Nathalie Llemos graduated from ArtCenter College of Design studying illustration with a focus on design. She takes great joy in analog processes and working with her hands. She also enjoys home cooked stews, stop motion films, and loves dogs (pugs).
An Exile’s Dream for JusticeTheologian Amos Yong remarked that African Americans have a theology of liberation, and Latinx have a theology of the borderlands. He suggested that Asian Americans have a theology of exile, because of our status as forever foreigners wherever we are.
Drawing Out a PrayerI anxiously fidget as I sit cross-legged on the floor of my church, Ekko. Soft background music is playing to create an ambiance of peace and mindfulness in the room. I begin to indulge in my nasty habit of picking at my brittle nails as my thoughts run rampant with all of the ways this could go wrong.
A Church for the SeamstressesWith a sunshine yellow tracksuit, she was not hard to miss. As her arms rotated in controlled, windmill motions, my grandmother took her place among a dozen other Cantonese seniors at Washington Square Park in San Francisco.
God in the AlleywaysDuring the first planning meeting for InterVarsity’s Chinatown Program, I sat with two other Cantonese American women eating dumplings from small plastic bags. We were sitting in Portsmouth Square, a San Francisco Chinatown landmark filled with Chinese chess tournaments and slow-paced exercise classes.
Lucky Number SevenRuna’s story begins with the number 7. She is the seventh daughter out of seven daughters in her family. A few years later, her younger brother is born, and then a stepbrother joins the fold.
Pride, Shame, and Other States of Being American MY HEART SWELLED with pride as I ran closer to the Marine Corps War Memorial. The sculpture of brave men raising the American flag on Iwo Jima, Japan was too much for my one-sided, American history-infused heart to bear.
In the Image of GodI HAD A STORY in mind, about the time I was in a cast for six weeks. A moment of cockiness, compounded by wet grass from the morning dew, led to a full arm plaster cast for four weeks and a fiberglass cast for another two.
International Relations: An Exchange of LettersHappy 18th birthday! I wish I could celebrate with you — can you believe that it's been an entire decade since I've last seen you?
This Chair is For YouTHE SWEETHEART TABLE is fashioned just the way it was envisioned and the altar is made in eager expectation. Each carefully arranged table setting saves a place for one. Like the air around freshly fallen snow, it’s quiet.
