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Thank you for your prayers during the Tokyo Olympics

21-Sep-2021 • Takeshi Takazawa

21-Sep-2021 • Takeshi Takazawa • blog: A2 Community Blog

Takeshi Takazawa, VP for Innovative Initiatives for Asian Access, thanks our prayer and financial support...

Takeshi Takazawa, VP for Innovative Initiatives for Asian Access, thanks our prayer and financial support team for coming alongside us in prayer to impact the people of Japan and the athletes during the...

UN to discuss Myanmar this week

13-Sep-2021 •

13-Sep-2021 • • blog: Mission Network News

Myanmar (MNN) — The United Nations will decide this week which government gets to represent...

Myanmar (MNN) — The United Nations will decide this week which government gets to represent Myanmar at the General Assembly. The military seized power from Myanmar’s elected officials in a...

Myanmar (MNN) — The United Nations will decide this week which government gets to represent Myanmar at the General Assembly. The military seized power from Myanmar’s elected officials in a February coup. But several of those officials have...

A2 welcomes Prashan De Visser to council of reference

09-Sep-2021 • Joe Handley

09-Sep-2021 • Joe Handley • blog: From the President

I couldn’t be more pleased to welcome Prashan De Visser to our Council of Reference. Asian Access exists...

I couldn’t be more pleased to welcome Prashan De Visser to our Council of Reference. Asian Access exists to empower emerging young leaders and watching Prashan rise as a young man mentored by his father,...

A2 welcomes Prashan De Visser to council of reference

An Olympic Thank-You from Joe and Silk

12-Aug-2021 • Joe Handley

12-Aug-2021 • Joe Handley • blog: From the President

Hello Everyone!
We want to thank you for your participation and support for our work in Japan.
As...

Hello Everyone!
We want to thank you for your participation and support for our work in Japan.
As you probably know, all the work with the Olympics that we tried to do didn't happen. However, the last...

ASEAN appoints special envoy to Myanmar

10-Aug-2021 •

10-Aug-2021 • • blog: Mission Network News

Myanmar (MNN) — On Sunday, fresh protests broke out against Myanmar’s military rule. They coincided...

Myanmar (MNN) — On Sunday, fresh protests broke out against Myanmar’s military rule. They coincided with the anniversary of 1988 pro-democracy protests. Read more here.
The Association of Southeast...

Details: by Joe Handley; Category: From the President; 22 December 2020

joe and silk with couple cropped

Silk and I have had such a wonderful last few weeks in Japan.

Last week we were moving which brought several aches and pains, even after just day one of the move! However, the last four we were able to travel to many places in country and say farewell for this season of ministry.

Details: by Joe Handley; Category: From the President; 21 December 2020

ohashi 3 generations

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.

Details: by Joe Handley; Category: From the President; 19 December 2020

joe and silk christmas2020

Hello Everybody!

Well, today is the last day we are in Japan. We fly out in a few hours, and we are heading back to California.

We love it here in Japan. We're going to miss it here. But we are looking forward to being with family. It is a new season for us.

Details: by Joe Handley; Category: From the President; 17 December 2020

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“That is so cool!”

“Really? There’s no way!” – That is what Silk and I thought after using a mobile phone translation at the Japan Post the other day.

Here's how the story unfolded...

We went to close out my account as we are moving to America and thought the bank teller understood our request. She listened to me and took me to the right person who started asking for our documents. We pulled out my bank book, and then she asked for our cash card which we pulled out. Finally, she asked another question. I thought I understood her request, so I pulled out my residence card.

Details: by Mission Network News; Category: Mission Network News; 15 December 2020

Header image by Frauke Riether from Pixabay.

Pfizer’s vaccine is 95% effective at preventing someone from catching COVID-19.

Japan (MNN) — This week, the company Pfizer will deliver an estimated 2.9 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine to locations around the US. The UK has already begun using the vaccine, which was developed by the German company BioNTech.

The vaccine was developed in under a year and uses new technology to vaccinate people against viruses. It needs to be kept at very cold temperatures, at least 70 degrees below zero Celsius.

Details: by Dee Wirz; Category: A2 Community Blog; 14 December 2020

psalm77 clouds

2020 turned into an unexpected, unwanted mishmash of uncertainty, anxiety, cancellations, frustration, fatigue, exasperation, anger, exhaustion, disappointment, a kind of seeming unending ethos of dashed hopes, spiraling fears, sadness and grief.

Now I have an enhanced appreciation of the Psalms that so eloquently express the same range and depth of emotion we are experiencing. The writers honestly pour out their hearts to God, and in the process of persistently calling out to Him, they come around to see and experience God as our refuge and strength, our rock, fortress, deliverer, a very present help in time of trouble. I’m so thankful for God’s redemptive work in the midst of the miry mishmash. God takes us to deeper levels of resilience, resourcefulness and refinement.

Details: by Mission Network News; Category: Mission Network News; 10 December 2020

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Pandemic challenges Japan’s group-oriented culture

Japan (MNN) — While other countries battle rising COVID-19 cases, Japan is seeing a different kind of spike – suicides.

More people in Japan have died by suicide in 2020 than from COVID-19. In fact, their suicide numbers in October alone outnumbered the nation’s total COVID-19 deaths in the first 11 months of the year.

Details: by Joe Handley; Category: From the President; 10 December 2020

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As you think about your opportunities to give before year end, I wanted to let you know about several options for U.S. citizens you may not be aware of.

You can use these options to give to almost any ministry, and although there are exceptions for some ministries, Asian Access qualifies for all of them.

And despite the pandemic we find ourselves in, Asian Access is experiencing many opportunities for expanding and accelerating its mission to develop leaders throughout Asia and beyond—such as The Last Mile project in the Middle East that I posted about last month.

Details: by Joe Handley; Category: From the President; 02 December 2020

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...

From the President

From the President blog by Joe Handley

A2 Community Blog

A2 Community blog with posts from a variety of contributors around Asian Access

Mission Network News

Stories about Asian Access published by Mission Network News, a mission news service dedicated to keeping Christians informed on evangelical mission activity around the world. In doing so we hope to educate and motivate Christians to prayer, participation, and support of missionary work to help further the Great Commission.