Asian Camp
The United Methodist Church Asian American Summer Camp, in its 46 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 2019. In its 45 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.
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.
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
2022
Evan Hamada
Evan Hamada is originally from United Japanese Christian Church in Fresno, and while pursuing his undergraduate degree he attended Faith United Methodist Church in Torrance. While at Faith he served as a TGIF leader both in-person and virtually. He most recently served as the interim youth leader at UJCC in the Fall of 2021, into early 2022. He has attended NJAUMC camps as a camper and counselor in the past and directed JHC four years before directing Asian Camp for the first time in 2022. He is a graduate of CSU Long Beach, and recently completed his master’s degree in music performance at the University of Oregon. Evan is currently the Director of Jazz Studies at Clovis High School and Clark Intermediate in Clovis, CA. Serving youth has been his lifelong passion, and he is excited that he can now do it on a full-time basis inside and outside of the church. Evan understands how important it is to see that Asian Camp continues to be an inclusive and loving place for all. In his second year as an Asian Camp director, he is excited to see how God's love continues to flow through all who work to make camp great and through all who attend it.
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Hope Maruyama
Hope grew up attending Faith UMC in Torrance, where she now teaches Sunday school. She attended undergrad at Cal Poly SLO and just recently received her multiple subject teaching credential from CSU Long Beach. Hope has attended both JHC and AC as a camper, counselor, and director. Hope loves that camp is a place where all are welcome to worship, laugh, and experience God’s love together through community.
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.