Rating: 7
February 28, 2007
More Than Serving Tea is a much-needed book. These wise, transparent and passionate mentors invite us into their struggles and joys as Asian American Christian women. Their stories elicit our stories, and each chapter serves as a great conversation starter to pull of our masks and to heartily give a big thumbs-up to the Creator. Plus, the authors are cool — would that be considered shameless fawning? But what are friends for.
One critique I humbly share is that the book comes dangerously close to defining APA women solely by their struggles and issues — though I know that the authors don’t have that intention. When I was still ministering in Boston, an Asian female student said some scary words to me after an AA Leadership Conference, “I must not be very Asian: I don’t have problems with my parents or have low self-esteem.” Though chapter nine was a start, it would’ve been great to see more concrete examples of how culture, ethnicity and gender in themselves are important ways of how God wants to bless the planet.
That said, I think all Asian American Christian women should read this insightful anthology. Grab a few friends — some close and some you wish were closer — and read this together. Not only will it be refreshing and comforting to know others have walked where you now tread, but also you’ll find a healthy community closing in around you.
And for the rest of us, this book will give us the pleasure of eavesdropping on a conversation, but instead of feeling guilty, we’ll have learned a little more of what it means to walk in our AA sisters’ shoes. And lucky for us, those shoes are no longer bound.
You can view its Amazon detail page by clicking the image above.
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