Growing in Christlike Character

character Christlikeness

Effective leaders who abide with Jesus, lead more and more like Jesus. Flowing out of transformed hearts, they exhibit fruits of the Spirit and grow in Christlikeness. If leaders are not growing in Christlikeness, ministry can get off track and they are more susceptible to spiritual plateau and abuse of power.
  • stoops lausanne podcast pexels gandhar thakur 2170793 14082422

    Janelle Stoops on Frontier Mission and Leadership for the Long Haul

    WITH JASON WATSON, PODCAST HOST

    What does it take to bring the gospel where Christ is not yet known—and remain faithful for the long haul?

  • The hidden key to ministry success is in Christike leadership. Photo of two men walking roward a sunset with a cross. Photo by Luis Georg Muller a2F5f8aXu w via unsplash 

    Leadership isn’t about doing something for God—it’s about joining God in His work.

    International (MNN) — What determines whether a ministry flourishes or struggles along the way? Often, it comes down to the integrity of its leaders.

  • Living and Leading the Gospel WEA 2025

    Reflections from the WEA General Assembly

    The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) General Assembly in Seoul, South Korea) gathered nearly 900 delegates from 124 nations and thousands of Korean pastors and believers. It was a powerful picture of the global Church united in purpose: seeking God’s guidance for how we live, proclaim, and embody the Gospel in our generation.

  • Reflections on A3 in the Philippines

    Walking with God walking together YP phil

    by H.A. Moldez, A3 / Philippines 

  • pray for indonesia yosi prihantoro 6uResgKS7RY unsplash scaled

    Christians wonder how the new administration will respond to their presence in a Muslim majority nation.

  • A Tribute to My Friend, Noel Becchetti

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  • Circle of Grace

    Nurturing Christlike Leadership in Pastoral Ministry

  • A3 4 Outcomes ripples 800px

    Viewing A3 Alumni Survey Results

    "This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."
    John 15:8 

    Periodically we try to assess whether we are meeting the mark and being fruitful in our overall ministry thus we try various ways to discern how effective we are. Evaluation is crucial to see if we are on target.

  •  learn the hebrew word shalom or peace

    in·teg·ri·ty

    noun

    1. the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.

    2. the state of being whole and undivided.
  •  integrity connor simonson Ev IHz5sOFw unsplash 1000px

    in·teg·ri·ty

    noun

    1. the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.
      "he is known to be a man of integrity"

    2. the state of being whole and undivided.
      "upholding territorial integrity and national sovereignty"
  • A3 Primacy of Christlike Leadership samuel rios 8XZlMCMlpX0 1000px

    Christlike Leadership: A Gospel Imperative

    “Church planting is moving at the speed of a bullet train with leadership development following on a bicycle.”1

  • A2 HappyThanksgiving 2021

    "walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."
    – Ephesians 4:1

  • jh leaders matter 600px

    The last few years, the idea of leadership has taken a beating. Whether it’s the critique of “elites” in our cultures or the overuse of the word leadership by various training and educational institutions. In many ways I agree with these concerns and it is why Asian Access does what it does in focusing on Christ, Character, and Servant Leadership.

  • A3 SELECT christina rumpf XWDMmk yW7Q unsplash

    SELECT.

    When people hear about our A3 formula...

    A3 brand formula 2018

    Christlike leaders + the A3 process + the right time + the right place

    = changing the few who change the many...

    one of the first questions they ask us is...

    Who are the leaders A3 selects?

    It means selecting the particular Christ-centered leaders who will get the most out of our leader development program.

    We have discovered that, for our program to achieve optimum effectiveness, we need to select Christlike servant leaders. Leaders who have 'arrived' and are not open to learning, growing, and changing, are simply too rigid for A3.

    But since selection is a required key competency, we are selecting the leaders who are most suitable for our program. A3 works hard at selecting those leaders who will benefit the most from our program. This includes finding Christ-centered leaders who are sensitive to the Holy Spirit and who, we believe, will cooperate with the transforming work He wants to do in their lives. These are "A3 leaders" that we try to select.

    A3 Leaders

    A3 has had plenty of practice at identifying leaders—decades, in fact. Obviously, we have certainly made lots of mistakes in this endeavor along the way. But through these mistakes, we have learned what works and what doesn't work. So the longer we do this, the better we get at figuring out who should be in our program and who shouldn't—who will take it seriously, make the most of it, and experience personal transformation and who won't.

     

    Importance of identifying servant leaders…

    Shouldn't we just accept anyone who wants to be in our program? Some argue yes. No, we shouldn't; we need to be wise about who we invite. Scripture encourages us to be discerning in regard to selection, or as we would say, selecting the most appropriate leaders for A3 cohorts...

    “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.”
    – 2 Timothy 2:2

    More Info » The Primacy of Christ-Centered Leadership

     

    Leaders with Potential, not Potential Leaders

    The leaders who do best in our program are proven leaders with greater potential. They have leadership experience and have shown potential. They should have enough authority in their church or organization to bring about change, resulting from what they are learning through A3.

    However, potential leaders who really have no leadership experience or little authority to make change are not quite ready for A3. They wouldn't have enough life experience to draw upon to really benefit from A3's learning community.

     

    Characteristics of A3 leaders

    We equip and unify servant leaders with potential, who are:

    • optimistic;
    • bold and energized;
    • grace-filled;
    • collaborative;
    • diverse;
    • humble and willing to learn.

    Here is how we evaluate the characteristics of the right kind of leaders who enter and complete the A3 program...

    AT SELECTION: 
    Entering A3 with “kingdom” orientation

    AT GRADUATION: 
    Graduating A3 with “Kingdom” orientation

    • Proven leader with greater potential

    • Bold, risk-taker, courageous, willing

    • Strategically positioned

    • Learning posture, teachable

    • Curious

    • Desire for personal growth

    • Closer “love relationship” with God.

    • Expanded vision

    • Community orientation (valuing true community)

    • Defined character

    • Greater capacity

    • Desire for “growing others”

     

    How does A3 find these kinds of leaders?

    Through insight and experience, as alluded to above. We have a grid (the “before” leader) and use that and a discernment process honed over the years. It requires getting to know people in a country who we deem to be trustworthy and discerning. It means leveraging A3 networks of a few key people who can get us to the people with the right kind of fit.

    When we find A3's kind of leaders and take them through the A3 process, God does great things in and through them to His glory.

     

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    More Information

     


    In this section: PROCESS...

    SELECT. | Connect. | Unify. | Develop. | Multiply. | Transform. | Ministry Spheres

    Image credits:

  • A3 LeadersPeople may ask us..."What does it mean that A3 is changing the few who change the many?

    It starts with finding Christlike servant leaders and bringing them through the A3 process. Often this helps leaders to create the space in their lives so God can bring about transformation. to create the space in their lives so God can bring about transformation.  As more and more leaders connect with God and with one another, we can begin to see the Lord transform their countries from the inside out. Through 56 years of ministry, we have developed the A3 leader development program that is effective at deepening a leader's love relationship with God, helping them grow in character, and become more fruitful in ministry. At the risk of oversimplifying how we do this, we can boil our formula down to this...

  • David SM Maggiore 276x500pxAnd David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them. – Psalm 78:72

    This key verse captures the essence of what we teach and seek to live out at Asian Access: that we would develop shepherds in pastoral ministry and in business who lead wisely. The passage struck me this week as I looked at several episodes of erratic leadership in the...

  • Shopping in JapanLiving in Japan brings all sorts of new life experiences for me. Stateside I focus mostly on ministry and family but here in Tokyo, Silk and I share house duties more because she is teaching and we live in a world that requires us to do more teamwork when it comes to daily living. Areas where I try to help out are weekly shopping, cleaning the dishes and once in a while laundry. No one trusts me with cooking so this is the best I can offer and all of these things I rarely participate in stateside. It certainly helps me grow as a Christ-like leader. It helps me develop character, one of the biggest challenges in Christian leadership today...

  • univ of desert 800pxGod's choice training ground for future leaders

    It took some time for me to understand God’s University of the Desert and then to trust Him in those deep experiences. But then it took even further time to recognise not only God’s presence in the loneliness of the desert, but also God’s purposes in the desert as He would be preparing me for the next season of my life. In the process I found perspective as I began to read the scriptures with a desert paradigm and I was surprised how many of God’s choice leaders spent time in the desert at critical seasons in their lives.  Many of them became my mentors on how to live life in the desert. People like Joseph, Abraham, Moses, David, John The Baptist, Jesus, Paul and the Apostle John. Gradually it dawned on me that God has a choice discipleship training school called the University of the Desert. It is not one in which we can formally enrol and undertake classes of our own choosing and be graded on our academic achievements. Rather, it is one in which God sovereignly works through the circumstances of our lives to test us in order to approve us and then entrust us with responsibilities that are known only to Him. Sometimes it is only God and I that are aware of the fact that the class in the University of the Desert is in session. The following are some of the lessons I have learned as a result of...

  • david nd2016 lrLast Fall, Pastor David Dayalan, Asian Access VP for Program Development shared a devotional highlighting letting Jesus take the lead with our board of directors. I thought you might enjoy seeing a taste of what we spend our time doing in seeking to prepare Christ-like leaders… You’ll quickly see that it’s not about us being leaders. It’s really about us being followers!

     

    Why did Jesus lead the way he did?

    He knew who he...

  • aeiou 530952299A Pastor recently contacted me to ask if there was any hope for his church to survive. The few people in his church were aged, and the church was slowly but surely declining in numbers. My answer shocked him. I said there was great hope for him and his church—because the Father was already at work in his town. I then opened my Bible to John chapter 5 and shared the story of Jesus healing the man who had been sick for 38 years, and who...

  • a2 business-korea-1 2a

    A3.business ministry to marketplace leaders in Seoul, South Korea...

  • Joe-MOH-screenshot-2014-10-22-thumbWhat a few weeks I have had! I’ve been in Asia for two weeks, covering three different countries, the first of which included our national directors annual gathering, the second a combined meeting of our international and Japan boards, and the third a visit with my colleagues and friends in another. My first day back home I went in for what I thought was a routine checkup. As I sat down on the doctor's chair, I quickly learned that this was a schedule for outpatient surgery...

  • bf-200"I heartily endorse Asian Access as you are filling a vital need in the church in Asia. The emerging urban church leadership is dynamic yet fragile. They have no older generation of pastors to look up to. Asian Access' proven mentoring approach builds communities of leaders, providing needed accountability and encouragement while developing personal character and ministry skills."

    Dr. Brent Fulton

    Founder & Catalyst, ChinaSource (former President); Former Editor of the ChinaSource Quarterly

  • Do you ever feel like your life follows the pattern of this biker? We make our plans but they often go in much different ways!

    The theme of our recent Global Leaders’ Summit hit this very topic. David Dayalan, Adrian and Ophelia De Visser and Silk and I shared to spark the conversation. Each of us shared from our deepest places of pain over the past few years. We all have been on the roller coaster of life, much like...

     

  • 00012 00025Sometimes the biggest benefits our leaders gain from Asian Access come from one another. A2 National Director for Cambodia Meng Aun Hour is, like all of our national leaders, a volunteer. Like all of our national leaders, he has a primary ministry. And like all of our national leaders, he actually has several “primary” ministries.  But Meng’s list could make even the most Type-A leader pause for breath. It includes...

  • A3 4 Outcomes ripples 800px

    What do we want to see as the result of our work in the life and ministry of each leader?

    A3 seeks the following outcomes of our work in the life and ministry of every participant.  We feel we're successful when the leader is...

    1. Living in a love relationship with God.

    Effective ministry flows from our relationship with God—from the inside out. After 10-15 years in ministry, leaders can begin to lose their connection to the Lord—relying more on their strengths and experience. This brings trouble and weakens the impact of their ministry.  In contrast, leaders who continue to deepen their love of God are transformed and can bring powerful change to their sphere of influence.

    2. Growing as a Christ-like leader.

    Effective leaders who abide with Jesus, lead more and more like Jesus. Flowing out of transformed hearts, they exhibit fruits of the Spirit and grow in Christlikeness. If leaders are not growing in Christlikeness, ministry can get off track and they are more susceptible to spiritual plateau and abuse of power.

    3. Reproducing disciple-making leaders.

    Fruitful leaders say, “Follow me as I follow Jesus”. They live out that truth by reproducing themselves in others and equipping those new disciples to follow their example to make more disciples. This is the heart of the Great Commission to make disciples who not only follow Jesus but also make more disciples.

    4. Accelerating Christ-centered movements.

    Fruitful leaders build kingdom movements to expand the reach of their ministries. Starting new witnessing communities for spiritual growth, outreach, and multiplication gives more people access to Christ’s life-changing power. Launching new missional businesses brings about God-honoring change. Catalyzing movements advance the kingdom and bring momentum that transform people, families, cities, and countries.

    The fifth unspoken outcome of launching a church multiplication movement is entirely up to God. Yet, with His blessing, the first four outcomes can actually result from specific steps A3 takes. In other words, there are practical things we can do in structuring our program in order to help achieve these outcomes.

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    OUR ESSENCE | Outcomes | Leader Development Model | Sustainability

     

    More Information...

     

    Download the A3 Essence PDF...

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    The A3 Essence (front)

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    The A3 Essence (back)

     

    Downloads:

     A3 Essence - print (2 MB)

    This one-sheet, double-sided flyer outlines the Essence of A3 in terms of our four desired ministry outcomes, the A3 leader development model and our ultimate goal for sustainable ministry in each country.

     

     
  • ROI for A2/CambodiaA2/Cambodia just graduated Class 4 and the stories of life change from the pastors were powerful. Many of them personally asked me to thank you for investing in them. As they shared the stories of transformation, it reminded me of Asian Access return on investment. We hope to see pastors for a lifetime who live out the Essence of Asian Access.

    Here are a few markers of their life change when I asked them, "How has Asian Access helped you?":...
  • JE from Chennai in South India

    Hear Pastor JE share how A3 is making a difference...