Last month John was really on a “Dream Team” in their trip through Asia. The seven members were 3 Vietnamese, 2 Filipinos, 1 Indonesian, and John was the only westerner in the group. But everyone recognized that even though John has an American background his heart is really Asian.
FOCUS ON JAPAN
Last month John was in Japan for the Seventh Japan Congress on Evangelism in Gifu near Nagoya. John was among the 1,000 leaders seeking to lock arms for furthering evangelism, discipleship, and church planting among the unreached Japanese. He saw Converge colleagues, met with some key leaders, heard many encouraging stories of church advance, was able to coach several leaders, and continues to hear influence from his published books. One highlight was John having dinner with the Train & Multiply leaders. To date they have trained 700 Japanese churches in basic evangelism and discipleship which leads to church multiplication. That is nearly 10% of the less than 8,000 Japanese churches! Things are really happening in Japan! We keep checking the pulse of Japan.
FOCUS ON SOUTHEAST ASIA
We visited some 7 groups of key leaders in several cities in Southeast Asia in September. We presented opportunities for equipping workers and the reception was beyond our dreams. In one country several groups of leaders told us separately that they believed in the divine timing of our visit. We also sensed that God was ready to do something through intensive training in church planting. When we left, we lined up dream training to begin this winter and next spring in these key cities. The leaders are highly motivated. Several other groups of leaders were also open to more training and equipping. Continue to pray for the sense of God’s timing among each leader.
FOCUS ON SOUTH ASIA
This week a top leader from India is visiting the US to see some of his family and spend time with AIT members John and Dr. Phu Pham and talk about their mission outreach to neighboring countries. Currently they have 34 missionaries working in 7 regions among 4 countries and at least 10 people groups. They want to expand their missionary numbers to over 100 and develop training systems for all their missionaries. Pray that these days will be productive, our visits to theological seminaries will be fruitful, and we will be able to determine the practical next steps toward their mission dream.
Asia Impact Team members Dr. Phu, and Mark Boggess will then be off for three weeks to another South Asian country to visit some top leaders in several regions. John was originally planning to go but with God’s guidance decided Mark should go in his place. Pray for them as they prepare to leave on the 16th. They will be leading in training in church development, coaching leaders, and the practical duties for leaders. Pray for travel issues, good learning environments, and great personal relationships. May God grant every leader new dreams and means to fulfill those dreams.