It started in the Fall of 1977. Four of us, Cindy (Harris) Akiyama, Gary Kato, and Mike Nelson, and myself began the group. The first administrative thing we had to do was to become an official group to the University through the Campus Programs Office. After doing that we were able to obtain meeting rooms. Nearly all of us attended Peninsula Free Methodist church at the time, pastored by Jon Honda, now currently pastored by David Hino. We were later joined by Wake and Pearl Louis (brother and sister) and Steve Lee and a young Charles Lee. Several of the members were residents of the Junipero Serra Asian Theme House, now known as Okada House.
I was with the group until January of 1980 when I finished my graduate work and returned to Southern California. Throughout the time that I was there, the AACF group remained small. We would put announcements wherever we could (e.g., the Stanford Daily) but we think that because Stanford drew from some many diverse places geographically, that the Asian Americans on campus didn't identify with their Asianness and could not identify with our group...We think...
I don't remember much of the meetings anymore, but they were not very elaborate. With a handful of members, it was probably bible study, sharing, prayer, and singing. I played guitar at the time and probably helped lead the songs.
Things that happened on campus during that time:
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