“I’m bullish on A3 for 2017!”
This is precisely what I told our Japan board just a few weeks ago.
Hope is Rising
Traveling around Japan the last few months have been nothing short of inspiring. God is doing something new and it’s exciting to live in Japan during this unique moment of opportunity. For a tiny glimpse, not even a tip of the iceberg, check out this post I recently made: Hope is Rising.
A2/Philippines is Launching
Beyond this, A3 is opening our 12th country on January 17-20: the Philippines. The National Church is looking to unify and invited us in to help foster that unification and they have a God-sized church planting goal for 2020 which they believe we can help with. Praise God!
Existing A3 Countries are Expanding
Over and above, we just opened a new region in India and are starting two new cohorts for business leaders in South Korea and India. The vision of these mission hearted business leaders is encouraging. They want to allow God to use their business for missional advance.
New Countries on the Horizon
It doesn’t even stop there: we’re exploring several other countries to open in the near future: one of them is considered one of the toughest access countries in the world and others are two of the largest Muslim dominant nations in the world.
As you can see, I’m excited about A3 for 2017. AND, to cap it all off, we celebrate 50 years of ministry in 2017. In April, we are hosting a Jubilee in Jakarta to celebrate all that God has done these past 50 years. To learn more, check out a few of our highlights: A3 Year of Jubilee!
Silk and I are so encouraged by what is on the horizon that on Christmas Eve as we were prayerfully considering our year end giving, we decided to double our giving to A3. That’s how bullish we feel about 2017!
Humbled by a Churchplanter's Mite
And that pales in comparison to my colleague, who donated the equivalent of $50 not long ago. He came from such a poverty stricken country that they recently had paper rations, and their currency at the time, pictured here, was tattered and torn. This was the single best paper bill they had in the country that year! That’s just a picture of how poor they were.
And, in the midst of his deep poverty—he had just left his church to start a brand new church without any pay; yet he still chose to help A3 through his generous giving. That gave new meaning to the “widow’s mite” for me!
And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” — Mark 12:41-44
Thank you for partnering with us as we enter our Year of Jubilee! I’m grateful for your generous giving.
Joe Handley
@jwhandley
More Information
- A3 50th Anniversary in 2017
- Related article: Giving is Worship
- A3.business: creating the space & community for transformation to happen in the marketplace
