AACF Story

The ministry of AACF, Asian American Christian Fellowship, began with a group of college students who attended the JEMS Mount Hermon summer conference. Inspired by the fellowship they experienced, they longed to extend it beyond the summer.

In 1972, that desire took shape at CSU Los Angeles, where the first Bible study was held. A small group of college students gathered on campus, and soon, more Bible studies emerged across the West Coast of America. Groups sprang up at UCLA, UC Berkeley, UW Seattle, CSULB, San Jose State, and Stanford. By 1977, these gatherings officially became known as Asian American Christian Fellowship. At that time, AACF leadership recognized a gap in ministry for college-aged Asian Americans, sparking a mission to reach college campuses with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ and to raise up the next generation of Christian leaders. Today, in 2025, AACF has 13 chapters, engaging nearly 500 students who, in turn, are impacting thousands of college students and faculty.

What sets AACF apart as a campus ministry is its emphasis on student ownership and initiative. Our ministry empowers, educates, and equips students for service and witness wherever God calls them. Students are challenged to cast vision, plan events, set budgets, create succession plans, teach Scripture, share the Gospel in their communities, and more. They are supported by campus ministers—both fundraised and volunteer—who serve as mentors, counselors, and consultants to the students while serving as missionaries to the broader campus. Together, students and staff, empowered by the Holy Spirit, have built AACF’s legacy of reaching college campuses and developing Christian leaders.

In 1985, AACF held its first leadership training conference, designed to formalize the leadership development occurring through staff-student discipleship. This event has since become an annual conference (LTC - Leadership Training Conference), continuing to prepare the next generation of Christian leaders.

Here is a testimony from Victor Quon (pictured with #17 black jersey, currently serving in AACF) about the first AACF Leadership Training Conference:

There are times when we get ourselves involved in something of historical significance and kingdom impact and not realize it until later in life. Such was the case when I was asked to participate in the 1985 AACF Leadership Training Conference (LTC). At the time, I only had a surface-level understanding of campus ministry. I was the Christian Education & Youth Director at my church in San Diego. As part of my job, I took on a volunteer role with the AACF group at UC San Diego. I was simply looking for a way to interact with college students. When then AACF Executive Director Rich Hong led the staff in putting together a leadership training conference, they asked me if I would like to participate. I would like to say that I agreed to this offer out of obedience to God. But it was more along the lines of not having anything else to do, so I decided to go. My memories of the first LTC are taking the group picture, inventing the selfie (which I can explain on another occasion), participating in a group game that demonstrated the plight of economically impoverished people groups and leading a workshop on How to Study the Bible.

After the conference was over, I drove home and continued on with my life. But over the years, I have come to see the significance of LTC. Once, in a conversation with former AACF Executive Director, Tommy Dyo, he called the conference The Crown Jewel of AACF. But after thinking about it, I had to agree. It is the one week of the year in which our ministry is shaped. Students are trained to lead and serve other students. When I meet alumni who once attended LTC, they will often say that they were first exposed to the use of ministry skills at the conference that they still use today. Jason Lowe, a graduate of San Jose State once told me that LTC changed his life.

There were about 35 students and staff at that first LTC. None of us could have imagined the foundation that was being laid that week. Relationships were created, experiences were shared and gifting for the expansion of God’s kingdom were being discovered. Yeah, it was indeed a week of historical precedence.

And by God’s grace, we continue to faithfully fulfill our mission on college campuses today.