Current Ministry Assignments
In addition to serving on the Board of Directors for A3, Doug is currently serving as the Ambassador-at-Large for our movement and the Honorary Chair for the Lausanne Movement.
Background Info:
Doug Birdsall
Doug and Jeanie Birdsall have served in the global mission of the church for 45 years. In June of 1979, just after graduating from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Boston, they were appointed to serve as missionaries to Japan with A3 – then known as LIFE Ministries, and later as Asian Access. They arrived in Tokyo on January 12, 1980. Stacia Beth, their first child, was born twelve weeks later on the fifth of April.
Japan was the primary home for the Birdsall family throughout the eighties and nineties. During their first four and half year term, Doug and Jeanie were involved in student ministry in Tokyo. Following a year of studies at Harvard during their first home assignment, the Birdsalls returned to Japan to lead a church planting team on the west side of Tokyo. Doug also assumed responsibilities as the director of the missionary staff in Japan in 1985. Judson joined the family on October 4, 1982. Jessamin arrived on March 30, 1987. All three of the children were born in the same room of the Seventh Day Adventist Hospital in Tokyo.
Appointed as President (1991-2007)
In June of 1991, Doug was appointed to serve as the president of the mission. This appointment placed them in Pasadena, California until the summer of 1994. Upon returning to Japan, work was begun to re-organize the ministry to focus primarily on leadership development and church planting. Two years later, the work of the mission began to expand beyond Japan began with the pilot project of A3 in Mongolia.
Doug and Jeanie and their children returned to the States in 1999. At that time, the work of the ministry in Japan was entrusted to Japanese leaders. In the years since 1999, the work of A3 has also been established in China, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Cambodia and Myanmar. Plans are in place for the establishment of leadership training in twelve additional countries across Asia over the course of the next six years.
Other Roles
In 2004, Doug was installed as the Executive Chair of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization. His work to revitalize the movement culminated with the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization: Cape Town 2010. Christianity Today and the Pew Forum reported that gathering of 4200 participants from 198 countries to be “the most representative global gathering Christian leaders in the 2000 year history of the church.” Doug has also served coterminously as the founding Director of the J. Christy Wilson, Jr. Center for World Missions at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. In 2012, Doug was appointed to serve as the President of the American Bible Society in New York City, following which he established, Civilitas: Civil Conversations for the Common Good.
Family
Throughout their years of service with A3, Jeanie has been involved in many dimensions of ministry in Japan and in the States. She has enjoyed teaching the Bible and mentoring women in the communities where they have lived. During her years of raising a family and serving the mission, Jeanie has also earned graduate degrees at Fuller Theological Seminary and at Gordon-Conwell.
The Birdsalls three children, who were raised in Japan, are now young adults. Their eldest, Stacia Birdsall Lee, is a graduate of Princeton, Yale, Columbia, and NYU. She is a professor of nursing at NYU and lives in Manhattan with her husband and three children. Doug and Jeanie’s son, Judd, is a professor of Theology at Georgetown University. He was previously the Founder and Managing Director of the Cambridge Institute on Religion and International Studies at Clare College, Cambridge where he completed his Ph.D. Judd previously served at the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C. He and his wife live in Washington, DC with their twins, Kuyper and Ivy. Their youngest child, Jessamin, graduated from Harvard University and Princeton University. While working on her Ph.D. she worked for the Church of England Urban Fund in London. Jessamin has recently been hired to teach Sociology of Religion at Wheaton College. She and her husband have also recently had their first child.
Jeanie and Doug are both graduates of Wheaton College and Gordon-Conwell Seminary. Jeanie also did a degree in Cross-Cultural Studies at Fuller Seminary. Doug did a degree in Comparative Religion at Harvard, and completed Ph.D. studies at the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies.
The Birdsalls have cherished their years as part of the A3 mission family. They look forward to remaining a part of the community through service on the Board of Directors, and as Ambassador-at-Large for A3. Doug also serves as the Honorary Chair for the Lausanne Movement.
RECENT ARTICLES RELATED TO DOUG & JEANIE
Silk and I were encouraged to attend a recent missions conference at Rolling Hills Covenant Church entitled "Compelled by Love." During this missions celebration weekend, we explored how the most powerful driving force of life, relationships, and missions is... Christ’s love. My predecessor, and current A3 Ambassador-at-Large, Doug Birdsall did a wonderful job as the keynote speaker. Doug shared about our important calling as Christ’s ambassadors and how we are to be compelled, convinced and committed followers of Jesus. We were so inspired by his sharing that we wanted to repost his message here...
Doug Birdsall, former president of A3 and member of the A3 Board of Directors, also serves on the A3 Vision Council—a group of men and women who help to discern God’s “big picture” vision for the movement. Recently, the Vision Council meeting was scheduled back-to-back with our annual Summit, when A3 gathers its national leaders together for spiritual refreshment, vision-casting, and strategic planning. Doug arrived early enough to attend the Summit—and got a very encouraging surprise...
The countdown began, and A3's Jubilee in Jakarta was underway. It was a spectacular beginning with the crowd counting down to the opening session… 10, 9, 8, 7… The international or multi-cultural worship team led by Ian Nagata (lovingly called "Ian and the Multi-Nationals") from Evergreen Church – San Gabriel Valley (near Los Angeles) showcased his new album leading us in worship. Check it out: 
At A3’s fall board retreat, Doug Birdsall shared the powerful story of how the 2020 Vision for Japan emerged. Listening to Doug share is always an inspiration! He spoke about how he was sensing the Lord might be calling him away from the mission of A3—but one night woke up and all he could see and hear was the phrase “Plant Churches… Plant Churches… Plant Churches…” over and over again!
It’s been a tremendous week in Seoul. 30 leaders from an important and strategic country, not named due to security reasons, gathered to prayerfully plan their strategy for a vision God put on their heart leading to 2030. They want to send 20,000 missionaries from their country and plant 2,000 churches outside their country by 2030. Nearly every day...
