Stepping off the treadmill
Asian students find a space to focus on faith at Regent College
VANCOUVER, BC—Students in Asia are seeking an escape from hierarchical culture and a space to wrestle and understand their faith. And they’re finding it at Regent College.
One of those students is Norman Tam, who came to Regent in 2013 to escape the “work hard, play hard” lifestyle of an investment banker. His first year out of the grind of work was painful, but fruitful, he says.
“Learning what I’ve learned here, I feel lighter. I used to have so much fear and anxiety about work and life,” Tam says. “I felt so burdened. Now I am knowing God better, and those anxieties are falling away.”
In fact, Regent College’s newly created Hong Kong Foundation is a response to the huge draw the college has in Asia. Last year alone there were 33 countries represented, many from China and Hong Kong.
The foundation will help those in Asia wanting to financially donate to the college, but it is also an affirmation that “what we are doing in Vancouver is global,” says Regent’s director of donor relations, Christie Goode. “The international nature of our college draws students and creates fertile ground for them to come and wrestle with their faith.”
For example, while the Asian culture many students come from is rigidly hierarchical, at Regent they find an opportunity to develop a critical thinking, Goode says.
“Students have told me that their previous theological training didn’t enable them to answer life’s really difficult questions,” Goode says. “In a hierarchical culture and educational system they can’t challenge the teacher or ask hard questions. But after just a semester here they already felt a massive difference, it’s a co-journey with the professor.”
“Stepping off the treadmill of everyday life and having a focused, somewhat cloistered experience for a while can be a beautiful and helpful experience,” Goode adds.
With major donors in Hong Kong as well, Goode explains it was time to put a stake in the sand and cement the long-term relationship.
“We want to acknowledge and build on it,” Goode says.
“Many have given to Regent College so that Regent’s work can flourish both in North America and Asia,” says donor relations officer Karissa Hsueh. “In fact, it could be easily argued that, after Canada and the U.S., Regent’s deepest and most frequent ties are with Hong Kong.”
Regent College worked with the Hong Kong government and legal counsel to set up the foundation.
“It is exciting that such a foundation is in place, because it will allow us to have a base in Hong Kong that will facilitate Regent work in that area,” says Regent College president Rod Wilson. “It will also allow those who have wanted to give financially to Regent to do that within Hong Kong and be able to receive appropriate tax benefits.”
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