Asian Camp
The United Methodist Church Asian American Summer Camp, in its 50 year history of empowering and inspirational ministry, has developed a reputation amongst its participants as a family-like community, yielding lifelong relationships and faithful servants of God.
Our Mission Statement
Asian American Summer Camp (AC) is a Christian youth camp sponsored by the National Japanese American United Methodist Caucus (NJAUMC) for all youth entering 10th grade to sophomores in college in the Fall of 2023. In its 49 year history of empowering and inspirational ministry, Asian Camp has developed a reputation amongst it’s participants as a family-like community, yielding lifelong relationships and faithful servants of God.
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The mission of “Asian Camp” is to reach out to youth and young adults in our Asian American churches and communities, in effort to lead them toward a closer relationship with Christ. Through worship, fellowship, prayer, growth groups, community builders, and other outdoor activities, Asian Camp encourages campers, as well as staff, to explore their faiths, reflect on their personal identities, and use their spiritual gifts for God’s glory. With special focus on equipping for the future, Asian Camp seeks to instill pride in each camper’s spiritual, cultural, and ethnic identity.
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A hallmark of Asian Camp that sets it apart from other Christian summer camps is a tradition of creating its own programming, with inclusion of activities that focus on our Asian heritages and social justice issues relevant to today’s youth. With every aspect of programming, Asian Camp aims to foster an atmosphere of love and acceptance, where youth feel secure in their personal identities, but are still challenged to be all that God has created them to be. Within this context, our intent is to create life-affirming experiences that will root Asian Camp participants in understanding of their relationships with God and their identity.
Meet The Directors
2024
James Kuhlmann
James grew up attending Faith United Methodist Church in Torrance. During his childhood, he was able to attend JHC and AC as a camper, and fell in love with his faith and the camp system. After high school, he relocated to San Diego, where he studied at San Diego State University and served as a Greek Intervarsity leader on campus. While earning his degree in Kinesiology (Emphasis in Pre-Physical Therapy), James continued to serve as counselor at Asian Camp. As a first time director, he is ecstatic to be a part of the directing team. James wants to continue to make camp an open, loving space that allows God to move through those in attendance. He recognizes how camp is a unique place where campers are able grow deeper in their relationships with God while understanding how their faith can affect all aspects for their life, and hopes to recreate that same environment that he was able to experience as a camper.
Kai Okamura
Kai was born raised and currently lives in San Diego. During his free time Kai has picked up golf as a hobby. He attended SDSU which is where he met James who invited him to his first camp as a camper in 2018. He has since attended Asian Camp 4 times as a counselor. This is his first year as a director and he is super excited to be taking on a new role in camp. His favorite part about Asian Camp is the loving community and acceptance of everyone for who they are. Kai hopes that this year of camp brings growth and amazing memories that campers can build their life off of.
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Cory Mason Gong
Cory’s home church is Aldersgate United Methodist Church (AUMC) in Palo Alto, California. Previously, he served as an AUMC college-age/young-adult youth leader and currently, he is serving as an AUMC Board Member. Cory is pursuing a Masters in Counseling Psychology at Santa Clara University, with the goal of becoming a licensed marriage-family therapist. Cory enjoyed counseling both JHC and AC in previous years and is excitedly anticipating his first year of directing AC. Cory loves the warmth, positivity, and authenticity that radiates from all who attend camp. Camp is truly a wonderful place to worship, explore, and praise God’s love as one community.