Introducing A3.Missional Partners

Our Missionaries Have a New Name!

For several years, you’ve become familiar with new ministry streams such as A3.business and Young Professionals. But today, I am excited to announce that our missionaries in Japan have a new descriptive name. We are now calling them “Missional Partners”.

A3.Missional Partners

3 Phases of History In 1967, A3 launched in Japan as a missionary sending organization partnering with local Japanese churches. Our original call was to send North American young people to teach conversational English, partnering with Japanese churches for evangelism and church planting. There have been many ministry innovations in A3, but missionaries are still coming alongside Japanese churches and pastors to partner.

Today, A3 is a global network of leaders, but we always remember our roots. This is a significant A3 incarnational ministry that I want you to know about. And to announce their new name, as the word “missionary” has unfortunately for some begun to take on negative meanings.

Partnering with the Church in Japan to multiply disciples

Robert Adair, A3’s missionary director in Japan, and his team were brainstorming potential names that better reflect their role as cross-cultural workers within the broader A3 movement. The more they talked, the more one name rose to the top of their list.

“The name 'Missional Partners' sums up our ministry stream concisely and understandably. We are a team of cross-cultural workers partnering with the church in Japan and A3 Japan specifically to reach the 99% of Japanese people who do not know Christ. We are partnering with God, through the church in Japan for the sake of the gospel. The name is a natural continuation of ‘My vision is to empower your vision’* as well as Scrum Dendo the old summer program, plus the collaborative and evangelical focus A3 has had in Japan for over 56 years.

Missional Partners comprise the team of global workers collaborating directly with the church (in Japan) for the sake of the gospel. We believe that the Holy Spirit is leading the church in Japan and hope that our skills, gifts, talents, and resources can be used to help pursue the vision God has given the Church in Japan.”

Partnering with SIM International

A3 SIM logo1 I am thrilled that this unique missional partnership with SIM-USA in 2011 has now grown to include SIM International. It is possible to send Missional Partners to Japan from any country where SIM has a presence! Missions is from everywhere to everywhere. Our team on the ground in Japan will be more effective and more fully represent the global church as we receive "A3.MPs" from more countries outside of North America. We already have our first A3.MP from East Asia and are hoping to receive our second later this year.

And Robert reports that we have two units approved to come in the next year or so and several others moving through the inquiry process. By the end of July, we will already have ten potential A3.MPs in Japan from four countries on vision trips, exploring their call.

go2japan logo

A3 + SIM = go2japan

If you know of anyone interested in serving as a Missional Partner in Japan, please send them to go2japan—a website for potential missionaries to explore Japan.

Join everyone in the A3 community as we celebrate this long-time ministry with a new name of Missional Partners.

With hope for Japan,

joe sig blue

Joseph W. Handley, Jr., Ph.D.

Joe & Silk Handley This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
@jwhandley
@jwhandley

More Information

Ministry Opportunities in Japan
Read about the missional partnership between A3 and SIM
History of A3 (Language Institute For Evangelism/LIFE Ministries > Asian Access > A3)
go2japan: https://go2japan.org
Hear from our Missional Partners...
SIM International: https://sim.org

* My vision is to empower your vision." — Our founder Ken laid the foundation on solid ground with a keen focus on Christ-like leadership and a famous story from our history of asking Pastor Takaichi Murakami his vision for Japan. After Rev. Murakami shared for sometime, he turned to Ken saying, “What’s your vision as the missionary God sent to Japan?” And, Ken quickly added, “My vision is to empower your vision!” That foundation laid the groundwork for the deep seated values of A3: empowering indigenous leaders for the vision God had given them!

This is Why We Go Together

Our value for community and the importance of partnership

We often exhort one another at A3 with the proverb, “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.” While the exact origins of this proverb are murky, the truth of it is undeniable: for sustainable ministry (and really, life in general), we need each other.

And just days before departing with our 2023 Summer Short-Term Team, I experienced this truth in a profound way.

Introducing A3.Missional Partners

Our Missionaries Have a New Name!

Beauty Before Me

As much as I’ve tried to process, ponder, and pick stuff apart, I’ll simply say for now that the last seven years or so have been disorienting. I won’t go as far as to say I’ve been deconstructing, as that word is a bit loaded and a lot dramatic compared to what I’ve been doing. At the same time, I don’t want to understate the amount of disappointment, confusion, shock, anger (occasionally bordering on rage), and deep sadness I have felt toward certain branches of the stream of Christianity I’m a part of. Perhaps detangling is a better term. But I’m not wanting to go into that a ton here. Not yet anyway. 

What I am wanting to do is practice being more of a noticer—seeing people who don’t seem to be flailing around in choppy waters like me but instead are more like anchors. People like my mom: a woman who is stable and steady, who sees similar things as me, yet keeps on watering her flowers, making food for people, playing the organ at church, showing up for her friends, and volunteering at a thrift store that employs people in the penitentiary system. She keeps on making music, meals, and memories, keeps on listening to Reactionary, Big Feeling Me, and keeps on being her steady self.

After Three Years of Waiting, Finally!

Tokyo Summer Olympics 2020 Team Going to Japan

A3 (formerly Asian Access) began decades ago with a thriving short-term summer program called Scrum Dendo. Every summer, multiple teams would come to Japan, partner with Japanese churches, and create bridges to each community through English language outreach.

At the beginning of 2020, we had high hopes of reviving these summer mission teams, partnering with churches who wanted to do major outreach work surrounding the Tokyo Olympics.

We had no clue what was coming that year.

I Come Bearing Gifts

For over a decade, February 1, 2011, remained memorialized in my mind as my “Japanniversary,” the day God took me to Japan, one month before the Triple Disaster. Each passing year, I have acknowledged this date in some way—karaoke with friends, a Facebook post, or a quiet prayer to God.

But 2022 was the year I wrapped up over a decade of life in Japan and moved “home.” In 2023, to recall my arrival date in Japan, I had to look at my 手帳 (techō, my pocket schedule book). I was too late! The day, March 16, had passed by me without so much as a wink.

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FROM THE PRESIDENT

Stories from Joe Handley, president of A3