among the most prosperous and best educated of all immigrant groups. The bittersweet legacy of British colonialism left these South Asians with a gift that has worked in their favor: knowledge of English, today’s world’s trade language. As a newly independent nation 54 years ago, India set up six institutes of technology in hopes of training an elite corps. As it turned out, India’s economy did not provide enough jobs for graduates in India’s high tech cities like Mumbai (Bombay) and Bangalore. But there were jobs in California’s Silicon Valley, an economically powerful region in the San Francisco Bay Area. A Time Magazine article published last April said, “A special chemistry of culturel, economics, circumstance, and pure luck has propelled Indians toward success at a rate unmatched by most immigrant groups. While Indian entrepreneurial success is nothing n
How can the Unreached Peoples in California be Reached?
On one level, these unreached people groups can be reached one person at a time. Some Christians have made specific efforts to develop friendships with international students and immigrants. Day trips to the beaches and parks provide American evangelicals an opportunity and an informal atmosphere to share Christ with their Hindu, Buddhist, and Muslim neighbors. Through friendships, they can get the opportunity to show the JESUS Film or include them in evangelistic Bible studies.
There seems to be a trend away from multiculturalism, according to an August 2000 article in the Christian Science Monitor. The trend is towards what the author calls transculturalism, a way of functioning in the dominant culture while maintaining elements of the old one. In a way this is like the old melting pot idea, but it adds another element. With today’s mobility, these people can maintain more of their traditional culture. They can mix and match their cultural heritage.
Will it be possible in the future for Hindus, Muslims, and Buddhists who come to the West to embrace Christ while maintaining much of their old culture? It’s possible that the Christians in California will become too marginalized in their faith to be salt and light to their new neighbors. Let’s pray that the believers in this land that the Lord has blessed with the Spanish missions and the Azusa Street Revival will put God ahead of gold so that He can get the glory!