Minister Reaches Out to Immigrants

When James Chiu moved to Anaheim 18 years ago, he had to drive to Los Angeles to buy a Chinese-language newspaper and to shop in a Chinese grocery. Finding a church where he could worship in his native language was just as difficult.

Now, Chiu can drive to Westminster or Garden Grove to shop. His spiritual needs, and those of hundreds of other Chinese-Americans who are Christian, are met at the church that he started, the Chinese Baptist Church of Orange County.

“When we moved here, there was no church for Chinese,” Chiu recalled. “But we started one with just a few people, and now we have more than we can handle.”

Chiu’s first congregation was culled from a phone book. He and his wife would scan the directory, making a list of any name that appeared to be Chinese. They sent invitations to attend a service at the First Southern Baptist Church of Anaheim, which allowed Chiu to use its facility.

“That first service we had maybe 40 people. But I knew Orange County had lots of Chinese people. We have grown every year and now we have more than 500 people.”

Chiu’s church is Baptist, but it just as easily could have been another denomination if another church had invited them.

“The Southern Baptist church welcomed us when we were looking for a place to worship,” Chiu said. “They like to open their arms to us, but other (denominations) aren’t as accepting. They think that their regular congregation won’t like us to use their church.”

In 1986, Chiu’s congregation, which numbered 250 people, built their own church on Broadway in Anaheim. The congregation has continued to grow, with recent Chinese immigrants making up much of the new membership.

“We aim mostly for immigrants from Hong Kong. Most aren’t even Christian, but they come here lonely, can’t speak English. We help them find jobs, help them find friends.”

Thankful for this help, many become Christians and join the church. So many, in fact, that Chiu plans to open a mission church in Tustin to accommodate the overflow.

But in the village where Chiu was born, being a Christian was less about worshiping than surviving.

“My mom was the first Christian in our village,” said Chiu, whose father died when he was very young. “We were all Buddhists, then my mom went to the hospital and a nurse witnessed to her about Jesus Christ. My mom became a Christian then.”

The village viewed her conversion as treason and ostracized and harassed Chiu’s family until they were forced to leave.

“We went to Hong Kong because it was much freer there, easier to be a Christian,” he said.

Chiu credits his mother’s deep faith with his determination to be a minister. He attended four seminaries in Canada and the United States and received several graduate degrees.

“Until I was 10, I never go to school,” Chiu said. “I decided when I have a chance I will go to school as long as I can.”