Background Information:
Joe celebrates 9 years serving as the president of Asian Access in July 2017. It is an honor and privilege to serve such an incredible community. We see and experience A2 as a family and we love that. There is no greater joy than walking beside such amazing movement leaders "to see a vibrant community of servant leaders leading the Church across Asia… who unite the Church, multiply leaders and congregations, and extend the transforming power of the Gospel."
Family:
Becca, our oldest daughter, is married to Lowell Gutknecht and we couldn’t be prouder of them. Lowell is progressing rapidly in his career and Becca has the most encouraging spirit. Her creativity in all areas of life is such a joy to watch and she has certainly caught the travel bug from her father!
Rachel, our second daughter, is heading into her final year at San Jose State University — a school with a noted reputation in Rachel's field of interest: illustration and animation. And, the big news of this year is that she recently got engaged! Her fiancé hails originally from Viet Nam which gives fuller expression to our experience of Asian culture. We’re delighted to watch their engagement develop!
Our son John is entering his senior year of high school at Christian Academy in Japan. He’s a budding economist with an emerging passion for philosophy and politics. We're exploring university options in the U.S. and U.K. this summer as he tries to discern the best place to learn and grow in this next season of life. We’re proud of him!
Ministry Assignment:
Joe and Silk strive to offer their best for God’s highest “for such a time as this". They trust that the Lord will provide the funding, focus and faith to see the fulfillment of A2’s vision: "To see a vibrant community of servant leaders… leading the Church across Asia…" who are living out our mission, "to unite the church, multiply leaders and congregations, and extend the transforming power of the Gospel."
Words of Wisdom:
This verse has been central to our call these past nine years:
And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. - 2 Timothy 2:2.
Asian Access has this same spirit that the Apostle Paul had for Timothy: in-depth discipleship of pastors and leaders. In the words of our founder: “Our vision is to empower your vision!”
Recent Articles from Joe
Ten years ago, Pastor Paul started a church, and for the past three of those ten, he’s been part of Asian Access in a South Asian country. He’s now planted eight churches from that first church plant but he learned something profound the last few years that will impact his ministry for years to come. As Pastor Paul was sharing his strategy paper, he said: “A relationship without God is like a fish out of water.” Paul was referring to serving as...
Have you ever failed at something? I have. Many times! I believe a key part of life and leadership is navigating, walking through and bouncing back from failure. I’ll never forget not making sports teams as a young person and how I responded to those situations. Those were great learning experiences for me. Later, in other school situations, I didn’t do as well as I had hoped and people told me: “Maybe you should consider a different career.” OUCH! That one hurt. Later still I was being encouraged to try other posts in life and several times I was told “No”. Again, big learning experiences for...
