Catalyzing Movements

Reflections from the A3 Global Leaders’ Summit — Kuala Lumpur

There are moments in the life of a movement when you sense God is inviting you to go deeper—not wider.

Our summit in Kuala Lumpur was one of those moments.

What disaster response can teach us about church planting and evangelism

By ROBERT ADAIR

While working on my master’s degree at Wheaton College, I took a course on relief and development. I had previously served in Japan and planned to be involved in church planting upon my return, and honestly I thought the course was irrelevant. I did the work but didn’t pay much attention...

By YERNATHEN, A3 LEADER IN THE MENA REGION

We’ve been sharing the Gospel, and it’s been going great! The Lord has blessed our efforts so much that thousands have come to faith in a short time.

What independent research and alumni feedback reveal about A3’s impact: 

CHANGING THE FEW WHO CHANGE THE MANY

by YOSHIYA HARI
National Director, A3 Japan

FOR MORE THAN FORTY YEARS, A3-JAPAN has walked alongside pastors and Christian leaders across our nation. We have prayed, learned, and labored together for the renewal of the church in one of the most spiritually challenging mission fields in the world.

Changing the Few Who Change the Many: Reflections on the Missiological Summit 2025

A Testimonial Reflection

By DANNY SATHYADASS, A3 ALUMNUS

When I saw Joe Handley’s recent post about the global impact A3 is poised to have, something stirred in me.

Because what I see happening through A3 is not theoretical. It is not branding. It is not institutional expansion. It is something we’ve been living on the ground for years.

When Pastor Meng looks back on his 23 years with A3, one word consistently rises to the surface: relationships. In a nation still marked by the scars of the Khmer Rouge era—when people were taught not to trust even their neighbors—relationships have become the lifeline of the church.

Ceasefire ends the border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia

Cambodia (MNN) — Almost before a conflict really started, the clash between Thailand and Cambodia is over. A ceasefire between the two nations went into effect Monday at midnight.

Hearing From Ken, A3's Founder

It’s a deep joy to introduce this special reflection from Ken, the founder of A3.

by David W. Bennett

WHAT, EXACTLY, IS THE LAUSANNE MOVEMENT?

As it celebrates its 50th anniversary this year and prepares for the Fourth Lausanne Congress, to be held this September in Incheon, South Korea, how has the Lausanne Movement changed since the Third Lausanne Congress, which convened in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2010? What are some of the trends emerging within the movement, and the priorities shaping its direction?

Mission Pastor Nate Aanderud loves the A3 vision 

What a month this has been… Silk and I were in Japan for our annual staff retreat… Then, I got to be with my colleague Pastor Yoshiya Hari for several days in America.

"Come over to Macedonia and help us."

— Acts 16:9

Like the Apostle Paul’s call to Macedonia, A3 recently felt a nudge to work in Europe.

Not long ago, I received an amazing report from one of our Middle East partners… We have been working with them to equip leaders (mostly bi-vocational pastors) to walk deeper with God, grow in Christ-like character, multiply leaders and accelerate mission—usually in very creative ways!

Algeria (MNN) — Government closes churches to stop growth of Christianity.

by Yoshiya Hari
Director, Asian Access Japan

I became a pastor in 2003 and took over a church planted by missionaries. Ever since, I have been blessed to preach the gospel together with missionaries. Since 2011, I have served as the National Director of the mission organization アジアン・アク セス・ジャパン (Asian Access Japan). This has allowed me to collaborate with local churches in various places in Japan by sending missionaries to them.

Viewing A3 Alumni Survey Results

"This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."
John 15:8 

Periodically we try to assess whether we are meeting the mark and being fruitful in our overall ministry thus we try various ways to discern how effective we are. Evaluation is crucial to see if we are on target.

October 8-12, I was honored to be part of The Future of the Gospel Forum, led by the World Evangelical Alliance in Istanbul, Turkiye.

WILL YOU JOIN US?

The last few weeks I traveled throughout the Muslim world. And, as this picture of the Hagia Sophia reminds, the call to prayer goes out 5 times per day. Every time I’m in that part of the world, I have vivid memories of living in Istanbul and traveling throughout the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia as well as Bangladesh and Indonesia. I even heard the call to prayer while in India last week as well.

It warmed my heart being with the A3 alumni in the Philippines recently.

Our Missionaries Have a New Name!

For several years, you’ve become familiar with new ministry streams such as A3.business and Young Professionals. But today, I am excited to announce that our missionaries in Japan have a new descriptive name. They are now calling themselves “Missional Partners”.

We have shared a few brief video clips from our recent session in Jakarta for A3/Indonesia. In this testimonial, Pastor Pangki & his wife Irene shared how A3 has impacted them. Take a look...

The last few days we've posted a few reports from our recent session in Jakarta for A3/Indonesia. Here's another one from Heny about her A3 experience and what she learned at this session...

BY DOUG BIRDSALL

Oyama-sensei was known and respected throughout Japan and across Asia—and beyond—as a brilliant scholar, prolific author, dearly loved pastor, and seminary professor.

“‘Creation care?’ Isn’t that just about planting trees and picking up litter? What’s that got to do with multiplying transformational Christian leaders and churches?”

On this International Women's Day, we celebrate the voices of these valued members of our A3 Community. We are so fortunate to know and work with these tremendous people and many others like them.

This was the most encouraging Japan National Pastors’ Conference I remember in my 14 years with Asian Access.

The theme as set by Pastor Yoshiya Hari, Asian Access/Japan National Director, was “From 2020 to 2030” and Pastor Shinji Takita’s words captured it best:

Today is #GivingTuesday...

GivingTuesday is a global generosity movement, unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world. While GivingTuesday happens every Tuesday, the annual celebration of generosity will happen on November 29, 2022.

Here's what God is doing through A3/Cambodia and alumni...

The 2020 Vision:

Today is #GivingTuesday...

We have weeks for getting deals and for shopping during this Christmas season. But on #GivingTuesday, we have a day set aside for giving back. Together, people are creating a new ritual for our annual calendar. #GivingTuesday is the opening day of the giving season, and every act of generosity counts.

Asian Access is participating in #GivingTuesday to make a difference in our world.

This particular November, I’m overwhelmed with the stories I’ve been hearing...

I was so inspired a few weeks ago visiting my colleague Pastor Hideo Ohashi. He has served faithfully with Asian Access over several decades and his church is a remarkable testament to God’s faithfulness to Japan.

You’ll see him pictured here with his son and grandson: three generations of pastors! What a powerful image of God’s work from one generation to the next.

As Silk and I are saying farewell to our home of the last 4.5 years, we have visited our friends and colleagues in several places. We wish we’d have time to see everyone but the coronavirus has limited our options. One of the places we were able to visit was the sites of the “Hidden Christians” in Japan. By now you have heard of the book and film “Silence” which reveals some of their story. They went through horrendous persecution for their faith and the stories we heard of their resilience, perseverance, and faithfulness despite the awful treatment and their ultimate sacrifice were sobering and inspiring...

Momentum

/mō-ˈmen-təm/ noun
PHYSICS the quantity of motion of a moving body, measured as a product of its mass and velocity.

This month only, the Global Alliance for Church Multiplication is offering their recent plenary sessions available for free. Asian Access president Joe Handley was asked to share a plenary address on night two and you can watch these sessions here...

“If My people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14

Truly this is an unprecedented pandemic throughout the world. This unknown power is affecting politics, education, economic, social, home and mass communications. Peoples are in great fear and uncertainty. On the other hand, God’s peoples are coming together for prayers and united for the bold actions of love. This crisis may turn to breakthrough!

Today is #GivingTuesday...

We have weeks for getting deals and for shopping during this Christmas season. But on #GivingTuesday, we have a day set aside for giving back. Together, people are creating a new ritual for our annual calendar. #GivingTuesday is the opening day of the giving season, and every act of generosity counts. Asian Access is participating in #GivingTuesday to make a difference in Asia. There are several opportunities if you want to invest in our little part of God's Kingdom work in Asia. Projects include...{addthis off}

Pastor BN has a remarkable story you've got to hear... 

This alumni pastor has seen remarkable fruit since graduating from A3...

Pastor Fukuda on Japan's "Vision Festa"

I’m Makoto Fukuda from Grace City Church Tokyo. I’m a church planter as we as a pastor of the church. This year’s Church multiplication Vision Festa was great. I’ve noticed that this Vision Festa had much wider network than the one we had before in Tokyo. I can see increased interests in church planting and church multiplication, and I realized that its work has been spread, deepen, and strengthen. I really saw God has been at his work. Our work of church planting has been in the urban city area, and I saw...{addthis off}

For I will pour out water on the thirsty land And streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring And My blessing on your descendants. – Isa 44:3

Vision Festa: an inspiring gathering of Japanese leaders

Ever since the Japan Evangelism Congress in 2017, Japanese Church leaders have been gathering together seeking to double the percentage of Christians in the country (Lord willing by 2023) and praying for a 10x10 blessing (by 2024) where Japan will receive 10 times the blessings. Vision Festa is where leaders come together to share inspiring reports of what God is doing in Japan and this year we were encouraged once again by countless stories of how God is moving in Japan. Between the sessions, I heard stories of many coming to faith and several baptisms; far more than I am accustomed to hearing living here. Every year I leave inspired with what God is doing but this year felt special. It feels like God is on the move and that we are on the cusp of a breakthrough... {addthis off}

The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. “Therefore pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into the harvest.” – Luke 10:2 Maya Chittry, one of our national directors, recently spoke to a conference in Japan on the topic of intercession. She shared about a group of ladies from her country that regularly gather together for prayer. They often fast and pray for their nation, the communities and families they have, and for other countries. I’ve even experienced them praying for me and my family several times over the years. She talked about how a Buddhist leader in one village who was stridently anti-Christian came down with boils. It just so happened that Maya’s ladies had been praying for that village for six months. When this Buddhist leader was at his wits end in trying to solve the problem, he called the ladies to pray as a last resort and he got healed. Today his whole family are believers in Jesus...{addthis off} 

Not long ago, one of our national directors was sharing about visiting a leading pastor in his nation. He was visiting to see if they could work together toward human rights in the nation. They are a country whose Christian population is constantly scrutinized and often persecuted for their faith. He went not knowing what this well-known pastor might say. In fact, he wasn’t even sure he’d be willing to help because often churches like this one, led by this pastor can become insular focused exclusively on their own congregation. However, this day, the famous pastor said to the Asian Access country director,...{addthis off}

Charya’s bones were crooked, he was missing an eye, he could barely walk. He was spiritually convicted during the A3 session as they talked about the apostle Paul being chief among sinners.

Vision Festa Church Multiplication Conference

The Church in Japan faces a crisis. And Japan’s pastors and church leaders are stepping up to face it head-on. The crisis? Unless the Church begins to grow immediately, it is possible that the Christian community in Japan will literally die out within 30 years. It’s stark evidence that illustrates how difficult it has been for the Gospel to impact the Japanese culture. The encouragement? Leaders in Japan are collaborating to explore new ways to plant and multiplying churches. In October, over 100 leaders from throughout Japan came together at VisionFesta...{addthis off}

Ariunbold has vision like I’ve rarely seen. It’s a God-given vision, passion, and gift mix...

agape love - n. selfless love of one person for another without sexual implications (especially love that is spiritual in nature)

Silk and I enjoyed visiting Pastor Kishinami this week who is noted for planting 33 house chapels in Tohoku following the triple disaster of March 11, 2011. What a wonderful visit with tremendous lessons learned. The key to Pastor Kishinami’s success has been Agape Love! He shared how love, without expecting anything in return (no return on investment), is the key to evangelism and church planting. While we were together, Pastor Kishinami even cut the grass of one of the friends to show his love for the neighbors as a tangible expression of this love. It was fun watching him serve and interact with the people. See the photo of him serving the community! {addthis off} 

I have great news to share on two fronts! First, we are so pleased to report that we have reached our recent match grant goal by raising $177,353. Because of friends like you, the $167,000 match is not only met—it was exceeded by $10,353! Combined with the match that means an additional $344,353 is now available to launch new A2 programs in more Asian countries. We are now capable to do much more...

Good news! We are getting very close to meeting our matching gift—we just need $12,448 more. If you give soon, your gift can still be doubled! Recently I met a mangled, old-looking pastor in one of the small Asian Access training cohorts in Cambodia. Charya’s bones were crooked, he was missing an eye, he could barely walk. Charya (not his real name for security reasons) was convicted during the session as they talked about the apostle Paul being chief among sinners. He later confessed to the director, "I’m worse than that man."