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Invitation to Lead: Guidance for Emerging Asian American Leaders Paperback – Oct 1 2006

by Paul Tokunaga (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars 4 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 214 pages
  • Publisher: Intervarsity Press (Oct. 1 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 083082393X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0830823932
  • Product Dimensions: 14 x 1.6 x 21 cm
  • Shipping Weight: 249 g
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars 4 customer reviews
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #503,374 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Review

"Paul Tokunaga has hit a grand slam.All throughout this book I found myself repeatedly saying, 'That's me. . . . That's exactly how I feel. . . . That's exactly how I am.' Paul has captured the pulse of the Asian American leader: competent, highly skilled and gifted, with tremendous potential and possibility yet in need of encouragement, mentoring and hope. Paul provides for us the possibility of being ourselves and being effective leaders."--Soong-Chan Rah, Milton B. Engebretson Assistant Professor of Church Growth and Evangelism, North Park Theological Seminary

"In writing this book, Paul Tokunaga has provided a compelling and comprehensive training resource for Asian American Christian leaders. Using his Japanese/Southern wit, his keen eye for observing Asian American cultural tendencies and his own journey as an outstanding leader in many different and challenging settings, he has found ways to coax more of us also to step forward and contribute in ways that affirm who we are and that will bless countless others."--Rev. Dr. Ken Uyeda Fong, Senior Pastor, Evergreen Baptist Church of Los Angeles

"With insights from the Bible, Asian American experiences and his own personal journey, Paul Tokunaga has produced a work that will serve as an invaluable resource for Asian American leaders as well as for those who serve alongside them. The Asian American and the wider Christian community have needed a book like this for a long time."--Peter Cha, Assistant Professor in Pastoral Theology, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

"Weaving personal reflections with practical guidance, Paul Tokunaga provides up-and-coming Asian American leaders with invaluable insights on how to reach their full potential. This book offers candor and wisdom from an experienced ministry leader who shares both the ups and the downs of his own leadership journey. Read this book and accept his invitation!"--Helen Lee, co-founder, Best Christian Workplaces Institute, former publisher, re: generation quarterly

"This book provides wonderful insight and commentary about the intersection between Asian American leadership issues and cultural values within the context of Christianity and mainstream society."--J. D. Hokoyama, President and CEO, Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics, Inc. (LEAP)

"Paul Tokunaga has hit a grand slam. All throughout this book I found myself repeatedly saying, 'That's me. . . . That's exactly how I feel. . . . That's exactly how I am.' Paul has captured the pulse of the Asian American leader: competent, highly skilled and gifted, with tremendous potential and possibility yet in need of encouragement, mentoring and hope. Paul provides for us the possibility of being ourselves and being effective leaders."--Soong-Chan Rah, Milton B. Engebretson Assistant Professor of Church Growth and Evangelism, North Park Theological Seminary

Tokunga's book is very informative, biblically sound, and even inspiring.--Step by Step blog, October 14, 2007"

"Paul Tokunaga challenges us to be a part of what God is doing.Invitation to Lead is a clarion call to rise above our fears, cultural tradtions and stereotypes and lead! Tokunaga passionately encourages us to lead in a new global village that welcomes Asian Americans to the table of servant leadership."--David Gibbons, Social Entrepreneur, Lead Pastor, NewSong Church, Irvine, California

About the Author

Paul Tokunaga (Master of Christian Studies, New College, Berkeley) is vice president and director of strategic ministries for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA. He started with InterVarsity as a student at the California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo and has also worked with 2100 Productions and as Southeast Regional Director.

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4.0 out of 5 starsFinally, someone who addresses Asian American leaders
By Chomper on Feb. 20 2004
Format: Paperback
I'm about halfway through this book, but just reading the first few chapters, I could have sworn I was reading an auto-biography of myself. His experiences are just so close to what I've experienced and hit hard to where I am coming from.
Every ethnicity has it's own issues and concerns that need addressing. Paul Tok really tackles this topic with a gusto and humility that make him very approachable. Even though he is Japanese American, his experiences mimic what most Asian Americans experience. From deferring to our parents to the ridiculous heights we hold education and prestige. He gives us perspective of how he deals with these issues along with dealing with other races.
While this book is geared towards Asian Americans, I HIGHLY recommend leaders of other ethnicities to read this book. It truly shines a light on some of the issues facing Asian Americans and can give insight in how to relate to us.
I had the pleasure of meeting Paul at Urbana 2003 during a workshop he gave on this very topic. Although I hadn't read his book at the time, (and I wish I did), he came across as someone who really wants to help and empathizes with the future leaders of this generation.
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5.0 out of 5 starsRecommended Rading for Asian American Ministry
By Jimmy Lee on Dec 1 2003
Format: Paperback
If you are a non Asian in an Asian church, this book will help you understand more. As an Asian American, Tokunaga's book has helped me understand the impact of my culture on why I act the way I do. Good practical advice as well. I can't believe some of the mistakes Tokunaga admitted to but I guess his point is that God can use any of us. On page 199, he says that our young people are leaving the church because the church is irrelevant, stifling and ill-equipped. I think that may be only true on the surface and perhaps the real reason is that our youth are prodigals, looking for boy/girl friends and freedom. The Bible study questions from Moses and Esther are very useful.
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5.0 out of 5 starsVery honest and personal... GREAT!!!
By A Customer on April 22 2003
Format: Paperback
I haven't finished the book yet, but even half way through it, it really is a great book. The author shares his life very honestly and openly and shares great insight from his years of leading. I think there is a lot of struggle in being an Asian American leader and this book helps to verbalize and bring to light those struggles. Thanks Paul!
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5.0 out of 5 starsGreat insight from Paul Tok on Asian American leadership...
By Roger Lam on July 21 2003
Format: Paperback
This book is a MUST read for all Asian Americans. Paul Tok's insight into Asian American culture and leadership styles is a great resource to anyone from pastors to lay church workers to people in a work setting. Highly recommended!
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)

Amazon.com: HASH(0x9a621654) out of 5 stars 11 reviews
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
HASH(0x9b1dc3cc) out of 5 stars Good Topic, Weak Substance Feb. 17 2010
By Brian Chang - Published on Amazon.com
Format: Paperback
This book, handed to me by a supervisor at work, had me interested and intrigued. Never before had I seen a book about Christian, Asian-American leadership, so I was excited to see what Tokunaga had to say about the difficulties and blessings that come with this type of ministry. Tokunaga did have much to say about the topic and was clearly well informed about the subject matter. This book also received rave reviews from many other people on Amazon and other blogs. Unfortunately, I was left shaking my head at some points of the 207-page book because of his writing style, but I was thankfully able to glean some helpful tools from the book overall.

As a leader in an Asian-American ministry at UCLA, I was caught off-guard by the content of this book at first. I began reading wide-eyed and prepared to apply all that I would learn from Tokunaga, especially considering his long resume in campus ministry. What I found instead in the first 100 pages was a personal biography of Tokunaga's experiences in leadership--sometimes bordering on arrogance--with a sprinkle of Scripture here and there. I found it disheartening that personal stories were used in lieu of biblical ones and that most of the stories did not serve any deep purposes but to re-illustrate a point. I was unimpressed by things that he clearly hoped his readers would be impressed by: how he became the InterVarsity campus leader as a sophomore in college, led in many multiethnic settings, how his parents were opposed to him being in the ministry, etc. Though he did do a better job later in the book (after the first 150 pages or so), I do believe that he relied too heavily on his InterVarsity experiences rather than giving more tangible biblical examples. Tokunaga also relied on Asian stereotypes, basic generalizations that I witness Asians breaking down everyday on campus. I was a little disappointed that he, an Asian-American leader, would perpetuate these stereotypes even more in his book on leadership.

Even still, Tokunaga was good at surfacing issues that effect Asian-American ministries and Asian-Americans in ministries. He thoroughly captured certain aspects of Asian culture that are often misunderstood. By explaining stuff like the Asian "shame culture" and certain mannerisms, Tokunaga showed how culture might affect faith issues. He was able to articulate some of the historical backgrounds and misconceptions that come with Asian Christians while also hitting on multiethnic interactions. Though I disagree with some of his doctrinal statements about leadership, he was very methodical in pointing out the discrepancies that occur between Asian and American Christians. Overall, I felt that Tokunaga's style of writing and use of biographical support was a bit too off-putting, but it may be helpful and relevant to some Asian-Americans in leadership. And for an area of Christian leadership that is rarely written on, it's not an altogether bad start.

Honestly, I would not recommend this book to Asian-American ministry leaders, especially college leaders. I think there are better resources out there for ministry leaders that are more expository and focus on biblical leadership rather than personal life stories. Some of Tokunaga's examples even encourage rebellion against spiritual authority at the college ministry level, which I heartily disagreed with. That being said, it does speak to a very niche audience, which might be it's main selling point (illustrated by the enthusiasm with which my supervisor handed me this book to begin with). Still, this book is not one that I would willingly pass down to younger ministry leaders.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
HASH(0x9b00a798) out of 5 stars Finally, someone who addresses Asian American leaders Feb. 20 2004
By Chomper - Published on Amazon.com
Format: Paperback
I'm about halfway through this book, but just reading the first few chapters, I could have sworn I was reading an auto-biography of myself. His experiences are just so close to what I've experienced and hit hard to where I am coming from.
Every ethnicity has it's own issues and concerns that need addressing. Paul Tok really tackles this topic with a gusto and humility that make him very approachable. Even though he is Japanese American, his experiences mimic what most Asian Americans experience. From deferring to our parents to the ridiculous heights we hold education and prestige. He gives us perspective of how he deals with these issues along with dealing with other races.
While this book is geared towards Asian Americans, I HIGHLY recommend leaders of other ethnicities to read this book. It truly shines a light on some of the issues facing Asian Americans and can give insight in how to relate to us.
I had the pleasure of meeting Paul at Urbana 2003 during a workshop he gave on this very topic. Although I hadn't read his book at the time, (and I wish I did), he came across as someone who really wants to help and empathizes with the future leaders of this generation.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
HASH(0x9abb0fa8) out of 5 stars Leading Where? Sept. 15 2010
By GTO - Published on Amazon.com
Format: Paperback
Though lacking focus, this book, written to Asian-American leaders, prompts questions of how our ethnicity, and the upbringing that may have gone along with that, effects how we lead and how we are led. Though most of Tokunaga's examples are based on stereotypes, or what is usually expected, from Asian homes, his points are universal in that we all have been raised in a certain way and many of us have not examined how that upbringing has shaped our world view. Tokunaga also focuses on how the Christian church needs to be aware of the different views different upbringings tend to foster as we try and reach others for Christ. Tokunaga's own story is very compelling, but his stories sometimes get in the way of his being able to make clear points to move his arguments along. He also repeats various points at different times in the book which can frustrate the reader, thinking that we have been over this ground before.
HASH(0x9a4d090c) out of 5 stars Helpful and Relevant July 22 2010
By Lisa C. Wong - Published on Amazon.com
Format: Paperback
Really enjoyed this combination of historical overview, ethnographic survey, and personal testimony from a biblical perspective. Not only did the author seek to help the Asian American reader understand his/her own culture and its influence on spirituality and leadership, but he wisely put forth specific challenges that Asian American leaders will certainly face in the near future.

I took a class on the Asian American church back when I was in seminary, but recent events have prompted my desire to expand my knowledge base and dialogue with others to meet particular ministry challenges. This book was AWESOME! Not only could I relate to the experiences of the author, but as his story unfolded, he wove in ethnography and biblical truth in a winsome and relevant manner.

A previous reviewer was disappointed by the author's use of testimony rather than biblical examples to illustrate his points. Personally, I don't consider this a weakness of the book. If one's goal is to connect a biblical principle to the readers' lives, I don't think an example from the Bible (which Tokunaga actually did use: e.g. ethnic minorities Esther, Moses) is more effective than recounting a contemporary experience (which, as the previous reviewer observed, was more common in this book).

The reviewer's other criticism was that the author's consistent reference to his own life as a ministry leader made him sound somewhat arrogant. I did not get this impression at all. The author exposed his own struggles with sin and foolishness, portraying embarrassing moments and vulnerabilities so that others might relate to his experiences and be encouraged. He didn't sound arrogant to me.

The book is definitely NOT an encyclopedic reference. Personally, I'd read it under a beach umbrella with a highlighter on hand. I would recommend it to Asian Americans who are called to lead in the context of Christian ministry or even in secular organizations. It'd also be helpful for anyone else who'd like to better understand Asian Americans and the challenges they face as leaders in America.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
HASH(0x9a858798) out of 5 stars Recommended Rading for Asian American Ministry Dec 1 2003
By Jimmy Lee - Published on Amazon.com
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
If you are a non Asian in an Asian church, this book will help you understand more. As an Asian American, Tokunaga's book has helped me understand the impact of my culture on why I act the way I do. Good practical advice as well. I can't believe some of the mistakes Tokunaga admitted to but I guess his point is that God can use any of us. On page 199, he says that our young people are leaving the church because the church is irrelevant, stifling and ill-equipped. I think that may be only true on the surface and perhaps the real reason is that our youth are prodigals, looking for boy/girl friends and freedom. The Bible study questions from Moses and Esther are very useful.

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