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MA: And then you've recently moved to Hawaii.

NM: That's right, yeah.

MA: Three years ago.

NM: Yeah, that's right. And then after my time in this Japanese church in Colorado, I was appointed as a district superintendent. And I served about forty, forty-four churches in Denver metropolitan area. It was a really challenging experience. Many different ethnic churches I served. And then, of course, you know, I was challenged in various ways because I was an immigrant Asian woman minister in that leadership position. So many seasoned Caucasian male ministers challenged me and trained me in various ways, yeah. But you know, that was really a good exposure to learn about how other ethnic churches operate, and then how Caucasian churches do ministry.

MA: What are some things that you noticed? Some differences, I guess.

NM: Of course, it was tremendous differences. There is... what do you call it? A subculture in ethnic churches. So even though all these churches are under the umbrella of United Methodist church, but their rules and regulations are not necessarily applicable to these ethnic churches. So they have their own set rules, and being outsider myself, just went into those ethnic churches without really knowing their rules. So it was like stepping on minefields. So it's a really frightening time. And some of them are Tongan congregations, and very male-centered culture they are. So it's very difficult to see women in that position, district superintendent. Until we were able to build the trust, it was a difficult time to really be accepted. So very time-consuming, but at the end of the sixth year, our term is six to eight years. So at the end of sixth year, I felt that people were much more open and then welcoming, and then we were able to do ministry together. So I felt that love that knows no bounds.

MA: And then from there, you came to Hawaii.

NM: That's right, that's right.

<End Segment 10> - Copyright ©2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.