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Dear ACCESS friends and supporters:

What can you buy with about $4? A large Starbucks coffee or a roundtrip on the Boston subway? Did you know it also pays for an hour of instruction for an adult English Speaker of Other Languages (ESOL) student at ACCESS?

Would you prayerfully consider contributing to our new ESOL scholarship program to support an ESOL student for a month ($100), a semester ($400), or even for a full sequence of 5 courses ($2000) for the next 2 years?

Donate now!

It is our hope that students in our ESOL program would not only gain valuable skills, but also experience the love of Christ through the relationships with staff and volunteers, and the support and prayers of donors. To our knowledge, this privately-supported scholarship program would be unique in Chinatown.

Why now?
During this past Easter season, the board of directors, staff, and volunteers of ACCESS have been praying for a new season of ministry. The past year has been difficult economically for many, and ACCESS was no exception. Due to economic pressures, enrollment in our adult English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program dropped significantly in 2008, threatening the viability of the agency. In early April, the ACCESS board met with some staff, volunteers, and founders during a retreat in order to consider the future of the ESOL program and the agency as a whole. The board voted to implement several cost-cutting measures. However, at the same time, we felt strongly encouraged by God to re-commit ourselves to the original vision of ACCESS to be Jesus’ servants in Chinatown. In the words of our Executive Director from ACCESS’s early years:

Do we see what He sees? Are we following His footsteps as the incarnate Christ: being and living among the common people, enjoying their company, sharing their joys and sorrows, healing and ministering to their needs, informing them of God’s love, care and provisions?

Rebirth for the Adult ESOL Program
In faith, the board voted to re-launch the ESOL program this summer, with a renewed commitment to serving adults with the lowest levels of English language proficiency, a new focus on tailoring instruction to meet the needs and interests of the particular students in each class, and new morning and evening class times. Most importantly, we voted to begin a new scholarship program. Until now, our ESOL program has always been fee-based (even though our tuition fee covers less than half of the actual cost). In order to make as many free- and half-fee slots available to the students in the community, all seven members of the current board have already agreed to seed this scholarship program with a total of $20,000 for the period from May 2009 to December 2010, above and beyond their regular support to ACCESS. We are excited to re-launch our ESOL ministry in the Chinatown community in the midst of this economic downturn as a testament to the abundance love and resources of God. Please join us on this faith journey.

With hope and blessings,

Mei Kee Wong
Executive Directory

Cliff Chuang
President, Board of Directors

Learn more or get involved at ACCESS!

Serve on our ESOL Scholarship Selection Committee and hear our ESOL students’ stories. If interested, please email

Read about one ESOL teacher’s experience here.

Watch a video about ACCESS here.

Join our Intercessory Prayer Team. Please email access- with Intercessory Prayer Team in the subject line.

Work with ESOL students. Our new schedule allows for more flexibility for those considering part-time work, including 4-day-a-week morning classes and 3-day-a-week evening classes. If you are interested in teaching or serving as a conversation partner, please contact or call 617-426-1070 and ask for Susanna.

Work with K-5 Enrichment Program students. We are looking for staff and volunteers for our summer program, and always welcome volunteers during the school year. If interested, please contact or call 617-426-1070 and ask for Becky.

Mr. X, a middle-aged new immigrant student started coming to one of our ESOL classes in the fall of 2006. He was very outgoing and came to talk with me before or after class sometimes. He said that he was open to the Gospel and “will go to church and listen more about it when I have time.” He worked long hours as a kitchen helper. I lent him books for seekers that he sometimes took, but he kept telling me that his priority was to learn English first. I also found out that one of his former classmates had come to the US a few years earlier, had become a Christian, and had been urging him to do the same.

At the end of last semester, he came to tell me that he would not be paying tuition for the spring semester, as he needed to visit China for a month. He assured me that he would come back to class upon returning to the states.

I was pondering this and had the urge to pin him down and present the Gospel to him. I actually told my colleagues, “I would not forgive myself if he were to die while in China and I had not presented him an opportunity to commit his life to Jesus.” God created an opportunity. On the last day of class, Mr. X came to ACCESS around 8 a.m., as he had done many times (classes start at 8:30). I grabbed him into a classroom, went over the Gospel message with him and urged him to give his life to Christ, not waiting till he understood everything or had time for church. He told me that he had a college education and had a good job in China, but did not like how they treated the poor. He was glad that his daughters were doing well in high school here. However, he felt that his temper was worse than when he was in China and he needed help. I told him that Jesus cared about him and his family and would help him whenever he asked. He repeated the sinner’s prayer with me before going to dim sum with his classmates. I later found out that his teacher actually asked one of his classmates, who was normally very reliable, to tell him to go to the restaurant directly that morning because the class wanted to take their teacher out for dim-sum. However, he wanted to escort his teacher to the restaurant and so he was at ACCESS early, as usual. That gave me the opportunity to talk with him. Our staff all rejoiced in his salvation; and we were sure that the angels did as well. (Luke 15:7, 10)

Before he left for China, I gave him a small Bible and a group member’s book for evangelistic Bible Study and asked him to self-study. He told me that he “felt very good and very peaceful” after accepting Christ. I encouraged him to talk with Jesus any time he wanted. He really wanted a Chinese-English Bible, and I was going to buy him one upon his return from China.

On 3/10/08, two teachers came to me and said, “Do you remember what you said before bringing Mr. X to the Lord?” I told them, “Of course I remember–that I would not forgive myself if he were to die in China without having a chance to commit his life to Christ.” They told me that another student in a different level told the teacher that Mr. X had died in China of a heart attack. I asked them to confirm this and make sure they were talking about the same man. We found out that it was indeed true. GOD WAS SO GRACIOUS, TO BOTH MR. X AND TO ME!!! He saved Mr. X shortly before the end of his earthly life. He not only allowed me the privilege to play a role in it, but also saved me from the grief of losing a precious opportunity to do so.

Please pray that we would be able to bring his family to Christ in their time of sorrow.

Jesus said, “As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.” (John 9:4) Please pray that we will be alert to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and be faithful to His bidding. —Mei Kee Wong

It takes a lot to give of oneself in service to others. Therefore, it is tempting for those who serve to become boastful to themselves and to others about their service. They feel needed and important. They think that those whom they serve cannot do without them. When in reality, they need the ones they serve more than they are needed.

It is humbling to remember that people survive with or without your help. They will somehow get through their present situation. Newcomers will eventually become seasoned old-timers. Most will overcome or at least get by.

In the spiritual realm, God can use many, or only a few, to accomplish His mission. Those He intends to reach can be reached with or without our involvement; as Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, “Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.” (I Samuel 14:6) Mordecai’s words to Esther bore very similar message: “… if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14) Our opportunity to participate in the work of the Lord is a privilege, not a right or a reflection of our own goodness. Our Lord, who enjoys our fellowship and growth, generously allows us the privilege of being partner with Him in His great work. We do not need any stretch of imagination to know that we are not worthy or indispensable partners.

When we serve, we are often put in situations that challenge us to take a harder look at things about ourselves that we normally assume to know or ignore: our temperament, motivations, care for others and selfishness, strengths and weaknesses, capacities and limitations. We find out how soft and, at the same time, how hardened our hearts can become, and realize that only God’s love can sustain us in our service. We may one day find how much we are willing to give, yet on the next day, how much we are still tightly holding onto. We find out the best and the worst that are within us. Our eyes will be opened to sins and self-centeredness that we never want to admit, and have the opportunity to repent from them. We have opportunities we would not have otherwise to develop our character and skills.

When we serve, we are often exposed to a world that is very different from our own. We become aware of the joys and struggles of other people, and learn to respect the dignity of life and liberty, the strength of the human spirit, and the power of the Gospel among unbelievers as well as in our own lives. We are forced to put faces and feelings to poverty, crime, tragedies, sicknesses and disabilities, and no longer can argue issues solely from an intellectual perspective. We would once in a while be exposed to schemes of people exploiting our service, and become more realistic with our expectations and planning.

Above all, we are forced to our knees: to learn to seek God’s will and strength. We then are allowed the unparalleled privilege of working hand-in-hand with God, to witness the strength in His unwavering love, His almighty power and His providence.

What privilege it is to be allowed into the heart of God, and the sanctuaries of the hearts of men! What opportunity it is to broaden our perspectives about life and the world we live in! What blessing it is to have a deeper understanding of and be cleansed and healed in the innermost parts of our own selves! These are possible only when we serve.

To gain these, we need the people we serve. We need them more than they need us!

Mei Kee Wong

In most of the major metropolitan cities in North America, there are Chinatowns where the Chinese congregate. There they live and work for the most part in old, cramped and dirty buildings, also housing on the street level restaurants, grocery stores, cleaners and bakeries. Any Chinese new to a city will find Chinatown within a short matter of time. For the ones born and raised in America, some grew up there. For others, it is also a place often visited. For Americans and tourists who are interested in other cultures and ethnic gourmets, Chinatowns are a popular destination.

What do we do when we go to Chinatown? “To eat,” of course! “To shop,” “to buy grocery,” “to go to church,” “to go to Chinese movies,” “for a hair cut,” and “to rent Chinese videos.” In short, we go as consumers to obtain services. Most of us who have “made it” in the suburbs drive in. We not only however contribute to the Chinatown economy, we contribute also to air pollution, traffic and parking problems.

God once asked Cain, “Where is your brother?” Cain gave the infamous reply, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Gen. 4:9) Are we? Who are our brothers? When we evangelize, where do we go? Do we go only to our relatives, friends and colleagues who share similar economical fortunes as we, who own a house and two cars? Do we only routinely pass out tracks in Chinatown for our church once a year during the August Moon festival? How much do we really know about our brothers and sisters in Chinatown? Do we know that some of them still will not dare to take the subway or bus system of the city, fearing that they will miss a stop and consequently, will not be able to find their way back home? Do we know that some of them will not go into a department store, even though Downtown Crossing is within walking distance of their home, for fear that they will not be able to find their way out of the store? Do we understand the boredom that teenagers feel, living in cramp quarters? Do we know their struggles, fears, worries, and longings? Do we care? When will we stop being a consumer and start becoming a concerned contributor to Chinatown?

“Oh, but,” you say, “I work in Chinatown; and I have been faithful in my job.” That is good. However, are you faithful to your career only, or are you faithful because you truly care about the welfare of the people living in Chinatown? Being a resident of Chinatown in and of itself also does not automatically open your eyes to the needs of the people either.

There are of course people who have the needs described above, living outside the Chinatown area. The term applies to them as much as to the “real” residents of Chinatown. To different degrees, we are all guilty of not regarding them as brothers and sisters, and neglecting their needs and cries. We have been too busy building our careers, families, churches and even mission committees, and have not been able to see as Jesus sees them. Jesus loves them just as much as He loves us.

I was once sitting in the market place of Chinatown, asking myself, “How would Jesus feel if He were to be sitting here? What would He do?” Then I suddenly realized that indeed He was sitting there! I needed to repent and ask for the love that only Christ can give to fill my heart so that I would be able to become His hand, extended to these people that He so loves.

Jesus Christ Himself came as a man to Galilee and lived among fishermen, tax-collectors and sinners. He was often accused of having too good a time with them. May He accompany us today as we walk through Chinatown among restaurant workers, house-wives, factory workers, store owners and hair stylists. May His love so fill our hearts that we see them as who they really are, people that Jesus is eager to extend His hands to. May we respond to Him, “I know where Chinatown really is!”

Mei Kee Wong
October 1991, amended August 1994