BIO
Pastor David Hsu was born in Taipei, Taiwan in 1965, the oldest of three children. After his father passed away, he moved to New York City at age 14 with his mother and siblings, before they moved again to Boston. Hsu’s earliest memory is growing up in church, but it wasn’t until his father’s passing that he began to truly contemplate ideas of death, God, and eternal life. This deepened his relationship to his faith. After graduating from Tufts University with a degree in electrical engineering, Hsu started working as an engineer in Boston, but after a year, decided to pursue seminary in Dallas. He later began to get involved with West Houston Chinese Church (WHCC) and is now Senior Pastor of the church. As one of his efforts to bridge generational gaps within Asian American families, he has initiated a program that encourages adult children to build a deeper connection and understanding with their parents over the course of months, through research and conversation. These efforts culminate in a camp where the adult children and their parents gather and share stories, which is often a deeply moving experience. Hsu lives with his wife and two children in Houston. This interview was conducted as part of an independent project about ways in which Chinese American immigrant parents express love toward their children. Thus, it is not a standard full-length oral history interview, but rather, focuses on Hsu’s experiences raising his two children and perspectives on parenting.