Identifying Leaders in Times of Crisis

“All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time.” (John Kenneth Galbraith) Whenever God wanted to get something done, He raised up a leader. That leader was often not a person in a leadership position or one who had the title of a leader. In fact, God often overlooked those who to the logical mind seemed to be more suited to the leadership position in question. Take David for example. Samuel was commissioned by God to anoint a king who would ultimately replace King Saul who had been rejected by God for disobeying God’s instructions. Samuel was directed by God to go to a man named Jesse who lived in Bethlehem because God said, ”I have chosen one of his sons to be king.” Samuel’s obvious choice was Jesse’s son Eliab. But the Lord said to Samuel...

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President's Update: June 2020

We are gripped with the current protests going on in the U.S. and also now in other countries. With the strain of COVID-19 still evident, the protests against racial injustice have created an important conversation. We welcome this conversation and long to see the Gospel of Jesus Christ lived out in our midst. Yet, during this season, we have a responsibility to report on the mission God has called us to serve—developing leaders who first experience personal transformation and then extend the transforming power of the gospel to those communities around them. We strive to change the few who change the many. And you help us do that!

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Love each other as I have loved you

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. — John 15:12

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. — 1 John 4:7-11

With a little fear and trepidation, I will share my thoughts about what is happening in the U.S. (I may be blasted out of the water, but for most of you your bullets will have to travel thousands of miles to reach me!)

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Isolation Makes Way for New Connections in Japan

Asian Access has been training pastors in Japan for over 40 years, largely through gatherings of cohorts who come together as a learning community, grounded in deep relationships. The current pandemic, which requires social distancing and a period of shutdown, has challenged this model. In the process, it has accelerated our development of online learning platforms and opened the door to new opportunities and even greater reach. As Japan was dealing with the outbreak in April, churches across the nation were increasingly limited in how they could meet. Much like the persecution of the early church, which resulted in the gospel spreading around the world, our A2 Japan National Director, Rev. Joshua Hari, saw this “shut down” experience as...

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