Worship Resources for Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month

This blog post features worship resources based on Psalm 139 which declares that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” In a time when Asian diaspora communities are being attacked and hated, the affirming and healing message of this psalm is much needed. The resources below could be used throughout the year and especially during Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month (AAPIHM) in May. Also note that while the authors of these resources are East Asian American women, the resources speak to and can be adapted for a variety of AAPI histories and communities.

Psalm 139 Litany – Julie Tai

This litany (beginning at 12:12) is a creative adaptation of Psalm 139 and incorporates stories of Asian American history. Email julietai@fuller.edu for usage permissions.

“Psalm 139” – Gloria Fanchiang

My setting of Psalm 139 is an anthem of praise that affirms us as God’s fearfully made and beloved people. Growing up I struggled with low self-esteem and carried a lot of shame about who I was, but I found comfort and healing in this psalm. And the psalm text continues to strengthen me in the face of relentless anti-Asian violence. Email glofanmusic@gmail.com for music charts and permissions.

“Fearfully, Wonderfully” by Erina Kim-Eubanks

Please report usage of the poem below to erina@bethelcommunitysl.org.

The Poet says
“I praise you
because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Your works are wonderful
I know that full well.”

Yet the gifts of being Asian AND American in these lands
we have rarely known.

Buried beneath the weight of Yellow Peril
Model Minority
Exotic
and Oriental

Hidden behind the labels of “other”
“foreigner” and “stranger”
we have felt fear more than wonder
exclusion more than embrace.

But to acknowledge your works
in us
is to acknowledge
that you are a good Creator;

To celebrate the gifts we carry
is to remember
You are a generous Giver.

So today, we choose praise.

We praise you for ancestors who carried tears in their eyes,
hopes in their hearts, and memories in their bags,
names, stories, and faces in their minds.

We praise you for these sojourners
leaving behind revolutions and genocides,
families lost in mushroom clouds
lands destroyed from colonization
homes ravaged by wars they did not start,
names too demanding for the white man’s tongue

We praise you for the work of their hands-
diplomas that weren’t valued here
songs and poems lost to thick accents
sweat unseen and poured out
on railroads and farms, laundromats and factories
lives given up for family and country.

I praise you for our resistance leaders
marching for just immigration laws,
fair labor practices,
freedom from internment,
protection from hate and violence,
dreaming of Civil rights for all

I praise you for the unseen expressions of love-
bellies filled up,
fruit cut after meals,
bills paid in secret,
for intuition and indirect communication,
for never having to be asked.

I praise you for theologies of han and jeong
for scripture read with the eyes of the exiled
for God as Creator, as Mother, as Master,
for Jesus, the One from a liminal place,
for deep understandings of honor and shame.

I praise you for communion performed with roti
hymns uttered in mother tongues
after-church fellowship over jook and sinigang
early morning prayer before the crack of dawn.

I praise you for churches that were language schools,
welcome centers, culture preservers,
for dining tables transformed into remnants of home.

For every gift-
both seen and unseen
valued and dismissed
named and silenced-

We praise you.

We are fearfully
Wonderfully
Made.

Bonus Resources
  • Click here for more AAPIHM prayers, litanies and other resources by Erina Kim-Eubanks.
  • Click here to watch Fuller Theological Seminary’s chapel services for AAPIHM from past years. Email julietai@fuller.edu for usage permissions.



2 thoughts on Worship Resources for Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month

  1. Hi,

    I want to let you know that I will use your poem to lead a moment for my educational meeting on March 18, 2022.
    Thank you for your outstanding work to be a great resource.

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