Planting Multiplying Churches

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.

This has been an extraordinary year in the life of the Church of Asia. Every day, we hear of political tensions, natural disasters and religious intolerance. But in the midst of disturbing news, the church of Jesus Christ is on the move. And you can help to move the spiritual needle in Japan! My predecessor Doug Birdsall recently reminded me of how the 2020 Vision for Japan came to be. Back in 1986, Doug was sensing the Lord might be...

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. But before I get to his story in the next paragraph, I want to share some good news—the largest match challenge in Asian Access’ history is still not over. So your gift or pledge at this time can still be doubled!  Now, back to Charya… 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.” You see, Charya was a commander...

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}

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.

Pastor Ariunbold of Mongolia expanded his vision tremendously through A3...

Changing the few who change the many.

A3 nurtures intentional learning communities to build and sustain Christ's leaders around the world. We are a leader development group that accelerates the capacity of leaders. We equip and unify leaders through a deep learning community, so they experience change from the inside out and hopefully make a significant Kingdom impact.

What does it mean to change the few who change the many?

A3 intentionally focuses on a small number of proven leaders with potential, providing a transformation process that then releases them to change the many. You might ask, "What is a small number of leaders?" A3 creates cohorts of 12-15 leaders, not 25 or 250. Some leader development programs, in an effort to have big results, do offer training for larger groups of leaders. But to us, small is big; less is more...

Japan (MNN) — If you’re going to dream, dream big. That’s what Asian Access is doing with their 2020 Vision campaign: a million new believers, a thousand new churches and missionaries in Japan in five years. Impossible? Not in God’s economy. In fact, President Joe Handley says God is moving, and it’s possible they could EXCEED the goal. A partner...

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} 

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...

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

The new year is a natural time for deeper reflection setting ambitious goals. Here are some thoughts I've been mulling over. As the year began, I was reminded of something Nehemiah said when he was nearing completion of his building project, the wall around Jerusalem—clearly a work God had called him to. In chapter six, two men, who were feeling threatened by Nehemiah's success, requested he come to a meeting. But he saw through their invitation and instead replied, "I am about a great work and will not come down" (v. 3). My husband, Mike, and I...

Japan (MNN) -- It's not easy reaching the Japanese for Christ. According to Asian Access, Japan has some of the toughest spiritual ground around. But that was before the triple disaster of 2011. Now, hearts have been softened and many are ready to hear the Good News of Jesus. In order to reach them, Asian Access is investing a half-million dollars...

When I joined Asian Access just over 9 years ago, one of the motivating factors was their focus and success in reaching the unreached people groups of the world. That’s why I so enjoyed spending time with a colleague in one of our sessions recently in a country that must remain unnamed due to security concerns. My colleague wrote this follow up report that so encouraged me. I trust it’ll encourage you as well:

“One of the most exciting things for me about the pastors in these two classes is the dedication that they show toward...

This post is a compilation of wisdom from church multipliers all over the world. It appears in a book I was invited to contribute a case study from Japan for church planters. Once again, it proves the wisdom/value of being a God cooperator relying on the sometimes serendipitous grace of God. As you read these numbered points, which ones do you resonate with? Best Practices of Successful Church Multipliers...

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:

An Effective Model to Build a Movement

A3 has developed a proven model in Japan to help launch a church multiplication movement across that nation.

Link Between Leader Development and Church Multiplication

A3 starts with developing leaders. Why? We foster a vision for church multiplication as we develop pastors in the context of a learning community. Over the two-year in-service leadership development sessions within regional training networks, pastors begin to see the need to be church multipliers. Often they come into our program with a mega-church vision, but they graduate with a multi-church vision...

The 2020 Vision:

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

A2 launches a strategic partnership with SIM USA to bolster the work in Japan

The last few years, many of you know, that Asian Access has been exploring a strategic partnership to strengthen our ministry base, leverage our resources and catalyze a fresh move of God in Japan. If you are new to our journey, you can learn more from the partnership...

The church in Mongolia is growing rapidly, mostly due to church planting. When I arrived in 2000, the pastors were a divided and competitive lot. Each was hoping to build a mega-church. My first trip was a tug-of-war for four out of five days. Out of 25 pastors, three were former Soviet Army officers. Two of them loved communism while the other hated it. The real struggle, though, was against level 3 megachurches. Everyone in the room clamored to pastor the largest church in the nation. After four days of arguing, they finally got the message about making disciples and multiplying churches. Every pastor in that group planted multiple churches in the next 12 months...

Church Multiplication in Japan Made Easier

Rev. Jiro Chida, leader of the Church Multiplication project Asian Access initiated in Yamagata, Japan was in a network with four other Japanese pastors. Each pastor intended to multiply his own congregation. Midway through the three year project, he pronounced to his fellow colleagues... "Mitsu no kyokai ga areba, kantan ni dekiru!...

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}

Great news! The matching gift from the The Maclellan Foundation, Inc. has been extended to December 31, 2013. This campaign is targeted for church multiplication and leadership development in Japan. Every dollar designated toward this effort will be matched dollar for dollar if it is received before December 31, 2013. Please click here to double your gift.

When fully matched, The Maclellan Foundation, Inc. grant will become $400,000, which will give Asian Access the resources to...

Last week I had the privilege of visiting Pastor Youngsan Cho, a Korean missionary serving with Asian Access partner church Hongodai from Yokohama appointed to Ishinomaki. He’s the pastor I’ve been sharing about leading the Ochako “Tea” House in Ishinomaki. We’ve posted a few stories about him. This visit was quite profound for me. Cho sensei, as we call him, was his normal ebullient self. He’s the most optimistic joyful Korean missionary I’ve ever met. I love being around him!

What do we want to see as the result of our work in the life and ministry of each participant?

Asian Access seeks the following outcomes of our work in the life and ministry of every participant.  We feel we're successful if the pastor is...

1. Living in a love relationship with God.

Effective ministry flows from our relationship with God—from the inside out. After 10-15 years in ministry, leaders can begin to lose their connection to the Lord—relying more on their strengths and experience. This brings trouble and weakens the impact of their ministry.  In contrast, leaders who continue to deepen their love of God are transformed and can bring powerful change to their sphere of influence.

2. Growing as a Christ-like leader.

Effective leaders who abide with Jesus, lead more and more like Jesus. Flowing out of transformed hearts, they exhibit fruits of the Spirit and grow in Christlikeness. If leaders are not growing in Christlikeness, ministry can get off track and they are more susceptible to spiritual plateau and abuse of power.

3. Reproducing disciple-making leaders.

Fruitful leaders say, “Follow me as I follow Jesus”. They live out that truth by reproducing themselves in others and equipping those new disciples to follow their example to make more disciples. This is the heart of the Great Commission to make disciples who not only follow Jesus but also make more disciples.

4. Catalyzing Christ-centered movements.

Fruitful leaders build kingdom movements to expand the reach of their ministries. Starting new witnessing communities for spiritual growth, outreach, and multiplication gives more people access to Christ’s life-changing power. Catalyzing movements advance the kingdom and bring momentum that transform people, families, cities, and countries.

The fifth unspoken outcome of launching a church multiplication movement is entirely up to God. Yet, with His blessing, the first four outcomes can actually result from specific steps Asian Access takes. In other words, there are practical things we can do in structuring our program in order to help achieve these outcomes.

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OUR ESSENCE | Outcomes | Leader Development Model | Sustainability

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Cambodia (MNN) -- In Cambodia, streams of grace are replacing Pol Pot's killing fields. Asian Access is teaching believers like Meng Aun Hour how to share their faith. "Cambodia is really open for the Gospel of Jesus. We can go out and preach the Gospel, do church planting." As a result, Cambodians are coming to Christ in droves. One of them used...

A3 seeks to multiply leaders and congregations. More leaders plant more churches—hopefully churches that plant churches that plant churches. Help A3 train leaders with an emphasis on multiplying reproducible churches.

The last few weeks, I have been powerfully struck by hearing several amazing stories of what God is doing across Asia through leader development alumni of Asian Access. As you have heard, the triple disaster that hit Japan two years ago brought about a spiritual hunger like I have never seen before there.

I have heard many firsthand stories from Japanese people who have had dreams and visions about Jesus—similar to the Muslim world. People are coming to Christ in handfuls because of their spiritual searching. Often God leads them to talk with pastors and missionaries in surprising and miraculous ways.

Let me tell you about Pastor Ichio Kishinami, an alumnus of A2’s leader development program...

Mary Jo Wilson shares why she is proud that A3 applies its four outcomes to women leaders...

“I don’t see a lot about ‘Church Planting’ mentioned in the Bible. Do you?”

An interesting question, given that it was being asked to a room full of church-planting pastors. Takeshi Takazawa was leading this group of pastors from throughout South India in the sixth of the eight training times they will spend together over a two-year period. They are the latest group in a series of cohorts Asian Access is conducting in India under the leadership of A2 National Director David Dayalan.

The pastors looked quizzically at Takeshi...

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...

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

Listening to A3 alumni in this country share how their ministry is doing...

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}

At Asian Access’ 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 Asian Access—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!

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."

“The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” - Matthew 13:31-32 Pastor T from a restricted access and persecuted country recently shared in Japan a concept behind a key principle of Asian Access: Small is Big! He shared that he learned in bible school and seminary (bachelors degree to doctorate) to have a huge megachurch from schools in India, Korea and America. However, his world was turned upside down when he attended Asian Access leader development...

Asian Access utilizes an interwoven curriculum that focuses on fourteen strategic areas of leadership and church health. These strategic areas are covered in a variety of ways depending on the needs and situation of the participants and on the availability of faculty.

There are four categories covered:

1. Developing the Leader
2. Reproducing Other Leaders
3. Multiplying Churches
4. Expanding the Kingdom...

One of the principles in Asian Access is that healthy churches grow. It’s why we spend so much time investing in key leaders’ personal walk with God and their growth in him. Because, when we are deeply embedded with Christ, we are naturally very fruitful. Many of those leaders were on display in Tohoku (Northeast Japan) for a few days at Vision Festa, a gathering of pastors, missionaries and NGO leaders coming together to share God’s vision for Japan. I was deeply touched by them and many pictured in these photos are key partners of Asian Access/Japan. They shared about Strawberry Patch Evangelism. That even small little strawberry plants are quick to reproduce because they shoot stems into the soil nearby and next thing you know you have an entire patch. And, they shared about Pomegranate church planting where a single fruit has hundreds of seeds to spread around and start new fellowships...

During this holiday season... Joe Handley thanks friends of Asian Access who have generously supported the ministry with their prayers and ongoing financial gifts. Thank you to those who have contributed to the current matching gift challenge for Japan. Asian Access has until December 31 to match a $200,000 challenge gift...

Recently I met with a Japanese Christian leader to catch up on each other’s lives, to discuss the challenges of the spread of the gospel in this nation, and to dream a bit about how to build upon the many partnerships that have been developing between Christian groups in Japan. During our conversation, he surprised me with an unexpected  comment: “The leaders of the church community in Japan need to come from outside the church community!”

“What do you mean?” I asked...

Not long ago, one of my doctoral committee members suggested that the core of my dissertation research was very much in line with some new thinking related to the concept of the Medici Effect. You can learn more about this through Frans Johansson’s book of the same title linked above. Wikipedia describes this approach as:

“In the book, Johansson argues that innovation comes from diverse industries, cultures, and disciplines when they all intersect, bringing ideas from one field into another. He also recommends assembling diverse... 

“Why do we so often exaggerate our ministry ‘results’?  And why do we so often hear about pastors mishandling finances?”  Pastor Bobby Cherian put these questions to a group of pastors from North India.  They were together for the sixth of their eight gatherings as part of Asian Access’ North Indian 2012-13 cohort.

These are tough questions. I’ve heard them asked before in India, but usually as a private aside, in a low voice, with averted eyes. Yet Bobby put these questions straight to the group in a discussion regarding the role of integrity in the ministry of...

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}

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

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.

“‘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?”