By Nicole

Truth be told, Japan was never a country that was on my radar. I had always known that at some point in my life I wanted to explore East Asia, but for me that meant South Korea.

Japan (MNN) – Global workers in Japan have announced a new name to describe their role and vision.

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.

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.

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.

We had so much fun last week at our Kanto Thanksgiving Gathering. One of the highlights was meeting with some potential missionaries to Japan who had a wonderful story of how they met and how God called them to Japan. Hearing how they had met with so many people who discouraged them about Japan but then meeting with Asian Access gave them a sense of hope in serving here really warmed my heart! They also asked great questions! One of them was asking Jeffery Sonnenberg (pictured here with his wife Akiko) why we encourage church planters to work together. In other words, What’s the value of...

“When we do mission, we need one heart. So we can do it together.”

These two sentences best sum up our commitment to live and work in community. Pastor Yukimasa Otomo shared this with me to describe his partnership with A2 missionaries Robert and Roberta Adair. The partnership between Japanese pastors and A2 missionaries is deep. As Yukimasa Sensei added, “Having Robert [here] is good for me, because I can share my heart.” Robert was excited to partner with this pastor, too...

A3 and SIM USA partner to send more church-planting missionaries to Japan

Missional partnership just part of larger, collaborative vision

A missional partnership uniting A3 and SIM is aimed at sending more church-planting missionaries to Japan. By leveraging the strengths of the two... 

A3 and SIM partner to send more church-planting missionaries to Japan

A missional partnership uniting A3 and SIM USA is aimed at sending more church-planting missionaries to Japan. By leveraging the strengths of the two mission-sending agencies, they hope to...

Asian Access never starts its own churches in Japan. We always work in partnership with a Japanese pastor and an existing local church. Asian Access is absolutely committed to national leadership. From day one, there is a Japanese pastor or lay person in charge of the church planting team. The missionary, who is never the primary pastor, is there to support the Japanese-led church planting effort.

by Rev. Hiroshi Kawasaki
Former Director of JCGI Network

The Lord desires that Japan be evangelized. We are called to witness and to plant as many churches as possible. A healthy church is one that establishes itself while starting other churches.

Church planting is not an easy task...

Many churches in Japan have been involved in church planting, but the results have not always been encouraging. There is, of course, no one method for planting churches, but we must strive to develop the most effective strategy possible.

Let me introduce a strategy that we have been using in cooperation with Asian Access' Japan Church Growth Institute, testing it in Yamagata Prefecture since 1996. It is called "Church Planting by Networking."

Takeshi Takazawa shares insights into the working relationship with Japanese pastors. It's all about walking together!

Journey-Together.m4a [4:40]

How does Asian Access work with Japanese congregations to take the love of Christ to Japan? Listen to Jeffery explain about the dynamic partnerships and "missionary catalysts". Oh, and check out the beach parties and BBQs, too!

True-Partnership.mp3 [5:44]

Joining Forces in Japan Toward a Far-reaching Vision

Asian Access plans to greatly expand ministry in Japan by aggressively developing its church multiplication movement. We plan to accomplish this goal by sending more church planting missionaries, as well as identifying even more emerging Japanese leaders to multiply churches at an accelerated rate.

A2 Expands in Japan to Plant More Churches

JAPAN (MNN) ― "God has us moving down an unknown path, and it's going to be exciting to watch it unfold." That's President of Asian Access Joe Handley.

He says Asian Access is preparing for the future, and as a part of that plan, A2 has embarked on an 18-month discovery process to review their vision, mission, strategic goals and DNA.

Ever since Tuesday, 1/12/10, you may have noticed that I’ve been posting news about my friend, Dan Woolley, a Compassion International staff worker in Haiti who served as a student intern of mine when I worked at Azusa Pacific University.