Joe Handley

FROM THE PRESIDENT

 

Stories from Joe Handley, president of Asian Access

image

Last week, the Asian Access family gathered for a rich community experience. We were in Jakarta, Indonesia for our Global Leaders’ Summit. What a fantastic week we had together. It was one of my all-time favorite summits!

What made it so special? - COMMUNITY! 

This is one of our three core values at Asian Access: We LIVE Community! You can learn more about our values here: Asian Access' Core Values.

LIVE Community

As we gathered together, we prayed and took a collection to help our persecuted friends in Bangladesh… Read their stories here:

summit 2016 public group shot

Some people in our community are turned backward because they need to be anonmyous. But we stand with these friends; they are members of our community.

image

At our summit, we prayed for our brothers from Bangladesh as they shared how they will come around the family who has lost their husband (the pastor) and how they have been a witness to Christ in the midst of the suffering. Their video stories will be posted later which you won’t want to miss… Stay tuned!

This wasn’t all we did together though. We spent time playing together—soccer, volleyball, plus racing across a ropes course and doing a zip line. It was a ton of fun, though the humidity was intense to say the least.

image

One of our colleagues from China, we’ll call "John" to protect his identity shared how he never takes breaks like this, preferring to study and be in isolation most of the time. This experience really profoundly impacted him as he enjoyed being with brothers from all over Asia.

We also spent rich times in the Word of God which I’m sure several of us may blog about later. C.B. Samuel, who serves on our Reference Council in India took us deep into our core values:

  1. ALL In with God,
  2. LIVE Community, and
  3. Accelerate Kingdom Leaders.

Wow, these sessions were nothing short of astounding and everyone enjoyed the interaction times we had following his sharing. We were able to process in smaller groups what God was teaching us and I particularly found the session on Community impacting. Others preferred the other sessions which was a sign of how deeply moving our time with C.B. proved to be. I found the sharing on Living Community so profound that I was sharing his insights over twitter throughout his presentation.

Here are several quotes I posted:

  • Jesus was walking with his disciples. That was his curriculum! — C.B. Samuel
  • How will my country look if the kingdom of God were active here? — C.B. Samuel
  • The church will have to go through major restructuring in order for us to embody the kingdom of God! — C.B. Samuel
  • How do we re-package church and ministry so that none of the leaders can be excused from the process of discipling? C.B. Samuel
  • A kingdom leader is he who lives the life of the kingdom, they don’t just teach the kingdom! — C.B. Samuel
  • Is your church full of people who want God’s kingdom in your country? — C.B. Samuel
  • When you follow Jesus, he changes the way you look at the world! — C.B. Samuel 
  • When the church becomes a community, then the church will be the church! — C.B. Samuel
  • If you are a pastor, you are like an artist. You are going to show the beauty of God! — C.B. Samuel
  • We need to shake up pastors to say you are not a CEO, you are a shepherd to create community! — C.B. Samuel
  • My prayer for #AsianAccess is that: When we train leaders, we will train people who lead communities! [Not programs or events] — C.B. Samuel
  • The apostle Paul would be confused w/ the statement, “I’m going to church on Sunday morning." — C.B. Samuel

Talk about rich wisdom!

image

As you can see, at Asian Access we strive to truly LIVE Community! We’re not perfect. We have our flaws for sure. But we seek to embody the kingdom through building capacity of kingdom leaders in such a way that we truly we be community together. As we walk deeply with Jesus “All in with God”, and seek to “LIVE Community”, we believe kingdom leaders will be enhanced “Accelerated Kingdom Leaders”. In this greater ecosystem, Jesus brings transformation: transformation of our lives, our marriages, our families, our churches, our communities and our nations!

How do you practice this kingdom value? LIVE Community… We’d like to learn from you!

image 
Joseph W. Handley, Jr.
President – Asian Access

imageimage This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 
image @jwhandley

 

More Information

Related Posts

Downloads

Core Values  Mission, Vision, Values

All Stories

How Not to Teach Middle School

Throughout the week, I share the story about my faith journey A LOT. As a mobilizer with SIM, I’m one of the first conversations people have with us as they seek to discern God’s calling for them in His kingdom work around the world. An important part of every conversation is getting to share my journey and inviting the person on the call to share theirs.

A favorite line I like to share in my story is “If you don’t have a firm sense of your identity in Christ, and you don’t have a firm sense of His calling on your life, then you probably shouldn’t try to teach middle school English!”

Read more...

Dear Brothers and Sisters at Asbury University

…and beyond: encouragement from a big sister

I first heard about what God was doing on your campus on Friday, February 10. At the SIM USA sending office, we take our motto By Prayer very seriously. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, we come together corporately for a chapel service to pray over each one of our fields and our missionaries. On Mondays and Fridays, we do the same, but this time we gather in smaller groups by our departments. One of my coworkers brought up what God was doing on your campus, and we began to pray for you. 

Read more...

New, But Not: Our Journey to Japan

By Linda Koyama

Hi, I’m Linda. Nice to meet you. I’m currently writing from Yamagata, Japan, where my family is partnering with a local church. You’ve probably never heard of Yamagata. Don’t worry, neither did I until it was presented as one of the potential prefectures we’d be serving in. 

So where exactly is Yamagata? Think north of Tokyo about 200 miles (300 kilometers), or a 4 1/2 hour drive by car. It’s in the southern part of the Tohoku region, closer to the Japan Sea side (rather than the Pacific Ocean side). It’s definitely not one of Japan’s hot tourist spots, but this region is known for its ski slopes, onsens, and delicious fruits.

Read more...

It's a Different World...

By Tia Blassingame

Okay, if you look like me you probably started singing that song title and know exactly where I got it from. Perfect, because it has been playing in my head all week! This is truly a different world. Right now, I am at a homestay with my onēsan (pronounced ohnay-sahn) and her family. That term right there is already different vocabulary for you I’m assuming. Onēsan is “older sister” and a “homestay” is when you stay overnight (or more than one night) with a family. In basic “Tia terms” (that’s me), I’m at a sleepover with my sis and her fam. Let me backtrack a bit...

Read more...

Counting the Cost 3: The Shape of You

Leaving what I’ve found:
You helped me find my true self.
Wishing you were here. 

During one of my first annual Asian Access retreats in Japan, Dr. Sue Takamoto led all of us first-term missionaries through a special training specifically designed for our experience. One of her warm-up exercises had us flexing some of our creative muscles: we were to write haiku that showcased our experiences during our first term. I wrote the above haiku for my church family back home in St. Louis.

Read more...

Living a "Relevant Life"

Rethinking how God's Word is "relevant" to our lives and ministries

By Kent Muhling

I sometimes pray Psalm 143:8 at the beginning of my morning devotions. It reads, 

“Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, 
for in you I trust.
Make me know the way I should go, 
for to you I lift up my soul.” 

Read more...

Asian Access takes new name as ministry expands to the Middle East and beyond

International (A3) — Asian Access, known widely as A2, is expanding its ministry into some of the most dangerous and volatile parts of the world.

Read more...

And Our New Name is...

February 3, 2023

Friends of Asian Access,

I am thrilled to announce today that Asian Access has a new name. I have been waiting a long time to tell you, and I have simply been bursting to get this out there!

Read more...

2023... New Name and Encouraging Developments

This week Asian Access will be making a significant announcement and we want you, our friends, to be the first to know.

February 3 (2.3.23) is the day we have targeted to share the news of the ministry's expansion which is also driving the moment for a new name for the organization. I think you'll agree it's a wonderful connection to the past and a bridge to the next era of ministry to which we're called. Stay tuned for this exciting news!

Read more...

Making sense of Urbana and your own personal journey

Because Urbana '22 has just concluded, we thought it would be especially helpful to repost an article written after a previous Urbana by Asian Access missionary Sue Takamoto, who first attended Urbana '84.

Decision-Making and God's Perspective

  • "Oh no… It's been several weeks since Urbana, but I haven't signed up with a mission agency yet. Am I out of God's will?"
  • "How will I ever decide?!"
  • "I think God and my parents have very different ideas about what's best for my life…"
  • "Urbana still doesn't make sense to me."

Read more...

Follow this Site

Get new posts by email:

Login