Three Questions is a semi-regular series where we introduce individuals across the NAB with the same questions: What’s your story? What’s ministry like for you? What are you learning? This week, we hear from Kevin Wong, pastor of Cornerstone Trinity Baptist Church in San Francisco, California.
What’s your story?
I am a pastor in San Francisco and a child of a Chinese immigrant father. My mother was born in San Francisco, California, and grew up in Chinatown. I have never left this region for all my education and young adult years and remained here to raise my family while many others have moved from here. I became a Christian in high school when a youth leader explained to me the parable of the prodigal son. I found, in this parable, my own story with God, as it resonated with my personal view of God. I had previously viewed God as strict and asking for compliance, while I viewed myself as independent and in no need of God. Through the prodigal son parable, God changed my view of myself and of him.
What’s ministry like for you?
I serve as senior pastor at Cornerstone Trinity Baptist Church in San Francisco. We are a predominantly Asian American church with many native San Franciscans trying to grow in our missional practices – viewing ourselves as sojourners in a region with many sojourners and others who are transplanting to the Bay Area. Others are moving away, giving up on the region, while we are trying to believe that Jesus still resurrects regions and hearts. . . .
Bob Krahn, the regional minister for the British Columbia Baptist Association, will be retiring at the end of July. He wrote the following about this decision:
After completing 50 years of ministry and the most amazing 18 and a half years of my life as the RM for the BCBA, I will retire from my position on July 31, 2023. In January of 2023, Dawn and I were able to take a month off to reflect on our past and present ministry and to pray about our future. During that time, God gave both of us the calm assurance that this was the right time to draw our present ministry to a close. The NAB is forever in our hearts, and we intend to stay connected and pray for our Conference.
Before taking the role of RM, the Reverend Dr. Robert Krahn held a diverse collection of jobs, including an underground miner, a heavy equipment operator, a big game guide, and a plumber’s helper. He and Dawn have been married for fifty years this November.
If you would like to send Bob and Dawn a fond memory or congratulatory note, you can click on the link below.
By Cam Roxburgh
VP of Missional Initiatives
We have finished another year of Blue Ocean. This “appetizer” for what it means to become part of the missional movement in the NAB has been going for 6 years now, including our “Lite” version of Blue Ocean that we did on line in the midst of the pandemic. We had a smaller group this year as we started back in person, which enabled us to get to know each other well and grow deeper in relationships.
The year began in Vancouver, where we wrestled with what it means that God is missional in his nature. . . .