Missional Parent Sees Success in Very Different Terms from ''Tiger Mom'' Approach

By Joshua Cheng

Even before the Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom arrived in bookstores on January 11, 2011, a prepublication excerpt in the Wall Street Journal (titled “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior”) started the ferocious buzz; the online version has been read more than 1 million times and attracted more than 7,000 comments.

Meanwhile, Chinese communities throughout United States and Canada have been actively discussed both the pros and cons of the Amy Chua, the memoir’s author, parenting approach.

In addition, Christian organizations are making the best of this recent discussion as an opportunity to reach out to the public with the biblical ways of parenting.

Institute for the Study of Asian American Christianity (ISAAC) have invited award-winning author Helen Lee to talk about how to better understand the shortcomings of Chua's "Tiger Mom" approach, and examine how a missional parent sees success in very different terms at Grace Alliance Church in Milpitas, California, on March 19, 2011.

The tentative topics to be discussed are as follows:

-What's wrong with the Tiger Mom approach?

-What success narratives do we embrace in our own parenting, and why?

-what are the major cultural influences that affect our parenting

-How does the missional approach differ from that of typical modern-day parenting?

-How do you create a missional family culture?

-How do you encourage missional living in your children? What are the ramifications of not doing so?

HELEN LEE is an award-winning freelance writer and editor with nearly two decades of experience publishing in the Christian market. She is the co-editor of and contributor to Growing Healthy Asian-American Churches (IVP, 2006) and co-founder of the Best Christian Workplaces Institute, which runs the annual "Best Christian Places to Work" survey. Helen has written numerous articles for publications such as Christianity Today, Today's Christian Woman, re:generation quarterly and Leadership Journal (LJ). In both 2008 and 2009, her articles for LJ earned Higher Goals awards in reporting from the Evangelical Press Association. As a former editor and writer with Christianity Today, she has worked with or interviewed a wide range of evangelical luminaries, such as Michael Card, J.I. Packer, and Chuck Colson. She is married to classical pianist and Moody Bible Institute professor Brian Lee; together they have three young sons (Jason, Sean, and Aidan). Helen is also a homeschooling mom and seeks to provide her sons with a classical Christian education; she and her family reside in Chicagoland.

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