Lent Day 0 | Welcome & Thank You

Dear Reader,What started off as a Facebook subthread, sprung into a grassroots Lenten devotional written by a chorus of fifty saints. Our Daily Rice is fiercely Asian and Pacific Islander, American, feminist, queer, and progressive. Where we found no other resource that brought our distinct yet unified identities and beliefs together, we came forth to drink from this stream of living water. My only hope is that the writings of our fellow saints will stimulate your mind towards beauty and wonder, and the face of the divine. I’d like to take a moment before we begin to thank those who have worked behind the scenes of this project and who will otherwise go unnoticed. Their golden fingerprints have molded every curve of this creation. Our Daily Rice exists because they volunteered their time and energies to this labor of love. So, thank you to the designers Jennifer Sushi Au, Jennifer Duann Fultz, and Ellie Yang Camp for your tireless and beautiful work. A special thank you to the wonderful Steven Lee for our logo and for all your illustrations and photos. Thank you to the near dozen artists that have produced such beautiful pieces to share, and to our 33 contributors, for taking the time to stop, listen, and proclaim what the Bible is saying to us today. (Please read their bios at the bottom of each entry!)Thank you to the editors Daniel Seunghyun Cho, Symphony Chau, Henry Sun, Andrew Tai, and Ophelia Hu Kinney for your superpowers of grammatical goodness. To our fearless lead editor, Lydia Shiu, who read and commented on ALL forty entries—you are a force; and to Lydia (again and forever), Stella Won Phelps, and Liz Lin for graciously hosting us on Progressive Asian American Christians.May the voices of API American Christians rise united That we may each day of this new season enjoy our daily rice.

- Charlene Choi