From the President

Partnership — a key to move forward in Japan 

God has us moving down an unknown path, and it's going to be exciting to watch it unfold.

To prepare us for the future, the Lord has taken Asian Access through a year and a half discovery process reviewing our vision, mission, strategic goals and DNA.

This question became apparent:

Could our goals be something so big that God is calling us to play a larger role in promoting the vision, mobilizing other allies, and growing the mission force?

What was God saying to us?  Well, our sense is that God wants us to accelerate the advancement toward this cause: "To identify, develop and release emerging kingdom leaders to unite the church, multiply leaders and congregations, and extend the transforming power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ."  

In particular, one of our God-sized goals is our 2020 Vision for Asian Access/Japan:

• To deploy 100 church multiplication teams:
• Who will establish 1,000 reproducing congregations
• Which will enfold 1 million new followers of Christ
• Who will in turn send 1,000 missionaries from Japan to the cities of Asia, that will be home to 1 billion people by the year 2020 AD.

As we have prayed about this goal for Japan, we have begun asking some other questions:

"Could God be speaking to us through the trajectory of our history and heritage, the current global financial and mission realities, and the recent waves of missions endeavors?" We sensed, likely this was true.

As we reviewed our history and heritage, we noted that God launched us 43 years ago with an entrepreneurial spirit that developed several different forms of innovative ministry. Over the years, He has taken us down a path of focusing our efforts to maximize the giftedness and fruitfulness of our ministry. Today our primary thrust is in developing leaders who multiply churches—among the most strategic and fruitful forms of mission for this hour of the Gospel's advance. 

To add to our understanding, we looked at recent waves of mission movements like the AD2000 & Beyond Movement, the Alliance for Saturation Church Planting, World by 2000 (Radio efforts), the Disciple a Whole Nation (DAWN Ministry), the CoMission effort, the Vision 5:9 endeavor, and many other forms of strategic alliances. These examples reaffirmed that partnership is God's desire and plan.

Asian Access has been a leader in partnering with nationals in Asia, but now it was time to 'think outside the organizational box.' Could there be others in the kingdom with a similar vision and calling as us? What if we journeyed together?

We concluded that in order to aggressively pursue our vision and strategic goals, the Lord was leading us to a greater form of partnership. As our A2 community prayed, we sensed that we needed something significantly different to make a quantum leap forward— 100 church multiplication networks launched, 1000 reproducing churches planted, 1,000,000 new followers of Jesus, and 1000 missionaries sent from Japan to the rest of Asia. 

In order to propel us toward a higher trajectory of our 2020 Vision, we sensed God asking us to think well beyond ourselves in order to achieve something greater—more fruit possibly with better stewardship of God's resources.

Next month, I'll be highlighting some of the stewardship issues we have been facing as well. Part of this discovery process, what I referred to above as “the current global financial and mission realities,” was key as well. Our ministry business model needed some retooling given the financial challenges we have been facing for several years. Soon, I'll report more on the 'nuts and bolts' financial pieces that are part of this whole process too.

Thus, Asian Access has begun exploring the formation of a strategic partnership with one of three mission organizations that could lead to a broader alliance toward launching a church multiplication movement for Japan. Under this potential strategic partnership agreement, Asian Access would champion the ministry and vision alongside the partner mission who would become the sending umbrella and engine to deploy more missionaries to help reach our joint vision and goals.

Encouraging to us in this effort is our unique model of partnership with national pastors and churches. The national church in Japan is fully committed to achieving this God-sized vision. They want to work with missionaries, mission organizations, and local churches to see the vision accomplished. Praise God! 

God has entrusted to us a significant vision and an ambitious set of strategic goals. Now we sense He is calling us to a whole new level of kingdom partnership to advance His cause across the most populated continent in His world.

Would you join me in asking God to do something absolutely amazing?

What excites faculty about A2's future...

Many of you have been praying for Gary Parrett and his family in light of the tragic accident that happened prior to our A2 training in Sri Lanka a few weeks ago. Though Gary is still in intensive care in Korea, he may be transported back to Boston soon.  We covet your prayers for him and his wife Holly and daughter Alisa. To keep abreast of his situation, you can follow them on their Caring Bridge website and you can even help the family out by giving to the "Parrett Family Fund" through Gordon-Conwell Seminary.

In Gary's absence, Richard Brohier, Adrian DeVisser and I all shared in the latest session of Asian Access training in Sri Lanka. It was great to see pastors learning from one another and growing together.

In addition, every opportunity I get, I like to ask our faculty why they would donate their time to invest in Asian Access. I did this in this video with Richard Brohier where he shares why he's willing to invest time even though he doesn't get paid to share.

Watch this video and hear the impact that A2 is having and why faculty like Richard are willing to serve.

Why Faculty Volunteer with Asian Access...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbXy_cM5y_0

Pastor Richard Brohier, a faculty member for Asian Access, discusses why he volunteers his time with this movement and what makes him excited about the future of Asian Access.

Richard Brohier, pastor of a church in South Australia and former Youth For Christ and Church Resource Ministries staff member, taught for A2/Sri Lanka this week at the Ape Kedella Farm just an hour or so outside Colombo. He co-taught with Adrian De Visser and me.

P.S. - So, tell me, why are you excited about this movement?  I'd like to hear from you...  

Dear Friends,

On behalf of all of us at Asian Access: "Thank You"! We are so blessed by your prayers, your support and your commitment to develop leaders and launch church multiplication movements across Asia, the neediest region of the world for the Gospel's advance today!

I was in Sri Lanka a few weeks ago and witnessed first-hand the powerful ministry of the Kithu Sevana church planting movement founded by Adrian DeVisser, Asian Access Vice President for Partnership Development. Adrian has challenged us into fresh ways of church planting by establishing transformational holistic ministries that dovetail with evangelism.

In this video, he briefly shares how grateful we are for your support. The fruit of your partnership is helping establish and train pastors in developing holistic church multiplication movements in Sri Lanka and beyond.

At present, Adrian has launched several sustainable farms to take in kids off the streets, refugees from the decades long civil war that ended last year, kids stuck on the streets, abandoned by families, trapped by drugs and prostitution. Now, they are being raised in a stable environment with food, shelter and education. For those who can't go beyond basic education, they have trades schools (seamstress training, farming, carpentry, auto mechanics and a body shop). It's quite remarkable.

Above all this the farms are intended to be self-sustaining - They sell fruits, vegetables, make jams and jellies to sell, raise pigs and chickens - all designed to make some funds to keep the farm operating. It's quite unbelievable to see what the Lord is doing.

Thank you for your support and I hope you enjoy this brief word of thanks from my friend, Adrian.

If you cannot see this embedded video, click here...

New VP position opens in Japan

Asian Access is looking to significantly advance church multiplication over the next ten years in Japan. In order to facilitate our aggressive goals (see the 2020 Vision below), we are seeking a new Vice President for Church Multiplication/Japan.

As we have looked at the spiritual and social needs of Japan (less than 1% of the population following Christ, tremendous social problems – rising suicide rates, latch-key/shut-in children, and disintegrating families), we believe God has called us to expand ministry in Japan.

With this goal in mind, we are seeking to aggressively pursue our mission,“to unite the church, multiply leaders and congregations, and extend the transforming power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

To achieve this end, we aim to:

1. Collaborate broadly with other church multiplication movements in the country.
2. Recruit more Japanese congregations for church multiplication.
3. Send more missionaries committed to church multiplication movements in the country.
4. Encourage the Church as a whole to establish holistic ministries addressing some of the most significant problems in Japanese society (eg. suicide, shut-ins, breakdown of the family, etc.).
   

We are eager to see who the Lord provides to champion the 2020 Vision:

To deploy 100 church multiplication teams:

• Who will establish 1,000 reproducing congregations
• Which will enfold 1 million new followers of Christ
• Who will in turn send 1,000 missionaries from Japan to the cities of Asia,      
• that will be home to 1 billion people by the year 2020 AD.
  

Position Overview

• Title: Vice President for Japan
• Purpose of Job: To lead the A2 Strategic Partnership in Japan to identify, develop and release emerging kingdom leaders.
• Position in Organization: Shall report directly to the President
• Focus: The strategic focus of this role is to inspire, counsel and direct those missionaries who are a part of the A2 Strategic Partnership in Japan toward seeing church multiplication movements launched in Japan; and to collaborate with JCGI Network leadership and other strategic partners or alliances in promoting the vision and mission of Asian Access. 

You can help us:

1. Pray that God would lead us to the right person for this high calling.
2. Recommend people or submitting your name should you meet the requirements listed in the job description (see PDF).
3. Prayerfully consider making a significant gift to help us launch this new effort.

 Job Description: Vice President for Church Multiplication/Japan

Should you be interested in learning more or want to submit a résumé, contact us at info@asianaccess.org.

It’s been a great week here in Sri Lanka with Asian Access. Adrian DeVisser, VP for Partnership Development and National Director for A2/Sri Lanka, taught the sessions along with Pastor Richard Brohier, from Australia, and me.

As you may be aware, we were helping fill in the gaps that occurred due to Dr. Gary Parrett being hospitalized in Korea following a tragic and fatal bus accident in Seoul.

It’s been an incredible week as we’ve watched the Asian Access pastors praying for Gary, his family and for Pastor Kenny Yee’s family. Kenny died as a result of the accident.

Here's a brief video clip of the A2 pastors praying. They did this 2-3 times per day all for Gary and the others. The prayer times lasted anywhere from 20-30 minutes per prayer session.

Thanks for joining us in praying,

Joe Handley

P.S. - If this 24-second video clip below does not show up, please click here... or here...

Dear Praying Friends,

We are deeply saddened by the tragic accident involving Asian Access’ faculty member and country coordinator, Dr. Gary Parrett. Gary was en route to Sri Lanka to teach for the latest Asian Access leadership development session when his bus went over the railing near the airport in Seoul, South Korea.

Gary was accompanied by Pastor Kenny Yee, from Highrock Covenant Church in Arlington, MA, who died along with 12 others in the accident. Gary, professor at Gordon-Conwell Seminary, is currently in critical condition and his wife and daughter will soon accompany him in the hospital in Seoul.

Our prayers go out to their families and churches as well as to the pastors in Sri Lanka who have been deeply touched by Gary’s shepherding, mentoring and teaching.

To fuel your prayers, you can learn more from Gary’s family at this website:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/garyparrett

May the peace of Christ rest on the families and the churches and may His healing touch be upon Gary during these critical hours.

Grace and Peace,

Joe

• Dr. Gary Parrett's bio on Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary website
• Update page: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/garyparrett
• AP video footage from the scene of the accident

What will it take to reach Japan?

As we have looked at the spiritual and social needs of Japan (less than 1% of the population following Christ, tremendous social problems – rising suicide rates, latch-key/shut-in children, and disintegrating families), we believe God has called us to expand ministry in Japan.

With this goal in mind, Asian Access is seeking to aggressively pursue our mission, “to unite the church, multiply leaders and congregations, and extend the transforming power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

To achieve this end, we aim to:

1. Collaborate broadly with other church multiplication movements in the country.
2. Identify more Japanese churches with a vision for Church Multiplication and equip them, so that they may be released to plant new churches.
3. Send more missionaries committed to church multiplication movements in the country.
4. Encourage the Church as a whole to establish holistic ministries addressing some of the most significant problems in Japanese society (eg. suicide, shut-ins, breakdown of the family, etc.).

Over the next few months, we anticipate launching a whole new effort to help us achieve this vision. So, keep following our website and posts (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) for more information...

• AsianAccess.org website
• A2 blog
• Also, you can stay abreast of our updates on these social networking sites:

[Click the button to go directly to the A2 page on each site.]

Finally, keep us in your prayers as we seek to follow the Lord in his desire to see Japan reached for Christ.

I just finished a few days with leaders from all over the world here in Asia for a consultation about the Church in this region.  During the consultation, I was asked to serve on a panel for a “Dialogue on Partnership in Leadership Development.” 

Little did I know that an A2 graduate was in the audience and half way through the discussion, he stood up and said, “Asian Access is the best leadership development ministry I’ve seen in our country! This is because they work through the local churches and local pastors.” 

He went on to share how Asian Access was instrumental in bonding the leading pastors from his city and how they formed a monthly prayer meeting which has truly built a solid community of pastors for the country.  He then told the group how the Asian Access network was key for gathering the 250 delegates that will be attending the historic Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in Cape Town this October www.lausanne.org. 

Later, another key leader for the country (the closing speaker for the conference) re-affirmed the very same ideas.  What a humbling experience... To know that Jesus is using Asian Access in such an instrumental manner.

Lord, may we be your servants, “To see a vibrant community of servant leaders with vision, character and competence leading the church across Asia."

For His Kingdom,

Do you ever feel like your life is too complex? 

Recently, while talking with A2/Mongolia Country Leader Chinzorig Jigjidsuren, I was reminded of the simplicity of following Christ and how that can influence one’s life. In this day and age, we seem to get every form and method of church thrown at us: purpose driven, missional, organic, emerging, simple, etc. All of these have their merits, but sometimes they can be confusing. I have nothing against any of these, but I was impressed with what I learned from Chinzorig in the context of a nomadic culture.

As pastor of Emanuel Fellowship in Ulan Baatar (a large church in Mongolia), Chinzorig is now trying to develop a simpler, more Mongolian form of church. It is more Mongolian because it follows a nomadic lifestyle and involves simply being a spiritual father to his family (discipling them in Jesus) and leading others in his church to do the same.

It’s characteristic of what we are seeing happen across Asia.  We are a community of pastors committed to seeing a disciple-making movement transform the world.

Check out the spotlight below on YouTube to learn more about a simpler life... of following Christ, making disciples, and redeeming a culture.

Chinzorig and his pastoral colleagues' vision for the collective church of Mongolia is compelling and simple: believe in Christ, live in Christ and redeem the culture.  Follow this spotlight with the prayer video for this country.  

May that same prayer be true for each of our countries as well.

For His Kingdom,

Spotlight on Mongolia

Prayer for Mongolia

To see these on our A2 flash player, click on the links below...

• Spotlight on Mongolia
• Prayer for Mongolia

These last few days I’ve had the privilege of sitting with fellow pastors in Asia preparing for an important gathering coming up in March for our ministry. It was an invigorating experience because we spent a good deal of time on our knees praying for God’s direction and waiting on Him to guide us in the coming years. 

Our key focus was and is to strengthen our mission by reinforcing “The Essence of Asian Access”. Core to this essence is our “Love Relationship with God” and we prayed, walked through scripture and spent time reflecting on how we can go deeper in our common bond to develop leaders and multiply churches.

As we reflected on this, David Dayalan, National Director Asian Access/India, shared during our devotion one morning the importance of walking with God from the perspective of Moses and the Children of Israel. Just after their failure and repentance at Mount Sinai, God's people were readying themselves for entry into the Promised Land. Moses knew that without God’s presence, they could not go forward:

Exodus 33:15-17
"Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.  How will anyone know that You are pleased with me and with Your people unless You go with us? What else will distinguish me and Your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” And the LORD said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”

How true this is!  Everything we do in ministry flows from our “Love Relationship with God” and it is through intimately walking with Jesus (John 15:5) that we will bear much fruit.

Pray for us...that as we prayerfully seek "To see a vibrant community of servant leaders with vision, character and competence leading the church across Asia." Pray also that we would all daily come to the presence of our Father in Heaven and walk intimately with our Savior, Jesus Christ. 

May He build a vibrant community of servant leaders “to unite the church, multiply leaders and congregations, and extend the transforming power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ."

For His Kingdom,

Over the last few days, we have been discussing six critical issues from the perspective of the US Church all preparing for this October when we will gather with others from around the world to grapple with the most important issues facing the world.

My predecessor, Doug Birdsall, and an impressive array of leaders are guiding us through this process, and I'm eager to see what emerges as leaders from all over the globe come together this fall.

We spent our days walking through scripture (Eph 1:15-23 and Eph 3:14-21), fellowshipping together and discussing these all-important issues.

You can also take part even if you're not able to be one of the 4000 participants in Cape Town this October. There will be global link sites all over the world where everyone can participate in the discussions. In addition, there is an ongoing global conversation being conducted online over the course of the year. Christianity Today is posting an important article each month this year and we can all contribute our best thinking by responding online.

Here are the 6 core issues that are being discussed:

1. Truth: Bearing Witness to the Truth of Christ in our time
2. Reconciliation: Building the Peace of Christ in our Divided and Broken World
3. World Faiths: Living the Love of Christ with Neighbors of Other Faiths
4. Priorities: Discerning the Will of Christ in our Ongoing Evangelism
5. Integrity: Returning to the Way of Christ in Repentance and Humility
6. Partnership: Partnering in the Body of Christ Toward a new Global Equilibrium

I encourage you to join us in this vital conversation. The first and second Lausanne events in Lausanne (1974) and Manilla (1989) shaped much of Christian thinking for world evangelization and this third historic event promises to be enlightening for the future.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/globalconversation

Pray for this historic gathering. It has significant impact for the coming decades in mission...

Ever since Tuesday, 1/12/10, you may have noticed that I’ve been posting news about my friend, Dan Woolley, a Compassion International staff worker in Haiti who served as a student intern of mine when I worked at Azusa Pacific University.

Dan’s story has captured the hearts of thousands and is an illustration of hope in the midst of catastrophic disaster. If you haven’t heard or seen Dan’s story, you can see part of it here... 

Our vision at Asian Access is “to see a vibrant community of servant leaders with vision, character and competence leading the church across Asia” and it has been encouraging to see the Church rise up in the midst of such devastation in Haiti. While we are committed to Asia, we desire to see this type of servant leadership emerging worldwide as a witness for Christ.

A few of our core values in pursuing this vision are the values of networking, generosity and partnership. To this end, we are part of a larger community of missions committed to reaching the world for Christ by taking the “whole Gospel to the whole world.”

First, we belong to a network of ministries called The Mission Exchange which is working with CrossGlobal-Link to provide a network of resources and information for the disaster in Haiti. To connect with their work, you can learn more at:
http://www.haitihub.org/

Asian Access is also firmly committed to the principle of generosity.  Another accountability network we participate in, the ECFA, has setup a few great links to help out with the relief effort in Haiti. If you’re looking for a ministry to help in this effort, the following links should prove useful. These are ministries that have integrity and are run by solid principles developed by the ECFA: Check out these opportunities...

Pray for the people of Haiti and for the Church as it stands up to provide relief, rebuild lives and extend the transforming power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

For His kingdom,

Asian Access brings paradigm shifts for Mongolian pastor

At the recent Asian Access•Mongolia class 4 graduation, I listened to Pastor Batbold share his appreciation for Asian Access and the impact it is making in his own life and ministry.

Pastor Batbold graduated from class 2 and is now a "working team" member for Asian Access•Mongolia. He is giving back to this movement from which he has benefitted.  And he sees A2 contributing to the Church in Mongolia!

I was so encouraged that I asked him to share again for you to see and hear him.  Not only does Pastor Batbold reflect that he learned Jesus is the source of his ministry, but he also shares about other paradigm shifts toward a kingdom perspective.  He also speaks of the rich fellowship created through the A2 community.

Check out his video clip below (or click here) and be encouraged:

Inspirational... that is how I describe my recent time in Mongolia and another country. I was in Mongolia as a faculty member for the final session of our fourth class of pastors and the outcome was simply inspirational! Many of the twelve graduating pastors developed similar plans as Pastor Sundui (pictured here). Sundui, led by the Lord through the Asian Access program, developed plans to start 500 churches and see 10,000 people come to Christ in the next eight years.

Another graduate, Oyunchimeg (pictured below), developed similar plans and joins numerous other Mongolian pastors in planning to share the gospel and plant churches across the road once devastated by Genghis Khan stretching from Mongolia, China, Central Asia and all the way to Turkey in the west. Their goal is to redeem the areas conquered by Genghis Khan through sharing the love and truth of Jesus.

All together, the Lord led these twelve pastors to develop plans to see hundreds of churches planted in Mongolia and neighboring countries (3 pastors alone plan to plant 500 churches each) and to see tens of thousands of new followers of Jesus (again, those same three pastors desire to see 10,000 new converts from their churches alone). Simply amazing!

Over and above all of this, countries like Mongolia face tremendous social problems: poverty, alcoholism, abortion, children without parents, etc. To answer these challenges, the church stands in the gap. They have set up NGO’s (non-profit agencies) to reach out to these underprivileged in the name of Christ. What a joy to stand beside the church in these efforts as one of our core beliefs at Asian Access is that God raises up the Church to stand in the gap on behalf of the world’s problems and social challenges. This is why we invest in building up church leaders so that the church is well equipped to deal with the challenges in their societies.

After a wonderful graduation ceremony, I was given opportunity to preach in two Sunday services. What a joy to experience these two radically different services. The first was in a Mongolian Ger (our Kazakh friends call this a Yurt) and the second was a service in downtown Ulaan Baatar held in a theater-like atmosphere. The first place felt like a camp meeting and the second felt like a modern rock and roll service. Here’s a picture to give you a feel for the Ger environment.

In another country, I met with more than 22 pastors from all over the region. They all shared what a blessing the ministry has been for them and the common theme was how it strengthened them as church leaders and unified the church in the country. One pastor shared of a church near his province that was facing persecution because they had too many members (over 10,000 people in their network). A few of their leaders were thrown in jail and so we prayed for their release. However, as we prayed, many of the pastors asked that God would bless and encourage the government officials who were persecuting them – that they would be led to the joy of Christ. What an example of Christian leadership: praying for those who persecute you!

I was also able to reconnect with an old friend, Pastor David, who recently went through some challenges in his church. A friend from Rolling Hills Covenant asked if Asian Access could help David and guess what happened? The Asian Access family had already rallied around him and helped him out! One of the A2 graduates welcomed David to join his church movement and today David is so happy to be back in ministry and so are we. David is a faithful witness who has spent time in prison on several occasions for the sake of his witness. One time after I visited his church, the next week the government shut down their home fellowship. Praise the Lord that the seeds he plants don’t die. Even though persecution comes, the word of the Lord will last forever!

One missionary leader recently said of the work there, “If you see anything of significant substance happening here, you need to look at Asian Access. Much of what is happening in the church is directly or indirectly related to the influence of Asian Access ministry.”

Why do we receive such positive praise? I believe it’s because our core focus is rooting ourselves in our “love relationships with God”. Core to our training, more than any other single element, is our commitment to seeing the principle of John 15 lived out in the lives of church leaders: that we would abide in Christ. It is the first of our four essential outcomes in ministry and the one we spend a great deal of time developing. It is only through being connected to the vine that we bear much fruit.

Your prayers and support are helping build momentum for these types of transformational endeavors in Asia. Thank you for your faithful and sacrificial financial support during this challenging economy. As we come into the final few months of the year, we do ask for your prayers and for some special Thanksgiving or Christmas gifts for our family and for Asian Access. Like most missionaries and ministries, we receive 30-40% of our ministry funding during November and December. So, we’d appreciate your prayers for this season and your prayerful consideration of a special gift.

You’re awesome and we so appreciate you!

For His Kingdom,

Joe for the family