Reproducing Disciplemaking Leaders

It’s been an historic year for one of the countries we work in this year. Their country has been transformed in dramatic ways and Asian Access had the privilege of taking a small part in this sea changing season. The country was a former religious kingdom overthrown by a local insurgency which struggled to run the country. The religious groups dominating the nation were constantly...

Discipling Is For Everyone

Using the Father-Son metaphor found in Scripture, here are a few brief, but poignant quotes from Dr. Ajith Fernando's challenging message:

• "The most important thing we do in discipling our people is to pray for them."
• "The balanced life is our cross. So where is the time for discipling? Well, we find time for what is important."
• "Discipling is a battle for the souls of people. That's a battle we wage. We do this through prayer, through confrontation, through teaching, through meeting, and...

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...

One of the wisest persons in the Bible wrote the following words that have served me well in my life of ministry:

“The righteous choose their friends carefully, But the way of the wicked leads them astray.”
— Proverbs 12:26

So important was this principle for his readers to take to heart, that he repeated it in varying ways through the book of Proverbs. “Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.” Proverbs 13:20...

During graduation week in Myanmar, one of the participants burst out in appreciation for A3....

A2 online course offered by Biblical Training

Disciplemaking is not an everyday word. It may be mentioned at church, but even there it can feel foreign to our common experience. To be honest, the word “disciplemaking” is not in the Bible and my auto-correct continues to tell me it’s not a word in any standard dictionary.

There is no greater Return on Investment than discipleship and investing in other people.
– Mike Duke (former CEO of Walmart) 

A few weeks ago, Asian Access had a wonderful gathering in Tokyo with marketplace leaders. Edwin Keh, former Senior Vice President at Walmart and Professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania joined us utilizing a 4-hour video interview he conducted with Mike Duke, quoted above. They taught on discipleship as an opening topic for the orientation and launch of Asian Access/Business (known as A2.business) for Japan. As Mike’s quote suggests, far more than his investment in...{addthis off}

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...

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

Asian Access seeks the following outcomes of our work in the life and ministry of every participant.  We feel we're successful if the pastor 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. Catalyzing 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. 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 Asian Access 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

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• Who are the Asian Access participants?
• Asian Access Faculty
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Asian Access is honored to have one of our very own, Takeshi Takazawa, contribute to a significant new work about leadership called Missing Voices: Learning to Lead Beyond Our Horizons. I received a pre-released copy of the first chapter where Takeshi offers several important insights from an East Asian perspective about leadership. Having read this chapter alone, I’m eager to get a copy of this book as soon as possible! To give you a bit of a teaser on some of what Takeshi offers...{addthis off}

Not long ago I met this pastor in one of our Asian Access cohorts. His name, face and country are hidden to protect him, his family, church and the work of God in his community. What a story though! As he was sharing, I learned that he was formerly a Hindu Priest. He came to the capital of his country to seek a better life because he was on the brink of disaster—close to suicide because his life was so bad. Along the way...

“My dilemma is that I am still the head of the Mosque, but I can no longer stand the Muslim faith.”

That amazing statement was made by Imam Talib*, the head of a Mosque in a Middle Eastern country that we cannot name for security reasons. Your gift at this time will help develop Talib and many others to become effective leaders of the church in his country.

During the inaugural A3 training just conducted in North Africa two weeks ago, we were updated on two recent events—the closing of 20 churches by the government, and the conviction of three pastors for leading churches.

It was an honor co-convening the Leader Development Consultation last week in Chiang Mai Thailand! Asian Access came alongside of LeaderSource and several other organizations and movements to help “catalyze advances in thinking and practice in leader development around the world.”  We led an all-day intensive called “A Taste of Asian Access” and several of our colleagues led other workshops. In addition, we were an active player in the formal/non-formal theological education dialog where we are trying to find synergy for leader development specifically through theological formation. The highlight for me was...

The Forbes.com’s number 1 Business Book of 2016 was, KEEP IT SIMPLE: Unclutter Your Mind to Uncomplicate Your Life written by Joe Calloway. The book challenges us to resist the temptation to overcomplicate things and to boil things down to the essence of what matters most. It confronts our natural almost unnoticed tendency to drift towards complexity or away from the purpose for which we exist. It takes some continued resolve to keep it simple and focused. Calloway’s advice is to boil things down to three simple rules, like the large national trucking company that reduced things to three simple rules:

1. Pick it up when you said you would.
2. Deliver it when...

Ideree the Bird Man is more famous worldwide for his bird photography than for his pastoring a church or working with the leadership team of A3...  

A few weeks ago, I was in a SE Asian country teaching as part of our two-year cohort. It was such a joy spending time with the pastors and seeing how eager they were to learn. One pastor, whom I’ll call NV to protect his identity, quickly came up to me sharing that he had already taken what he learned in the first session a few months prior and was sharing it in several contexts. Here’s what he later shared with me:

“All the lessons of the first session were really significant to me and others whom I reproduced it. My purpose is to contribute for the revival at the very heart of the capital city, so, since 2008, I have 2 trips each year on May and October for pastoral training for all pastors and church workers for churches of 8 denominations, including the government sanctioned church in three large cities (they came from many cities at N region). Last May I trained SHAPE and TIMELINE for over 120 pastors and main workers. They all said that it was so good and they will continue to retrain at their local churches. I plan to retrain the session "the heart of the ministry" next Oct.”

I recently attended the Global Discipleship Congress in Manila (May 22-25) and had a wonderful experience. Below is a note from Pastor Edmund Chan, a new friend whom I really enjoy spending time with. He has a passion for discipleship and I wanted to share with you his heartbeat.

I also wanted to share a brief testimony about my time at the event. I was invited to speak at a workshop for the Congress on "Pastors Reproducing Disciple-Making Leaders"...

Asian Access utilizes an interwoven curriculum that focuses on fourteen strategic areas of leadership and church health. These strategic areas are covered in a variety of ways depending on the needs and situation of the participants and on the availability of faculty.

There are four categories covered:

1. Developing the Leader
2. Reproducing Other Leaders
3. Multiplying Churches
4. Expanding the Kingdom...

Recently, I was able to interview Terry Looper about his new book SacredPace being released today on February 26. It’s a book laying out several great principles that align with our core focus at Asian Access. I know you’ll enjoy the book. You can learn more about it here: Sacred Pace. Here are a couple clips from our interview that I want to share with you. Terry talks about his relationship with God highlighting some of the themes from the book. It’s a terrific reflection on Asian Access first outcome, Living in a Love Relationship with God. Enjoy! I hope it inspires your walk with Jesus... {addthis off}

Silk and I we were in this church that she was really touched by the warmth of the family and friendship—about 100 and 150 people. They asked me to preach that day which was just a wonderful honor and privilege. I had been asked to talk about disciple-making. So I preached this fairly strong message about it, hoping maybe I can inspire this congregation to be disciple makers. Little did I know that they were already very actively doing this. It is really amazing...

A more biblical understanding of discipleship is critical to disciple a nation. Planting a church as a signpost of the Kingdom of God to evangelize a community is a good start. However, in a success-driven ministry, many pastors and leaders are simply dreaming of making their churches grow big and bigger. When the world’s criteria for success drives the ministry, discipleship is hurried up without the spiritual depth necessary to impact society. The World Evangelical Alliance’s call to a "Decade of Discipleship" needs radical calibration to grow...

Peter Mazumder, co-national director of A3/Bangladesh shares stories of the life-transforming process...

Five A3/Cambodia graduates shared their learning with a small village northeast of Phnom Penh. A3 alumni frequently visit towns to pass on what they have learned...

Happy New Year, Dear Friends!

This post is a little later than I had hoped because our family was hit with the coronavirus variant over the holidays. We are deeply grateful for your prayers and appreciate you for the way we journey together in life and mission.

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16) In June, I had the privilege of visiting my friend and A2/Cambodia National Director, Meng Aun Hour, in Cambodia. Meng took my daughters and me...

Not long ago, one of our national directors was sharing about visiting a leading pastor in his nation. He was visiting to see if they could work together toward human rights in the nation. They are a country whose Christian population is constantly scrutinized and often persecuted for their faith. He went not knowing what this well-known pastor might say. In fact, he wasn’t even sure he’d be willing to help because often churches like this one, led by this pastor can become insular focused exclusively on their own congregation. However, this day, the famous pastor said to the Asian Access country director,...{addthis off}