5 Questions with FTE Alumna Jennifer Ikoma-Motzko

Fran Davis-Harris spoke with FTE Alumna Jennifer Ikoma-Motzko about her call and vocational journey. She shared a glimpse of what it was like to be a young, woman of color trying to find her place in the world of Christian ministry. Read on to learn about her journey from swearing off organized religion, to becoming a seminarian and discovering her place in ministry.

1. When and how did you know you were called to ministry?

I tell my call story in two parts—my call to ministry and then to congregational ministry. When I entered into Cornell University (undergraduate institution) I swore off organized religion — Christianity in particular — even though I grew up in a Christian home and actually had a positive experience in my local church. My problem wasn’t with Christ but with people who claimed to follow Christ. I tried to be this solo Christian and I quickly realized I went from being a big fish in a small pond, to being a small fish in an ocean. I needed support.

You might be thinking, “Why am I interviewing this woman?” But, the story changes and it gets better. It was through the unorganized ministry of Cornell University students who had a vibrant faith in Christ that my messy questions were answered. How do I take into account a broken world and the reality that there is supposed to be this God we know through Christ? It seems like something Christians would have neatly packaged answers for, but these Christian students were willing to fully admit that they didn’t have all the answers. Ironically, I ended up getting involved in an organized religion, a campus ministry and in Intervarsity. I also went to the Urbana World Missions Conference.

During the last day of the conference a challenge went out to stand up if you felt called to steward your degree and pursue ministry. Now, I’m a little suspicious of emotional appeals and didn’t want to make a decision off of my heart being pulled. However, something happened and when the challenge went out I started hearing the seats flip up and saw this vision, a physical vision, of students standing up saying, “yes I’ll go wherever God takes me.” That was the moment that God showed me my mission. I wanted to rethink my categories of what it meant to be a person of faith and integrate it into my worldview. That is when I decided to enter into vocational faith.

Fast forward in time and I thought I’d do campus ministry for five years. However, something got into my blood and my five years turned into 11. I realized that this ministry was probably not a short-term thing. I considered going into seminary and getting formalized training. I further applied and went to McCormick Theological Seminary full-time and dropped down to part-time while working with Intervarsity. The initial plan was to get my degree and return to Intervarsity to engage in full-time work. During my degree program I did a church internship at Atwater Presbyterian Church. One communion Sunday, I sat in front where Pastor Kathy held the elements. As the international congregation came forward and shared this meal, she called everyone by his or her name. At that point, something came over me and I started crying. I had never grown up in a church with a pastor that looked like me. I was moved. In that moment I saw not just a woman giving a meal at the coffee break, or doing a ladies tea, but here I finally saw a woman giving Christ’s meal. At that moment, I was called to enter congregational ministry.

2. What is your passion in ministry?

I feel called to invite others to the table and to diversify who is sitting at our tables. This might be the board table during the day, the dining room table during the evening or the communal table during the weekend.

3. Why are you passionate about inviting others to the table and diversifying who is seated there?

Have you ever felt invisible? As an Asian American woman, I have often felt this way in church events where no one on the brochures or with the microphone looked like me in gender, race or both. I am thankful that working in a para-church setting (InterVarsity) has not only provided role models who look like me but also gave me opportunities to exercise leadership and build confidence in my voice. I have benefited from champions who advocated for me and trusted me to take on leadership. Just as others made space for me, I now strive to create platforms for people who are often not invited to speak. This is my calling. I am also committed to exploring how God can use my ethnicity, gender, culture and experiences to be a bridge builder between people and groups who are suspicious of and hostile toward each other or barely even know the other exists.

4. How has being an FTE Alumna made an impact on your ministry?

FTE has been a gift to me. I work for an interdenominational organization, so I have had exposure to people across denominations. But, I was able to experience that ecumenical community first with FTE. FTE carved out the space and gave a diverse group of young people permission to discern their vocations and passions. I was able to dream— really dream— what I was passionate about.

I was also able to engage in a project that helped me to wrestle with some core vocational questions that helped to affirm my calling. One question I wrestled with was, “Do I look like a pastor?” As an Asian American female I was trying to fit into a model that I didn’t have to fit into. I needed to fit into my own category, and because of the support and opportunities from FTE, I went around the country to explore what the context and category of an Asian American female pastor really looks like. I learned that there is not one right answer and I discovered that I do look like a pastor. That is a gift that FTE to gave me.

5. What advice would you offer to those coming behind you who are pursuing ministry?

I think displacement is a powerful tool that gets underutilized. Leaders in ministry could take advantage of displacing themselves in a church and a Christian ministry context outside of something they are familiar with and never leave their city. It is an important, powerful and learning opportunity to experience displacement in multiple contexts with diverse Christian leaders.