Abide Gathering 2022

“It’s hard to articulate the hunger I had felt coming into Abide, with equal parts fatigue about a service-oriented identity in an Asian American church, but also an impatience to see vocation explored fully in Christian community. It was such a privilege to share in the space of vulnerability that was cultivated with all those who attended. Thanks in part to Abide’s unrivaled, unraveled community, I feel able to see so many footsteps ahead of me in a way I haven’t felt in awhile. I’ve found myself more patient in the waiting, and also inspired to maintain newfound connections.”

Where and when we met: We met from July 31-August 3, 2022 at Big Sky Resort in Montana. Big Sky is 1 hr from the western entrance to Yellowstone National Park and 1 hr from Bozeman, MT.
Who was there: 63 attendees + one high school volunteer. Ages ranged from the teenager to those in their 70s, but mostly 30s and 40s. Attendees came from 13 states and Korea, various Asian ethnic backgrounds, and many different professional journeys. Ten percent of our attendees were from non-Asian backgrounds.
Youth program: Eleven 10-14 year olds went to a camp held in parallel at Yellowstone Alliance Adventure, a Christian camp between Bozeman and Big Sky. They all had a blast.
What we heard and talked about: Confronting the idol of performance, grief and how to grieve, mental health, the enneagram, the roadmap to authenticity, spiritual direction and formation, many personal stories in a poem format, worship in different languages.
For a longer summary of the 2022 Abide Gathering, please click on this link: Summary of Abide 2022.

Speakers and Presenters

Thomas Kim

Thomas has a remarkable story of love, loss, and healing. He and his wife, Evelyn, make their home in the Chicago suburbs. They have one daughter, Mackenzie, who is in heaven, and prior, Thomas raised three teenage foster children. He is the Founder and CEO of Everclean, has an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and a BS in Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Christine Min

Christine Min will lead a workshop applying the Enneagram as a tool for self-awareness and growth. Christine is the founder of Grander View Consulting and lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children. She spent 15 years as a corporate lawyer and is a graduate of UCLA and Georgetown Law School.
James Horne

James will lead a workshop titled the Roadmap to Authenticity. He has over 20 years of experience in the field of counseling and was the clinical director of a nationally renowned trauma center. His passion is helping others identify and be free of the barriers that get in the way of being who they were created to be.
Aisea Taimani

Aisea will lead our group worship experience at the Abide Gathering. He has been crafting worship and musical experiences for over twenty years for audiences around the world. He is married to Elli and lives in the Bay Area.
Andy Chan

Andy will be the emcee at the Abide Gathering. He is the Vice President of Innovation & Career Development at Wake Forest University. Andy has three grown children and lives in Winston-Salem, NC.
Joanne Youn

Growing up on the “merry go round” of the American Dream, where the good life was presented as a series of brass rings to be grasped, Joanne was as surprised as anyone to find that, while satisfaction is easily gained, it is nearly impossible to keep. She had two fulfilling careers at the intersection of international tax and philanthropy before discovering that she had missed the “rest of God”, an intimate portion she had yet to encounter in all her strivings.
Joanne lives just outside of Washington, D.C. with her husband Tom and their three children, and is a graduate of Harvard University and Yale Law School.