We are serving with Asian Access because we have been praying about our calling and ministry and the Lord led us to this remarkable opportunity with Asian Access.
We believe that the church in Asia is uniquely positioned and poised to work toward reaching the unreached and unengaged people groups of Asia with the Gospel. Asian Access leverages the principle of finding, equipping and releasing key leaders (2 Timothy 2:2) through its innovative leadership development model. That is why we're so excited to join the mission!
Latest Blog Posts from Joe...
Background Information:
Joe was born and raised in Southern California. Silk was born in Michigan but moved to Northern California as a child. They both ended up attending Azusa Pacific University where Joe earned a B.A. in psychology and Silk earned a B.A. in English. They became close friends during their last year at college and got married in 1990. Joe spent nine years working at APU’s Office of World Missions and Silk taught at a middle school in Azusa for a few years. During their time there, both Joe and Silk were able to work on their Masters’ Degrees: Joe in Theology and Silk in Special Education. The Lord called them to Rolling Hills Covenant Church in 1998 where Joe served as the Global Outreach Pastor while Silk was able to be a stay-at-home mom and volunteer at the elementary school as well as at their church, being involved in various children’s ministries and Community Bible Study.
Family
Joe and Silk are blessed to have three great kids. Rebecca, who is 16, enjoys Facebook, scrap booking and crafts. Rachel, who will soon be 13, enjoys laughing with her friends, drawing and taking guitar lessons. John, who is 8, likes scouting, camping and doing experiments. They also have 2 dogs and an aquarium with 5 fish.
Ministry Assignment:
Joe and Silk are excited in the Lord’s calling for Joe to fill the role as president of Asian Access!
Words of Wisdom:
A verse that has been encouraging to us is James 1:2-4.
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
Our prayer is that we would view trials as opportunities for the Lord to make us mature and complete in Him.
Funny Cultural Stories:
Joe, Silk and their children spent a year living as missionaries in Istanbul, Turkey. One day Silk decided to get her hair cut without the help of her friend who usually spoke to the Turkish hairdresser for her. On this occasion, the hairdresser asked Silk if her hair was “daja kisa.” Silk replied in the affirmative, assuming that “daja kisa” means “short enough.” However, it really means “more short” so Silk walked out of the hair salon with a very short hair cut that day!
Another barber story from Joe… after his first haircut in Turkey, the barber grabbed a long Q-tip looking instrument, lit it on fire, and raced it through Joe’s ears. Joe was terrified at first thinking, ‘what in the world are they doing to me?” but soon learned they were simply cleaning the extra hair out of his ears. While frightening at first (especially with no language), after awhile he got used to it.
How is God blessing your life and ministry?
The Lord has blessed us with many rich relationships during our tenure at Rolling Hills Covenant Church. We look forward to getting to know the Asian Access team and build relationships with our new team.
