Middle East (MNN) — When you see “Asian Access” you probably don’t think of the Middle East. But last year, the Lord led Asian Access to this region so they could help new believers become effective leaders.

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:

June 5, 2022 is the International Day for the Unreached

A third of the world still lacks access to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There are no local churches, no Bible in their own language, and no local believers.

Laos (MNN) — A pastor in Laos has been released after spending a year in prison. He was convicted of “creating disorder” after holding church services without permission.

There is much to suggest that the church in the west is living in a post-Christian generation. Evangelism has fallen on hard times, and ironically it seems that seminars to help people learn how to share their faith are doing no better.  And yet our denominations, although aware of their continued decrease in numbers, seem largely unmotivated to address the real issue. If ever there was a time to get back to basics, then surely it is now and I would like to suggest that the following 10 keys will give you a platform on which to build a fruitful church that will reach lost people. These 10 keys will help you to take evangelism in your church from being an optional extra to an important priority...

Globalization—and the current pandemic—have tied together intercontinental personal relationships and socially distanced ministry in ways we would have found difficult to imagine not so many years ago.

The following true story from one of our Asian Access Japan staff highlights how intercontinental friendships and digital media can partner together in ministry even in a “shelter in place” world. Thank you for your prayers for our Asian Access family as our members share God’s love through every means possible. Here is their story I wanted to share with you...

A Japanese university not far from our current home in Japan has had a sister school relationship with my alma mater in the USA for over 50 years. Decades ago...

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} 

We met at 4 A.M. for our shuttle to the airport… Little did we know what God had in store for us that day. I traveled with Dr. Paul Ariga from our A2 Vision Council from Malaysia back to Japan following our Global Leaders' Summit and Vision Council meetings. Our shuttle was a Tamil Taxi driver who grew up in Kuala Lumpur. I noticed he had several Manchester United buttons hanging from his rear view mirror so began a delightful conversation. He told me all about his favorite sport and team and was surprised to hear that I knew a World Cup teammate of the renown soccer star Maradona...

Pastor Yukikazu Otomo recently shared a book that we published in Japan. I hope that we can someday produce this for the English speaking world but for now, I want to share with you one of the ideas he presents. He talked about the history of the church in Japan and how the conservative and liberal streams of the church focused on different elements of the Gospel. The conservative church focused on evangelism while the more liberal leaning churches focused on social...

John Worcester, Asian Access faculty from ChurchPlanting.net, recently taught for us here in Japan after teaching for us in Mongolia. The seminar here in Tokyo was done in concert with Biblical Church of Tokyo. Prior to the seminar, we had a dynamic discussion where John made a provocative statement:“It’s as if 'conversion' has become a bad word.” After reading the news and following the reports of Billy Graham’s legacy, this statement struck me even more powerfully. The essence of Graham’s ministry was all about people converting to Christ.

I was recently asked to share at the Asia Leaders Summit in Taiwan on the topic of “Effective Evangelism in Asia.” They gave Asian Access permission to share the report online so that we could all learn from the gathering. It was an honor to be requested to speak, especially given the focus of the group: “Asia by Asians! – A diversity of Asian churches united to evangelize and disciple Asia.” As the only non-Asian participating, I was humbled to be invited and asked to share. I trust you enjoy learning from my Asian Access colleagues’ wisdom below…

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...

The story of this lady was amazing. She lived just 1.5 kilometers from the ocean (about a mile) and the tsunami took everything. Soon after, the gentlemen standing next to her, started a house fellowship not too long after retiring from work. He was inspired by his church to start another church after he retired from a great career. Did it matter that he is not a pastor? No. Did it matter that he had received no significant theological training? No. Rather, his pastor saw his gifts and invested in him for years. From the Asian Access training, he developed a plan to empower lay leaders to start churches so that they could reach the Japanese people. He knew there was no way you could reach Japan through just the clergy alone. So, he raised up several business leaders to begin starting house churches in his region.

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...

We got an energizing and provocative word from the Lord at the Asian Access Bangladesh class in February. Rev. Adrian De Visser of Sri Lanka was our faculty. His topic was Evangelism Through Grace. Grace? That seemed odd to some of the participants. Evangelism is about proclamation and warning people away from Hell, isn’t it? But Brother Adrian gave us a new look at this vital area of the ministry. Adrian began by identifying the four aspects of a human being:  physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. “As ministers”, he told us, “We too often focus only on the spiritual side of a person. While this side is very important, it can cause us to ignore the other three components. All four, together, are vital to a healthy and balanced disciple.” At the session, Adrian spent extensive time on emotions. “We need to understand a person’s emotional needs as well as their spiritual needs if we are to reach them...

Being with Kent and Yuko Muhling last week in Sendai inspired me. They are trying so many different ways to reach out to their neighbors, I was deeply impressed. You would be proud of them! One story in particular captured my imagination. They shared about a man who has been watching the Christian relief teams not far from Sendai City. He lived through the disaster and has seen the relief teams come and go. But, he was particularly inspired by the ongoing efforts of the local churches, missionaries, and believers from all over the world who keep coming and serving. As he thought about these people and what they were doing, he watched them very closely. He noticed that despite all the trials they suffered in serving, all the challenges they face on a daily basis and even the difficult circumstances through... 

Some of you know that our neighbor gave us an invitation to spend Thanksgiving or Christmas together with their family. Well, the story get’s even better… As you’ll see in these photos, the first invite is pictured here first and then came the second. Oh my! Silk wrote a nice note to our neighbor giving them some sweets from Kyoto where we had just spent Thanksgiving as a family. Their response was a bundle of joy!

Sixty-two Buddhist monks come to Christ

South Asia (MNN) – Knowledge and logic may help you win an argument, but it’s not always the most effective way to lead people to Christ. Often times, just showing God’s love has the greatest impact. That was the case with one Tibetan priest. Last year, we told you about a Buddhist Lama from Tibet who came to Christ and had a vision to plant churches throughout the valleys of the Himalayas. Joe Handley, President of Asian Access, says one of the major reasons why...

I just heard an update from this story this week: this priest is not only a pastor with a vision to plant churches among all the unreached mountain valleys along the border but he also has an incredible following: 62 other buddhist monks have chosen to follow Christ as well. That is astounding! Beyond this, since the disaster hit the country, church leaders are reporting that more than 200,000 people have decided to follow Jesus...

Moving Evangelism From An Optional Extra To An Important Priority

There is much to suggest that the church in the west, at least, is living in a post Christian generation. Evangelism has fallen on hard times, and ironically it seems that seminars to help people learn how to share their faith are doing no better. And yet our denominations, although aware of their continued decrease in numbers, seem largely unmotivated to address the issue. If ever there was a time to get back to basics, then surely it is now and I would like to suggest that the following 10 keys will give you a platform on...