Meet the
Research Team
This project is not possible without the valuable work of our researchers.
Ms. Ikali Heshito Ayemi is a research scholar currently in the Doctoral Research Scholars Program for the fall 2025 semester at Princeton Theological Seminary. She is pursuing her PhD in Biblical Studies – Old Testament at The United Theological Seminary, Bangalore. She hails from the state of Nagaland in Northeast India, but has lived and studied in different parts of the country. She taught at a seminary in India before beginning her doctoral studies. Her academic and research interests focus on feminist and tribal biblical interpretation. She is passionate about interpreting biblical texts in which women are negatively portrayed and about reclaiming marginalised voices.
Joseph Cho is a Master of Theological Studies student at Emory University. Born and bred in the heart of the Orange Curtain, he’s passionate about researching how Asian American Christians can witness authentically in the midst of racial capitalism. Joseph is also a fourth-year admissions consultant, which has taught him that talking down teenagers from SAT spirals is about as pastoral as he ever wants to get. Somehow, he managed to finesse his way through a BA in History at the University of Southern California.
Outside of the classroom, Joseph enjoys writing for Imagine Otherwise, baking lemon basil strawberry cookies, and having late-night conversations with his housemates at the L’Arche Friendship House – sometimes all at once.
Claudia brings a rich background in program coordination, qualitative research, and intercultural leadership. She holds a Master of Arts in Christian Studies from Regent College and a BA in English Literature from the University of British Columbia. Born and raised in Vancouver, Claudia was shaped by parents who filled her life with books, family stories, music, films, and trips to East Asia. As a second-generation Chinese-Canadian,, she carries layered cultural belonging. Her course-based mini-study, Beyond Stories of Migration, affirmed her belief that ongoing storytelling is vital for Asian North Americans to understand themselves, feel connected, and cultivate belonging across generations.
Tohuli Lohe is currently pursuing a Master of Theology (ThM) at Princeton Theological Seminary. She was raised in Nagaland, a state in Northeast India characterized by a Christian majority. Her perspectives have been profoundly shaped by her upbringing in a Christian family, with roots that extend to her great-grandfather, who was a pioneering figure within their community. In addition to her academic pursuits, Lohe has gained valuable experience through her work in church ministry and internships with non-profit organizations. She is deeply committed to the theological development of her community, which possesses a distinct culture, language, and ethnicity that differentiate it from the broader Indian society.
Sean Tsai is an illustrator, writer, and videographer based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He takes special interest in sharing Biblical narratives through modern-parables and common human experiences. Born in Taiwan and raised in Minnesota, his work contains influences from both Eastern and Western cultures. His videography work has helped document and share the stories of elder immigrants who came from Taiwan to Minnesota. Through interviews with the next generation of Asian immigrants and Asian Americans, he desires to further his understanding of Asian American faith and contribute to the larger discourse of faith in the United States. He also enjoys baking cookies and many forms of cooking.
Samuel (Sam) C. Chao is an undergraduate senior studying Psychology and Religion at Emory University. Born and raised in North Potomac, Maryland, a suburban neighborhood in Montgomery County, an area rich with diversity, he has grown to appreciate his Asian American identity and culture. Sam is deeply formed by the Chinese immigrant church he grew up in, Chinese Bible Church of Maryland (CBCM). His research focuses on Chinese American Christians in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries through a lens of race and religion, transpacific studies, and empire. He is currently completing an undergraduate honors project, tentatively titled “The Heathen Gaze: Religion, Race, and Chinese American Christian Voices in the Exclusion Era, 1873-1920.” After graduation, he plans on pursuing a master’s or doctoral degree in religious studies with the aim of pursuing a career in academia. Outside of his work, Sam loves playing basketball and is a staunch Steph Curry fan.
Hope Chun is pursuing a Master of Arts in Religion (MAR, Religion and Music) at Yale Divinity School (‘26), where she is actively involved with Marquand Chapel, the Yale Center for Faith and Culture, the Institute of Sacred Music, and her local church. Hope situates her research interests in pastoral theology, and is most inspired when engaging with topics that draw from her own experience: grief, art, community, the Asian-American experience, and ordinary, lived practices of faith. Hope is originally from Grand Rapids, MI, and holds a BM in Piano Performance and Music History from Wheaton College (‘24).
Outside of school, Hope enjoys building rhythms and challenging them to grow—rhythms of physical exercise, meaningful relationships, fellowship in community, stillness, and prayer. Hope’s favorite place to be is in the company of her family.
Fiel Sahir, LMSW is Community Resourcing Catalyst with the Asian American Christian History Institute (AACHI) housed at Fuller Seminary. He is an Indonesian American licensed social worker of historically multiethnic heritage hailing from New York City where he lives with his wife, a Dominican Nicaraguan American and fellow New Yorker. A multifaceted soul, he holds advanced degrees in Classical Music, Biblical Studies, and Social Work. He is one of the hosts for the Pearl Dive Podcast from AACHI. Sought after as a speaker and preacher, he has spoken in various settings and churches throughout the world.
Since the pandemic he has taken a deep dive into his roots and become the amateur family historian and genealogist of multiple family lines through which he is descended. Fiel is of Javanese, Hakka, Cina Benteng, Peranakan Hokkien and miscellaneous Austronesian descent. He also speaks multiple languages including Indonesian, French, Spanish, German, and Italian.
Sora Woo earned her Ph.D. in Music from University of California, San Diego, where she defended her dissertation in 2025. Supported by the American Association of University Women’s American Fellowship, her research examines the musicking of Korean and Asian American women and the intersections of sound, identity, and culture. She has taught courses on modern Korean music, Western music history, and music in Asian America at UC San Diego. Having immigrated from South Korea as a child and grown up in immigrant churches, Sora is committed to living out her faith in academia, which has shaped her ministry with Graduate Christian Fellowship, part of InterVarsity’s Graduate and Faculty Ministries. As a Research Fellow for the Sacred Values Oral History Project, she seeks to bridge her scholarship with her faith, community, and lived experience. Outside of work, Sora enjoys going to the beach and playing with her niece.
Betsy Sunny, CMP is an independent consultant partnering with multi-site churches and para-church ministries. She was born and raised in New York to a South Indian immigrant parent, an upbringing that shaped her curiosity about spiritual belonging, cultural identity, and the invisible systems that form faith communities. She desires to explore how Asian American and White Evangelical churches embody the Homogeneous Unit Principle and how those dynamics influence congregational wellbeing and pastoral experience. Now based in Chicago, she works with churches and organizations to strengthen their strategies and deepen their formation practices. Outside of consulting and research, she’s an avid Dungeons & Dragons player, feel free to ask about her Paladin.