Asians find spiritual home

They huddled together in the quiet of their homes, the three of them searching for support and spirituality for themselves and others. In doing so, the Rev. Timothy Chao, Helen Lin and Eleanor Pang were purposefully planting a seed that would one day grow into the Truelight Lutheran Christian Church.

"They began with the purpose of reaching Chinese immigrants in the early '90s when many of them came to the area from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan," said the Rev. Lit Inn Wu, pastor of the Truelight Lutheran Christian Church. "Their mission was to reach out to them and to share the story of the Bible and the message of Jesus. They also helped them adjust to the new land."

Debbie Chang, her three children, and her mother-in-law, Achun Chang, were inspired by the church when they arrived in America in 2004. Not fluent in the language and unaccustomed to the culture, they found that Truelight played a pivotal role in their adjustment.

"They take care of many things and help me with problems," said Debbie Chang. "Here, we don't know many things so the church takes care of us."

However, aid with everyday living is not the only staple the church provides to the Changs. Although they were Buddhist in Taiwan, they have embraced the Lutheran religion in America.

"I will translate for my mother-in-law. She says, usually she feels God in church. She says when we believed in Buddha, we were told not to do bad things. But when she reads the Bible every day, she learns many new things," Chang said.

From 1990 to 1996, the mission continued until the tiny group transformed into 60 people. Not having the resources to build a church, they originally gathered at the First Trinity Lutheran Church in Elgin for about a year. They later moved to the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Schaumburg for about 10 years until the Truelight Lutheran Christian Church relocated to its current location in Streamwood in 2001.

"There is a heavy population of Chinese in Schaumburg, so we wanted to be there," said Wu. "But this building was available in Streamwood and that is right next to Schaumburg, so it worked."

The Truelight Lutheran Christian Church is officially a mission of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. ELCA is the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States.

"We are a mainstream Christian church," Wu said. "We believe Jesus became man like the Christmas story. He came to earth, died on the cross and gave life to the people in the world."

Today, the congregation has about 150 members with an average weekly service attendance of 100. In addition to its Chinese worship, an English service has been added.

"We've added the English service for many reasons," said Wu. "First, after the immigrant generation settled and had children, we now have a younger generation that is more comfortable with English. Another reason is that in the present day many English-speaking people have adopted children from overseas. They want their adopted child to have some contact with their culture of origin. We are intent in going beyond just a Chinese-speaking church and being open to all in the community."

To that end, Truelight has hired an English ministry director to move the program forward. Additionally, the church has become involved in the Streamwood community overall, participating in parades and cultural events to get the word out.

Frank Si of Schaumburg is happy to see the inclusion of English in his religious surroundings. When he arrived from China at the age of 15, such was not the case.

"The Korean population is larger than the Chinese but when I brought my Korean friends to the Chinese service, they didn't know what the heck they were talking about," said the 22-year-old, who attends the University of Illinois at Chicago. "Now I can bring my Korean, African-American and Caucasian friends to church because they can understand. It's a huge benefit for them and for the community."

Si said the church overall, whether a Chinese or English service, has made a huge difference in his life.

"The church," he said, "and its spiritual life teachings have got me through some rough times."

If you go

What: Truelight Lutheran Christian Church, a Chinese-speaking congregation that is working more English into its services

Where: 1220 E. Irving Park Road, Streamwood

Mass schedule: 9:30 a.m. Chinese service; 11:30 a.m. English service

Call: (630) 233-0214 or visit www.tllcc.org