Asian Access | Ministry Focus | Leader Development

Home :: MINISTRY FOCUS >> Leader Development

Session whiteboard in Cambodia

	The Need for Leaders

Currently, in North America, it is estimated that there is one trained and competent Christian leader for every 1,300 people.

In Asia, that ratio is 1:600,000.

	A Strategic Focus...

"The pastors of Asia are at the front line of gospel advance, and Asian Access backs them up with encouragement and instruction. Investing in these pastors is as valuable as the pastorate is. As the pastors go, so go the churches. As the churches go, so goes a whole generation.

Asian Access is gently, wisely empowering the pastors of Asia with maximum impact for this generation and the next. My week there was one of the best investments I've ever made. What a privilege!"

Dr. Raymond Ortlund, Jr.

Pastor & Author

Nashville, TN

Leader Development

	Balanced Model

"Asian Access is a strategic outreach with a far-reaching vision
for the future. Their model
of training leaders while sharing
God's Word is one of the best
I've ever seen."

Steve Hayner

Steve Hayner
Former President,

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship

The Work of Developing Pastors

Asian Access' work of leadership training has been recognized as one of the most creative and fruitful leadership training programs in Asia. The key to its effectiveness is the careful selection of twelve emerging leaders.* These leaders are then invited to be a part of a class that meets four times a year for a week at a time over a two-year period. When the twelve meet together, they are working through an established curriculum that accelerates their growth as spiritual leaders, as well as organizational leaders. At their training sessions, they are resourced by leaders in and outside their country.

In the course of the training, the leaders are able to become more aware of their distinct strengths individually, as well as the unique giftedness of their congregations. They are also given the skills to determine more precisely the needs of the communities and the context in which they live and minister. Upon that knowledge, they then develop skills to equip their congregation for effective service. Following that they articulate their long-term vision and then begin to develop strategies for growth and multiplication.

The training program in Japan, for example, now uses a curriculum that has been developed entirely by Japanese, for Japanese, in Japanese. Each country is working on contextualizing the curriculum and the process for developing its own pastors.

Expansion to Other Asian Countries

As word about this work in Japan spread across Asia in the 1990s, interest grew. Asian Access began to explore how to help leaders in other places in Asia. Mongolia was the first country to indicate interest in adapting the Asian Access/Japan model to their context. The first class in Mongolia graduated in October 2001.

Currently in Nine... with a Vision for Twenty

Over time, other countries were added, as leaders approached Asian Access for help in launching our program in new places. Currently, Asian Access has established leader development programs in nine countries, with an ambitious vision for establishing work in 20 countries across Asia over the next few years.

* Countries may differ slightly in class size, but usually there are no fewer than 12 pastors in a class, but no more than 20.