March 11, 2026
By JOSEPH W. HANDLEY

Today marks another anniversary of the 3.11 triple disaster in Japan—the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear crisis that devastated Tohoku in 2011.

I still remember the being in Karuizawa when the quake hit and how long it lasted (the longest I've ever experienced!). I also recall watching the waves roll in on the news, praying for friends and partners across Japan.

For us at A3, that moment became more than a tragedy. It became a kairos moment.

In the months and years that followed, we walked alongside pastors and churches in the region offering encouragement, training, and long-term partnership as they shepherded communities through unimaginable loss.

One of the most beautiful expressions of hope to emerge from those days was the Nozomi Project in Ishinomaki. What began as a simple effort to help women rebuild their lives after the tsunami has grown into a powerful testimony of dignity, community, and the Gospel at work.

Over time, we came to see that even in the darkest moments, God was opening hearts in Japan in new ways. Churches were strengthened, leaders emerged, and seeds of hope were planted.

Fifteen years later, I still believe what we sensed then: God often meets us most profoundly in the valleys of suffering.

Today I pause to pray for the people of Tohoku, for the pastors and churches who continue to serve faithfully there, and for the ongoing work of hope and restoration across Japan.

Out of ashes, God continues to bring life.

Rev. Joseph W. Handley, Jr., Ph.D.
CEO, A3

@jwhandley
@jwhandley
@JosephWHandleyJr
@jwhandley
jhandley@a3.email

Related Articles

• Japan's Tsunami: Chaos and Kairos (Jeff Johnston) - published March 12, 2011
• A Kairos Moment for the Church in Japan (Joe Handley) - published March 12, 2011
• Groundbreaking shifts resulting from Japan's Triple Disaster (Yoshiya Hari) - March 9, 2021

The adjustment process for missionary women in Japan

By SUE PLUMB TAKAMOTO

Adjusting to life in Japan as missionaries is hard! For women, there are some particular challenges that make it difficult, including caring for family and children and the loss of community while in a bewildering life season.

But there is hope. While it takes many years to adjust to Japan, a missionary and their sending community can facilitate this process by understanding some of the needs of women during this time.

In my 2003 PhD dissertation, “Liminality and the North American Missionary Adjustment Process in Japan,” I analyzed the stories of forty missionaries from sixteen different mission agencies to see how they adjusted to life in Japan. The statistics show that it takes 7.8 years on average for a missionary to adjust to Japan! The women surveyed faced particular challenges to surviving and thriving in new locations. They often found themselves juggling the expectations and needs of children and family, and they were unable to find community or healthy ministry opportunities.

Here, I’ll summarize some of the findings concerning what women in particular have found difficult as they seek to adjust to life in Japan. More importantly, I will also share some habits and helps to navigate the process of feeling at home in Japanese culture.

Problems facing women missionaries

Support

An overwhelming 82% of the married women interviewed in my research talked about the lack of emotional and practical support they experienced in their roles as mothers and wives. Missionary mothers with young children find that while their husbands generally are able to engage in either full-time language study or ministry, they remain “stuck at home,” unable to move forward in the adjustment process. Meanwhile, many single women leave strong support bases in their home country only to find that, in Japan, being over thirty and single seems to be an anomaly. One single woman writes about her challenges:

Not having someone to be completely honest with on hard days . . . not having a built-in teammate in the midst of transitions . . . the oddity of being older and not married. In this culture, at least, people feel very free to tell me that I am too old now to get married, and aren’t my parents worried?

Communication

Women, more than men, expressed great frustration in the inability to communicate in their new culture. Women tended to define their previous identity based on their communication abilities, independence, and ability to build successful relationships. One missionary wrote this haiku about her adjustment journey:

Wants to speak her heart
Feels like a mute that can’t talk
Frustrated, lonely, despairs

These areas of identity formation can quickly feel invalidated by the inability to effectively communicate in Japanese:

• “My whole view of myself was turned upside down with that.”
• “I think that was very difficult for me and did a number on my self-esteem that I think took a long time to recover from.”
• “When I would go to church, I would become very withdrawn and that’s not my personality naturally.”

Alienation and loneliness

Most missionary women generally enter some sort of period of isolation as a result of their new setting and inability to communicate; the longer this season lasts, the more frustrating and lonely the experience becomes. Some missionary women move toward lifestyle choices of seclusion that further alienate them from the culture in which they are ministering; others find their journey toward cultural engagement long and difficult. Those with small children in the home already tend to feel isolated and withdrawn, and loneliness for single missionaries is often more pronounced in a new culture where they have not yet established deep relationships.

Insignificance

When the expectations and hopes that we have upon arriving in Japan do not happen in our desired time frame, the missionary finds herself asking such questions like “Why am I even here?” Women raising families tend to find their feelings of uselessness pronounced, as often their husbands are more quickly able to go out and have effective ministries while they are at home caring for children:

• “I felt like I could do nothing . . . a feeling of total uselessness.”
• “I battled feelings of jealousy—what am I doing here? I’m stuck. Horrible feelings came up.”
• “Am I worthwhile? Did God really call me? Does He really want to use me over here with these limitations?”

And for all women, the challenges of Japanese culture and language can lead to pronounced frustrations. A single woman shared that it took her twenty years to find a position in which she could find long-term effectiveness; until that point, she was not content and did not feel adjusted.

The search for identity—who am I?

Moving to Japan involves a complete pulling up of roots—people, location, job, and identity—which is particularly challenging for women. Women tended to choose metaphors like “rip” or “tear” to describe their feelings of adjustment from their home country to Japan. One woman began her haiku by simply stating: “Identity lost…” The process of establishing roots is long and arduous and often means a struggle of identity for women: “We hadn’t developed that root system and that network of support and so forth and we needed to be nourished.”

Moving toward adjustment

Transformation

The process of adjustment to Japan has led most women missionaries through a passage that has brought about personality transformation and different ways of thinking and doing. The majority of women who successfully adjusted to Japan experienced both a personality shift from being less self-reliant to being more resilient and open as well as a profound change in where their self-worth was based—no longer defined by accomplishments but rather in a deepening relationship with a personal God.

Adjustment and identity

The way women described their feelings once they had adjusted to a new culture were consistent: connected relationships, feeling purposeful/significant, and the ability to communicate. My research indicates that the majority of women missionaries in Japan thrive best when they have connected relationships and purposefulness. So it is no great surprise that a female missionary is often extremely frustrated during her early years in service! Without language ability, most of her options for building meaningful relationships and making a significant mark on the world are out of reach. It is only by “getting through” the language learning, isolation, young children, cultural issues, and rebuilding her web of relationships that she is able to redefine herself in the new environment.

Adjustment: How to get there

Success in the small things

It is unfortunate that many missionaries apparently do not have a taste of feeling successful or useful on the mission field until their second or third term! Many missionaries unfortunately leave Japan before they have found places in ministry that help them feel adjusted. I have found that those who are given even small ministry tasks early on in which they are successful can adjust more smoothly. Some positive experiences shared by first-term missionary women:

• “I was kind of like her sidekick in all of that and she just really, she wouldn’t let me just stay in my house and feel sorry for myself.”
• “She had some English things that she needed help with and I could help her. So I had some feeling that I had given something to her.”
• “But at that time thankfully I was working with students—as an outreach—and that’s the only thing that allowed me to make it through language school.”

Supervisors can help by putting all missionaries from the very start into positions where they can experience even small measures of success. This includes those in full-time language study who need ministry outlets, even if just once a week. And women can also take responsibility for their own self-growth. In my first few months living back in Japan, I forced myself to attend the twice-monthly fabric-dyeing women’s circle in my community where I could learn and build new relationships.

Finding community

Women need community, which includes safe confidants who can listen and understand. Relationships help women find their voice, which is central to a woman’s identity. Carol Gilligan’s research concludes that women approach life through the connection of a web of relationships, which holds everything together.¹ Finding life-giving community needs to remain a high priority for women living overseas.

For missionary moms, this often involves other women in similar situations as themselves and may be as simple as weekly meetings at a local McDonalds or playgroup. It is also worth noting that many missionary moms have found early learning settings to be places where they found not only significant community but also an inroad to adjustment. The missionary and Japanese moms are thrown together into a new life stage where, like their children, they are starting something together. This setting then serves as a bridge into the wider local community, a means for learning more language and culture, and provides an “in” into the usually tight community. For single women, finding like-minded friends remains highly significant; some have found that Japanese roommates can serve not only as important friends but also as cultural guides and links into the community.

Starting something new

An interesting correlation emerged in my research that pointed to the importance of missionaries being part of something new in order to be allowed on the “inside” of a group in Japan. A new church plant, a new local volleyball team, a new group of yōchien moms, starting a neighborhood English class—these group examples in which missionaries and Japanese partner together in any kind of new ongoing activity can give the adjusting missionary the opportunity to be inside the group, which is extremely helpful in a society that clearly but invisibly demarcates those inside and outside the group. Being on the inside of a group can speed up the whole adjustment process, including language and cultural learning and building strong relationships.

Mentors and guides along the way

Effective mentoring² can come in numerous forms and remains significant to the successful adjustment of new missionaries! A missionary coach is the most important type of mentor, giving help by believing in the emerging missionary. Goodwin’s principle of expectation best describes this mentor: “Emerging leaders tend to live up to the genuine expectations of leaders they respect.”³ Missionaries reflected on what this encouragement looked like:

• “He believed in me and so he created opportunities.”
• “He stuck his neck out for me.”
• “He had confidence in me.”
• “She would correct me very gently.”
• “He gave me a good experience.”
• “He was really just a cheerleader.”
• “They didn’t treat us like . . . children, but like peers."
• "Made me feel that he was saying, ‘I’m alongside of you—I’m taking you into my confidence.’”
• “She ‘poured into me.’”

This type of life-giving encouragement can come from Japanese or Westerners in spheres of influence, from a supervisor or more veteran missionary.

Cultural guides can model and/or teach Japanese language, culture, and everyday living by providing a safe environment of learning for the missionary. These mentors appear to play a necessary role during the first years of adjustment and each time another major adjustment takes place (i.e., moving to a new location, having a baby, etc.).

Finally, missionaries in all seasons of life also greatly benefit from finding extended “family” on the mission field. These individuals or families are able to provide for needs such as serving as “surrogate” grandparents to a missionary family’s children or providing a comfortable home that allows them to experience what they are missing back home.

Member care specialists tend to agree that the main thing all adjusting missionaries need is ongoing support, monitoring, and mentoring. Seasoned missionaries, officially or unofficially, can play significant roles by choosing to fill these roles for those still adjusting. Missionary leaders should proactively look for missionaries with gifts of mentoring, encouragement, and/or cultural aptitude to help newer workers. Providing ongoing small-group communities for missionaries will also allow some of these mentoring relationships to form in a natural way.

Opportunities for ongoing learning and reflection

Missionaries need opportunities for reflection and on-field learning. While many missions emphasize pre-field training, often little is being done to guide on-field reflection and growth. Providing retreats, conferences, and home assignment learning opportunities can bring perspective and enlightenment to a struggling missionary. In addition, reflection is essential for transformation and adjustment to occur. The missionary and the agency leadership need to be proactive in seeking opportunities for ongoing reflection, learning, and transformation. Understanding the needs and challenges of adjusting missionary workers can be a lot of work, but the agencies and individuals who proactively look for opportunities to meet those needs will be a huge benefit to the missionary!

Some concluding thoughts

The missionary experiences of adjustment to Japan generally reflect a period of great disorganization in a woman’s life. Yet this season also gives the gift of transformation.

It has been my privilege to meet and know many amazing missionaries in Japan who have emerged from their adjustment period with humility and greatness rolled into one. Along the way, they have had seasons in which their faith has faltered, they have failed vocationally, and they have struggled with loneliness and insignificance. Yet their perseverance and God’s faithfulness has resulted in beautiful and meaningful relationships, fulfillment in ministry, and a deeper and more integrated faith.

1. Carol Gilligan, In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women’s Development, 2nd ed. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993).
2. Referencing J. Robert Clinton and Richard W. Clinton, The Mentor Handbook (Altadena, CA: Barnabas Publishers, 1999). Clinton and Clinton look at mentoring in broad strokes, defining it as various acts of empowerment. I have simplified some of their and my own research for the sake of this article.
3. J. Robert Clinton, Clinton’s Biblical Leadership Commentary (Altadena, CA: Barnabas Publishers, 1999), 690.

SUE PLUMB TAKAMOTO , PhD. and her husband, Eric, invested over 22 years in Japan, working in evangelism and church planting in Sendai, Osaka, and Ishinomaki. In response to the 3.11 triple disaster in NE Japan, Sue launched the Nozomi Project, a micro-enterprise venture employing over 35 women, who created beautiful jewelry from pottery broken by the tsunami. Sue serves as an A3 faculty member covering leader formation, evangelism, cross-cultural training, and finishing well. In 2023, Sue and Eric relocated to the US, continuing their ministry with A3 and reaching out to local Japanese families. She is known affectionately as the best prankster in A3.

This article by Sue Plumb Takamoto is reposted with permission and was originally published by Japan Harvest Magazine in its Winter 2024 edition here: https://japanharvest.org/not-just-surviving-but-thriving/ 

Header photo courtesy of Jei Lee on Unsplash

Japan Harvest is the official publication of the Japan Evangelical Missionary Association (JEMA). The purpose of the publication is to promote the evangelical church in Japan and the ministry of the association. Japan Harvest encourages, inspires, and equips the JEMA community and those seeking to reach the Japanese people with the gospel. 

by YOSHIYA HARI
National Director, A3 Japan

FOR MORE THAN FORTY YEARS, A3-JAPAN has walked alongside pastors and Christian leaders across our nation. We have prayed, learned, and labored together for the renewal of the church in one of the most spiritually challenging mission fields in the world.

In 2020, we took a courageous step forward.

Redesigning our Program

Recognizing that leadership formation must go deeper than classrooms and lectures, we redesigned our national Leadership Development Program. Our goal was simple but bold: not merely to train leaders, but to form Christlike leaders for long-term, faithful ministry in Japan.

Recently, we completed a thorough evaluation of the first two cohorts of this revised program. As I read the feedback, I was deeply encouraged. What I saw was not just a successful program, but a growing movement of leaders being renewed by God.

From Information to Transformation

For many years, leadership training in Japan followed an academic model. While valuable, it sometimes produced excellent strategy papers without lasting change on the ground.

Our revised program made key, decisive shifts:

• From INFORMATION → to FORMATION
• From CLASSROOMS → to COMMUNITY
• From TECHNIQUE → to TRANSFORMATION

This change is bearing fruit.

Participants consistently describe the program as a place of deep personal renewal, not merely skill development. They speak of rediscovering their calling, regaining spiritual clarity, and finding fresh courage to lead in difficult contexts.

This is exactly what we prayed for.

Healing Isolation Among Pastors

One of the most striking outcomes is the power of community.

Japanese pastors often carry their burdens alone. Denominational boundaries, regional isolation, and ministry pressure can quietly drain the soul.

In our program, leaders repeatedly testify that the greatest gift was not a lecture, but a fellowship.

They found:

• Trusted peers across denominations
• A safe place to share struggles honestly
• Spiritual companions for the long road of ministry

These relationships did not end at graduation. Many cohorts continue meeting, praying, and collaborating years later.

This is more than training. It is the rebuilding of the Body of Christ in Japan.

Forming Leaders from the Inside Out

Participants consistently highlight several practices that God used deeply in their lives:

• Timeline reflection, helping leaders see God’s hand across their life story
• Vision clarification, sharpening their sense of calling
• Servant leadership formation, shaping character before strategy
• Barnabas coaching, providing personal spiritual care
• Hands-on ministry experiences, grounding learning in real mission

These are not quick techniques. They are slow, formative processes — exactly what Japan’s church needs in this season.

We are not just preparing leaders to do more. We are helping them become more.

Why This Matters for Japan’s Future

Japan does not need quick fixes. Instead, we need:

• Spiritually rooted leaders
• Emotionally healthy pastors
• Theologically grounded innovators
• Relational bridge-builders across the body of Christ

That is exactly the kind of leadership this program is cultivating.

Leaders emerge with renewed faith, clarified calling, and stronger networks for cooperation across regions and denominations. Churches are strengthened not only through better strategy, but through healthier shepherds.

This is how lasting renewal takes root.

Gratitude and Hope

I am profoundly grateful:

• To our participants, who trusted the journey.
• To our faculty and coaches, who poured out their wisdom.
• To our partners and supporters, who made this possible.
• Most of all, I am grateful to God, who is quietly renewing the leaders of His church in Japan.

We are walking together into the future — not perfectly, but faithfully.

And I believe the best days of Christ’s church in Japan are still ahead.

Yoshiya Hari

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

REV. YOSHIYA (JOSHUA) HARI is the pastor of Saikyo Nozomi Chapel and has been the A3 Japan National Director since 2011. He works with leaders across Japan to grow networks and inspire a church multiplication movement with an eye for those areas without a church. Yoshiya also serves on A3's international Ministry Team, which provides direction and oversight for our global leader development network.
yhari@a3.email

More Information

• Photo credits:
  • Header photo of group hiking uphill by Tobias Mrzyk on Unsplash
  • Inset photos courtesy A3/Japan
• There is a summary video in Japanese language here: https://youtu.be/EcnSNNNZQi0

What disaster response can teach us about church planting and evangelism

While working on my master’s degree at Wheaton College, I took a course on relief and development. I had previously served in Japan and planned to be involved in church planting upon my return, and honestly I thought the course was irrelevant. I did the work but didn’t pay much attention. Then, following the March 11, 2011 disaster in Tohoku, my wife and I moved to Miyagi Prefecture to do relief and development work alongside a Japanese church.

I quickly contacted Dr. Campbell at Wheaton, apologized for not taking her course as seriously as I should have, and asked for a list of resources she thought would be helpful in our situation.

This article is the fourth in a series on missiology, specifically looking at models where the missionary is forgotten in the process of what God is doing. It’s inspired by Dr. Patrick Fung’s book Live to be Forgotten.

I have observed many missiological similarities between relief and development to church planting and evangelism efforts. One of these common points is the role a missionary plays in the situation.

Three kinds of responders

Following the Tohoku disaster, a group of Japanese pastors had the opportunity to travel to Sri Lanka and learn from the experience of the Sri Lankan church following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. On the tour, Sri Lankan pastor Adrian De Visser shared his observations of three types of people who respond to a disaster:

1. Local people who have a dual identity of both victim and responder.
2. Outside people with a previous connection to the area (friends or family in the region, previously lived there, etc.).
3. People with little or no previous connection to the area.

Rev. De Visser’s point was that because type 3 tends to have more time, resources, and is less directly impacted by the event itself, they tend to dominate the discussion on how the response to the disaster should occur.

However, type 1, the local person, with a dual identity as both responder and victim, has the best understanding of the situation but often has the least time and resources. Type 3 does not necessarily intend to take over, but there are natural pressures, tensions, and realities that push the dynamic in this direction.

How then does a response happen where type 3 does not dominate and each type can operate in their strengths?

Before examining the missiological implications, I would like to take a moment to elaborate on each type.

Type 1: Dual identity

In 2014, I had a conversation with a pastor from the Tohoku coast who had been both directly impacted by the disaster and deeply involved in the response. During our conversation, he shared about the tension between trying to respond to the tremendous need around him while simultaneously grieving his personal losses associated with the tragedy. In many ways, it reminded me of Bilbo Baggins from The Fellowship of the Ring when he said, “I feel thin, sort of stretched . . . like butter that has been scraped over too much bread.”¹

I think this image would resonate with several of my Japanese friends in Tohoku. Most of them lost a friend or family member in the disaster and suffered some level of emotional trauma and physical loss. At the same time, because they were Japanese Christians in the area with some overseas connections, there was significant pressure to be the gatekeepers, organizers, and leaders for outside groups with a variety of agendas and expectations. They deeply desired to respond but had limited capacity.

Question: How can someone with the most experience and connections in an area, a desire to respond, the deepest pain associated with the event, and yet the least capacity stay central in the decision-making process for the overall response?

Type 2: In the middle

The type 2 responder is a fuzzier role. They are neither fully insiders nor outsiders. I experienced this role following the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake. From 2005 to 2009, I served in northern Kagoshima and southern Kumamoto. Seven years after leaving Kyushu, a major earthquake struck near Kumamoto City, and our organization discerned that God was leading us to be part of the response. Because of my experience in the area and relationships with several churches, pastors, and leaders, my organization asked me to help lead this response. I am thankful I was able to help, but it was also really hard. I found myself engaging with churches that knew me when I was younger; they trusted me, but saw me as somewhat of an outsider.

Younger missionaries feared I might be more committed to the local churches impacted by the earthquake than I was to them. Sometimes my knowledge and experience were helpful, but other times my assumptions and past experiences clouded the decision-making process.

Question: How can someone from the outside, with previous relationships and experience, help type 1 and type 3 responders serve well together?

Type 3: From the outside

Type 3 people have time, resources, and an outside perspective. They are often well-meaning, trained, and ready to respond to immediate needs. They also provide an outside perspective, which sometimes is problematic but often helps to illuminate blind spots. At the same time, finances in particular can quickly become the dominant force in decision-making.

During the pandemic, a church that usually sends a team wanted to send a gift to support a specific kind of event or outreach since they couldn’t come. The Japanese pastor was torn; he appreciated their kindness and wanted to do outreach, but what the church really needed was an air conditioner in the children’s building. The kind offer of funds was pushing the church to create busyness and events that were not a priority and that it didn’t have the capacity for. I recommended he ask if the funds could be used for the AC, and they were happy to help.

The overseas church had wanted to help and put out an idea, not realizing the pressure it would put on the Japanese church.

Another example that is a bit more awkward to discuss but relevant is that many missionaries have considerably more financial freedom than the pastors we work with. Christian leadership is not about salary, but it is complex for a Japanese pastor to lead a missionary who they don’t pay and who makes more than they do.

Question: How can someone with more time, resources, and a different perspective than the people they are attempting to help offer what they have in a way that does not dominate the decision-making process?

Type 3 as “alongside-ers”

Those of us in cross-cultural missions often identify and are identified as outsiders. But it is important to come alongside what God and the local church are already doing and be additive. If we are in a type 3 role, we need to avoid dominating a context or process unintentionally (or intentionally) due to our availability, resources, and perspective.

Type 2 as bridges

This brings me back to type 2, which is positioned in the liminal space between the insider and the outsider. In the Japanese church, there are many people who occupy this ambiguous position. Some are Japanese people who have lived overseas, and others are expats with extensive time and experience in Japan. They are sometimes accepted as honorary insiders in their local and long-term contexts while remaining outsiders to most people. They are also often not fully accepted by either side.

To the Japanese person, they are still a foreigner, and to the new missionary, they have been in Japan too long to understand a newcomer’s experience. These people are often best positioned to bridge the gap. They can advocate for the voices of both type 1 and type 3 to be heard in a conversation. They have the chance to be a strong ligament within the body of Christ.In closing, I have a few questions for reflection. If you find yourself in the situation below, how can you respond?

• Type 1: How can I help the well-meaning outsiders understand the situation, learn from their perspective, and work together to respond to the need?
• Type 2: How can I come between type 1 and type 3 responders and help them to work well together?
• Type 3: How can I listen to type 1 and type 2 responders and offer the time, resources, and perspective freely so that we can work well together?

When all three types work together, it creates an environment where the church is united and can powerfully respond to felt and spiritual needs.

Each person and group disappears as a piece of the body, fulfilling its role faithfully under the leadership of Christ and allowing him to receive credit and glory. We can “live to be forgotten in order that Christ might be remembered.”²

Robert Adair

1. J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring: The Lord of the Rings, Part 1 (HarperCollins, 1997), 32.
2. Patrick Fung, Live to be Forgotten (OMF International, 2008), foreword, Kindle.

ROBERT ADAIR is a Texan who serves in Miyagi Prefecture through a partnership with Shiogama Bible Baptist Church and as the Vice President for A3 Missional Partners. He is married to Roberta and the father of four energetic boys.

This article by Robert Adair is reposted with permission and was originally published by Japan Harvest Magazine in its Winter 2026 edition here: https://japanharvest.org/lesson-from-a-sri-lankan-pastor/ 

Japan Harvest is the official publication of the Japan Evangelical Missionary Association (JEMA). The purpose of the publication is to promote the evangelical church in Japan and the ministry of the association. Japan Harvest encourages, inspires, and equips the JEMA community and those seeking to reach the Japanese people with the gospel. 

By ROBERTA ADAIR

I pedalled as fast as I could with one hand on the handlebars and the other raised in a fist, yelling in Albanian, “You destroyer of beauty! You destroyer of beauty!” I had just watched a driver throw garbage out of his car window, and my bottled rage exploded – a vivid memory from 15 years ago of culture shock squirting out badly.

When I arrived in Kosovo as an eager and idealistic missionary in my early 20s, my new teammates welcomed me warmly and talked with me early and often about culture shock. They taught me that it would include feelings of disorientation, uncertainty, confusion, and anxiety. While there are a variety of ways people describe the stages of culture shock, a simple version includes: honeymoon, frustration, adjustment, and acceptance. I will touch on all of these stages, not as an expert but as someone who struggled – especially in the frustration stage.

Honeymoon Stage 

Honeymoon: When I was in this phase, it was like I was dancing around singing “Everything is Awesome” from The Lego Movie. Everything was awesome! and delicious! and clever! and fascinating! and amazing! and an adventure! For a lot of people, this stage involves a lot of gushing and positive superlatives.

But then, right on schedule, after this lovely honeymoon period, I found myself getting irritated to incredibly angry over big and little things. For the first time in my life, I developed a casual cussing habit. (Before moving overseas, the closest I came to swearing were words like “snap-dabbit!” and “drat!”)

Frustration Stage

I remember a time when I seethed at a group of men who sat lazily drinking coffee and smoking their cigarettes, watching a minority (Roma) child getting beat up. I remember a ringing in my ears after breaking up the skirmish and marching over to the men, enraged. My nostrils flared as I fumed, “You think you are men? Just sitting there on your bums while a foreign woman did what you should have done?!” (This “righteous anger” was actually misdirected anger. I had found an outlet for my culture-shocking rage, and it felt so good.)

Fast forward a few years to when I was in the middle of my first term in Japan. Once again, the culture-shocking monster predictably reappeared. I was pregnant with our first son, waiting at a busy train station for out-of-town friends to arrive. While standing at a popular meeting place, I saw a slimy dude approach young, attractive women who were traveling alone. One by one, he handed them a card and whispered something. Woman after woman looked uncomfortable and scurried away. Beside me were several men aware of what was happening but ignoring it.

I, with two years of (not very effectively) bottled angst and stress, squinted my eyes at the passive bystanders and marched up to the man, stood as tall as I could, and said something eloquent like, “I am watching you, Bad Man. Me – older sister. These women – like little sisters. You no good. Bad! Bad!” (Japanese has been even harder for me to learn than Albanian.)

Then I did the ol’ point two fingers at my eyes and then point at him with a slow nod. Because nothing says “intimidating” like a frizzy-haired pregnant woman with broken Japanese. My husband and I later had a big fight about this. “Um, you’ve heard of organized crime, right? And you know there are station workers whose job is to handle stuff like this, right?” But I felt so smug, so…relieved…to have an outlet for my pent-up big feelings.

Lord, have mercy on culture shocking missionaries.

Yes, I had once again entered the Frustration stage (or, rather, flung myself into this stage with abandon). Here came the irritability, the quick temper, the anxiety. Here came the intense homesickness and loss of motivation and loss of self-confidence. Here came wanting to only hang out with (or trust) other foreigners and spending a lot of time on solo activities like scrolling or shows or sleeping.

This stage feels awful, is normal, and is a stage. Remember that you will move through it…just breathe and keep going. Be gentle with yourself because adjusting to a new culture is hard work. Cling to God, his promises, and your call. Fight to stay curious and teachable. And hang out with people who have gone before you who have struggled and made it through while being cautious of people who have stalled in this stage or those who diminish how hard it is.

For me, this stage often involved feeling intensely about everything. As my go-to negative emotion for a lot of my life has been anger, I would feel crazy, angry, and crazy angry. I know others whose go-to emotion is sadness. So for them, this frustration phase involved feeling crazy, sad, and crazy sad. Or for the anxious types: crazy, anxious, and crazy anxious.

I have strong memories of bawling (not little eye leaks but blotchy face and streaming tears) in the church bathroom after being spoken to sharply, my good intentions interpreted very negatively. I remember shaking in anger over a difficult situation, labeling someone a chauvinist, another person dysfunctional, and uncharitably evaluating people around me.

Although I wouldn’t (couldn’t) admit it at the time, I also thought I knew better, I thought I could do better, and deep-down I thought I was better. Things that would have been frustrating or hurtful in my own culture became rage-inducing and consumingly painful in this stage. In short, I didn’t have a dainty, lady-like adjustment.

But what I did have: older on-the-ground teammates who gave me space to feel things strongly and even have occasional big outbursts. When I interpreted situations and intentions negatively, assumed the worst about people, and came to very critical conclusions, I remember my teammates and other missionary senpai (elders) listening to me and sharing, praying, even crying with me.

They didn’t say, “Everything you are seeing and perceiving is 100% accurate, your evaluations are correct, and your intensity is appropriate,” but they essentially let me ride the wave. Implied: we know this is hard, and we got through it – and we believe you will, too. They knew I was new, still learning, and deep in culture shock.

In this stage, I also at times scape-goated my organization and my partner church. (“It’s their fault I am struggling this much! If they had… They should have…“) In short, I wanted a villain, someone to blame for how uncomfortable I was and how out-of-control I felt. It felt easier at the time to be mad at an organization or its leaders than to accept the boring fact that I was culture shocking.

Now-me has a lot of compassion and gratitude for people who were trying to do their best. And it has taken me an embarrassingly long time to be able to recognize how much I was given – how much time and grace and life was shared with me.

Adjustment Stage

Slowly, slowly I was able to receive the amazing gift of my colleagues’ hard-won wisdom: their stories, confessions, examples, and vulnerable insights. Slowly, slowly I was also able to recognize the privilege of getting to worship and work alongside our Japanese partners, to share life with and live among our Japanese neighbors and friends. But getting to this place took a long time.

This is all part of the Adjustment stage, and it is most certainly not linear. It is messy and swirly, more like a colander of cooked spaghetti than a box of straight dry noodles.

This stage involves holding both the adventures and challenges together. It is being less of an idealist but also less of a jerk, no longer viewing cultural differences as “amazing” or “annoying,” but (gasp!) simply cultural differences. Your understanding is more nuanced, you still at times feel profoundly homesick, but you are developing tools to live with limitations, to deal with the challenges, to notice the beautiful. The frequency and intensity from the frustration stage diminish, but they don’t (and unlikely ever will) go away completely.

Acceptance Stage

Acceptance: In this stage, more and more you are able to notice traces of the Kingdom of God in your community as well as the image of God in the people he has placed in your life. Low-grade irritation and confusion are replaced with renewed wonder, gratitude, and calling. Of course, there will still be really hard and confusing moments and relationships, but this stage involves being able to live in a new culture with empathy, love, peace, joy, contentment, and purpose.

There will still be stressors, some related to culture stress and some related to the brokenness in yourself, others, and the world. These will and should break your heart. Each stage, including this one, will involve a thousand deaths and resurrections (my thinking here influenced by Paul Miller’s The J-Curve).

I am profoundly thankful for my in-country teammates, for those who are far ahead and just ahead of me. They know I struggled my first several years. I missed my previous country of service (the touching! spontaneity! extroversion!), and I was probably depressed (the tragic death of someone close to me, miscarriage, sad sights and stories all around me connected to the 3.11 disaster, an exhausted partner church, and a hard case of culture shock).

Even if I had trouble noticing and appreciating these remarkable people at the time, I don’t think I would still be here and for sure wouldn’t be who I am now without their wisdom and grace – and without them allowing me to ride the culture shock wave.

Yes, Lord, have mercy on culture-shocking missionaries.

And, Lord, help us, too, show your mercy to culture-shocking missionaries.

Originally from Pennsylvania (USA), ROBERTA ADAIR lived in Kosovo for three years before getting married and moving to northern Japan in 2012. She and her husband partner with a Japanese church and have four young and energetic boys. She enjoys hiking, camping, and having friends over for average and boisterous meals. 

This article by Roberta Adair is reposted with permission and was originally published by A Life Overseas on January 14, 2025: https://www.alifeoverseas.com/author/roberta_adair/https://www.alifeoverseas.com/a-culture-shock-roadmap/

Header image courtesy of A Life Overseas.

Hearing From Ken, A3's Founder

It’s a deep joy to introduce this special reflection from Ken, the founder of A3.

In this video, Ken walks us back nearly 50 years to the humble beginnings of the Japan Church Growth Award—an initiative sparked by a powerful challenge from his mentor, Dr. Donald McGavran, the father of the Church Growth Movement. What started as a seed of encouragement for one faithful Japanese pastor—Rev. Takaichi Murakami—grew into a Spirit-led network of churches encircling Tokyo. That seed eventually gave rise to the Japan Church Growth Institute, then to Asian Access, and now to A3’s expanding global impact.

Ken’s story is a beautiful reminder that Kingdom movements are rarely born through grand strategies, but through obedient hearts, relational mentoring, and bold steps of faith. You’ll hear the names of visionaries like Peter Wagner, Rick Warren, and Randy Pope—men who, early in their journeys, linked arms across traditions to see Christ’s Church flourish in Japan and beyond.

I’m so grateful for Ken’s role in planting and watering this movement, and for the faithful leaders—then and now—who have carried this vision forward.

TRANSCRIPT FROM KEN'S VIDEO (see link below)

Good morning, Joe, and thank you for the chance to reflect on a journey that began with a small seed planted in Tokyo over 50 years ago.

Back in seminary, I had the incredible privilege of being mentored by Dr. Donald McGavran—later known as the father of the Church Growth Movement. During my final year of study, McGavran moved his school from Oregon to Fuller Theological Seminary. At the time, there were only a handful of us students, which meant we received a lot of personal attention. I was fortunate to sit under not only McGavran but also other greats like Ralph Winter, Peter Wagner, and Alan Tippett.

Soon after, my wife and I headed to Japan to begin our ministry. On one of my trips back to the seminary, I visited Dr. McGavran—as I often did to renew our connection. During that visit, he looked me in the eye and said, "You know, it’s your responsibility to help visionary pastors in Japan expand their ministries through proper training and equipping."

I laughed nervously and replied, "Nice idea, but I think you’ve got the wrong guy. I’ve never done anything like that."

But McGavran pressed: "Think about it. I believe it’s your responsibility."

And think about it, I did.

Before leaving, I suggested an idea: "What if you came to Japan with me for a month? We could do this together. I could learn while we train pastors on the ground."

He shook his head. "No way. Fuller is just getting off the ground. I need to stay here."

Back in Japan, the idea continued to stir in my mind. I wrote McGavran, proposing a smaller start. "If I can find just one strong candidate—a pastor with a clear vision for church planting but needing help to bring it to life—could we create a church growth award affiliated with Fuller Seminary? You could mentor him remotely."

Surprisingly, McGavran was enthusiastic. And that’s how the seed was planted—with a faithful Japanese pastor named Takaichi Murakami.

Murakami-sensei was a humble man, but a passionate gospel warrior. He envisioned a network of lay-led churches surrounding Tokyo. I thought, Now that’s a vision McGavran would love!

McGavran instructed Murakami to survey the areas he wanted to reach and understand how people in his fellowship had come to faith. After months of preparation, Murakami traveled to the U.S. for six months of intense mentoring with McGavran, Wagner, and others. He also attended seminars with Win Arn and visited Robert Schuller’s ministry. Peter Wagner even introduced him to Randy Pope, who was planting a network of churches around Atlanta through Perimeter Presbyterian Church—a vision similar to Murakami’s.

After writing a paper and receiving feedback from Fuller professors, Murakami returned to Japan and implemented his vision with great success.

Later, I told McGavran, "It’s a lot of effort for one person to come to America. What if we brought the training to Japan?"

"It’s a lot of effort for one person to come to America. What if we brought the training to Japan?"

He said, "Now you’re thinking like I first suggested!"

But we needed the right people—one church growth scholar and a few experienced practitioners. Naturally, I said, "You need to be the first scholar to come."

After some arm-twisting, he agreed.

We had Murakami as the Japanese practitioner, and McGavran suggested we bring in others from the U.S. He connected me with three young leaders who were just getting started in ministry—Rick Warren from Saddleback, Randy Pope from Atlanta, and a Methodist pastor as well.

So there we were: a Baptist, a Presbyterian, and a Methodist, all united around the Great Commission, passionate about helping visionary pastors lead thriving, gospel-centered churches.

That little seed became the Japan Church Growth Award. Then, it grew into the Japan Church Growth Institute. Under the leadership of Doug Birdsall, it evolved into Asian Access—now known as A3—expanding into places like Mongolia and eventually throughout Asia.

And now, Joe, under your leadership, the third generation of A3 is going global. It’s remarkable to see how the Holy Spirit has nurtured this ministry, all for the glory of God. The Spirit has used faithful, gospel-driven leaders to make Christ known, loved, and served across the nations.

God bless you, Joe. You’re God’s man for this hour. May His favor rest on those gathered in Bali as they seek to shine brightly for the gospel in their part of the world.

—Ken

Watch Ken's video clip...

If you the video player does not work, visit Vimeo here.

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

@jwhandley
@jwhandley
@JosephWHandleyJr
@jwhandley
jhandley@a3.email

Janelle Stoops joins A3, helping to build capacity and support for our expanding work

AS A3 CONTINUES TO GROW INTO NEW REGIONS AND CONTINENTS, WE ARE STRENGTHENING OUR LEADERSHIP STRUCTURE SO WE CAN STEWARD THIS SEASON WELL.

Adapting to Global Growth

Since 2008, Joe Handley has served as both CEO and President of A3. Under his leadership, A3 has grown from around ten countries to more than twenty-five and expanded its mission to develop leaders beyond the church sector. This unprecedented growth has brought new opportunities—and new challenges. To steward this season well, Joe will now focus on his role as CEO, guiding A3’s overall vision and mission.

Strengthening Our Team for the Future

Recognizing the need for additional leadership capacity, the A3 Board authorized Joe to identify a U.S. President to partner with him in leading the mission. We are thrilled to welcome Janelle Stoops as A3’s new U.S. President. Janelle will oversee U.S. operations and fund development, helping build the organizational support needed for our expanding work. As she partners with A3 to advance leadership and sustain momentum in our mission, her leadership will ensure A3 continues to thrive as our network grows across the nations.

Janelle’s appointment reflects A3’s commitment to wise stewardship and effective leadership as God opens doors across the globe. Her first day will be January 23, 2026, and we couldn’t be more excited for what lies ahead.

Please check out all of the latest stories and video clips related to Janelle and her newly created position:

RELATED STORIES

A3 Appoints Janelle Stoops as U.S. President [press release]

Passionate about equipping Christlike leaders and fostering global impact, Janelle Stoops brings decades of experience and a heart for mission as she begins this exciting new chapter with A3... Read our press release about Janelle now »

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Meet Janelle Stoops: A3’s New U.S. President

A3 is thrilled to welcome Janelle Stoops as our new U.S. President! Discover her vision for strengthening leadership, building capacity, and helping A3 thrive as we expand into new regions. Janelle says, “Greetings, A3 Family! I’m thrilled to join A3 as your new U.S. President and can’t wait to begin serving alongside you.”... Read now »

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A Conversation with Joe & Janelle: Key Leaders Talk About Leadership Preparation, Calling, and A3

Discover the heart behind A3’s leadership as Joe Handley and Janelle Stoops share their personal journeys of calling, preparation, and partnership—and how God is shaping a vision for global impact. Read now »

 

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Looking Ahead to 2026 + A Big Announcement

2026 is shaping up to be a year of transformative growth and fresh opportunities for A3, and CEO Joe Handley has a major announcement that could redefine what’s ahead for our global community. Don’t miss his inspiring video message about deepening impact, expanding into new regions, and the exciting leadership milestone awaiting A3 next... Read now »

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RELATED INFORMATION

• A3 Appoints Janelle Stoops as U.S. President [press release]
• Meet Janelle Stoops, A3's New U.S. President
• A Conversation with Joe Handley & Janelle Stoops
• Looking Ahead to 2026 + A Big Announcement

Janelle Stoops
U.S. PRESIDENT OF A3

HOW TO FIND JANELLE
@janelle.stoops
@janelle.stoops
@janellestoops
jstoops@a3.email

Key Leaders Talk About Leadership Preparation, Calling, and A3

As God continues to grow A3, our Board and leadership team discerned the need to strengthen our leadership structure for this new season. In response, CEO Joe Handley sought a trusted leader who could partner with him as U.S. President and help steward A3’s expanding mission.

We are excited that Janelle Stoops, formerly of Frontiers, answered that call. In this conversation, Joe and Janelle share how God led them together, Janelle’s journey of discernment, and their shared vision for A3’s future.

Here is the flow of their discussion...

Joe: I am very excited today to welcome a new member to the A3 family. A3 has been growing the last few years, as many of you know, and we need a lot of help these days. And today, I'm excited to introduce Janelle Stoops to the A3 family and to you. She's going to become the new U.S. President for A3, and we're very thrilled to have her join us. As we get to know her a little bit, I thought we'd ask her a few questions. So Janelle, tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you grow into ministry? What brought your interest into this?

Janelle: So, I first felt called into ministry when I was about 16 years old. And that's when I felt God calling me to bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth. And really my life's verse has always been Romans 15:20-21 in wanting to preach the Gospel where it hasn't been preached yet. And so that's always been really the call on my life. And so I ended up spending about 10 years in Central Asia. First as a single, and then married with young kids doing churchplanting when we were overseas. I had the privilege of seeing the very first church in that part of the country that had ever been. And so that's kind of how God first got me involved in ministry... and that's where we first met each other. 

Joe: That's great. So that's exciting that we've known each other this long. Janelle: Yes.

Joe: Tell us a little bit more about that history of ministry. What, what's been your experience in ministry growth over the years?

Janelle: So again, you know, we served as church-planters for about 10 years in Central Asia. And then after that came back to the States and I went back to work with Frontiers first as a catalyst for the Middle East region. That was interesting because I had been so focused on Central Asia and then now God kind of expanded my vision to include the Middle East. After that, I was appointed as the Director of Strategy Coordination for our international office. And then most recently I've served as the co-director of Frontiers USA. 

Joe: How exciting, what fun history you've got, that you bring to A3 family. Speaking of the A3 family, how in the world did you get to know us? How did that come about?

Janelle: Well, you know, it's interesting, I think through you, I've heard about A3. But it wasn't until more recently that I really started digging in more deeply to what is the vision and what's the mission of A3... what are the core values. And I have to say that the deeper I dug, the more impressed I was. And having been a part of churchplanting in pioneering situations, I saw the need for leadership development. And I saw what happened when it wasn't available. Or when people, you know, had to fly to a different country or a different part of the country to be developed. And as I saw and learned more about what A3 was doing, I think I really resonated with that. And when I think about, you know, what it's going to take to see the Gospel reach the ends of the earth... I think that it's going to take the very work that A3 is doing, because it's going to take the very people that A3 is developing. And so when, the more that I learned about that, the more I thought, I want to be a part of this. 

Joe: Oh, that's cool. We're excited to have you. So this last position you've had with Frontiers... it sort of is very similar in some ways to what you're stepping into. What is it about the new role that intrigues you?

Janelle: So like you said, I mean, in many ways there are a lot of similarities in terms of, you know, oversight of people and strategic planning and budgets and all of that. I think some of the things about A3 that intrigued me—one is just the increased geographic focus. So for the past many years with Frontiers, I've been exclusively focused on the Muslim world. And so looking at what A3 is doing, I think I'm intrigued just to learn even more, and to see firsthand what is God doing around the world in all the different regions. So I'm excited about that as well as to dig deeper into leadership development. 

Joe: And, as you look at this new venture for yourself, what are some things that you think you bring to the table? What are some of the assets you'll bring to the A3 family?

Janelle: Well, I think that my different experiences that I have had in ministry. So whether it was serving as a field worker, you know, for 10 years in Central Asia, most recently, you know, directly in the Sending base, right of Frontiers, USA, I think I bring in different strengths from all of those different life... life experiences, and different skills along with that. I think also I love collaboration. I love learning from different people and then kind of seeing how different things fit together. And then dreaming, like what could we do next? What does God want to move us into for the future? And God has given me faith to believe him for some pretty amazing things. And so I'm just, I'm excited to bring that into A3 and to see, you know, together with all of you who have been here for a while, what can we do together? 

Joe: That's awesome. And you know, one last question, but I'm going to piggyback on what you said. You're excited about some things. What are some of those things that you might be most excited about stepping into this new, new position?

Janelle: I am most excited about meeting the A3 family and staff. I have heard wonderful things about them from you and from others. And I know they're just a great group, and I'm excited to meet with them face-to-face and to learn from them. In my previous role with Frontiers, my kind of area of specialty was innovation. And so I'm looking forward to bringing that as well into A3. And just seeing with the changes in the world today, you know, whether it's politically or in the religious atmosphere, the changes in the church, with all that's happening, how does God want us to take the strong foundation that A3 has and really just multiply that into the future? 

Joe: As you, as you lean into this new season, is there anything you'd want to say directly to the A3 community?

Janelle: I think I would want to say to the A3 community that I am so excited to join you. I think that through Doug and Joe and others, there is such a strong foundation in A3, and I can't wait to be a part of what God is gonna do in taking A3 into this next season of multiplication and fruitfulness.

Joe: We are so jazzed to welcome you to the A3 family! 

Janelle: Thank you, Joe.

Watch their conversation...

If the video player does not work, click here... https://vimeo.com/1147875224

Joe Handley
CEO, A3

@jwhandley
@jwhandley
@JosephWHandleyJr
@jwhandley
jhandley@a3.email

Janelle Stoops
U.S. PRESIDENT OF A3

@janelle.stoops
@janelle.stoops
@janellestoops
jstoops@a3.email

Related Information

• Looking Ahead to 2026 + A Big Announcement  
• Meet Janelle Stoops, A3's New U.S. President
• Special thanks to Hearken Creative Services for the videography.

Getting to Know Janelle Stoops

Greetings, A3 Family! I'm Janelle Stoops and I’m so excited join A3. I’d love to share a little about myself and begin getting to know you as we serve together!

(Editor's Note: As A3 continues to grow, Joe Handley has identified a U.S. President to partner with him in leading the mission. Moving forward, Joe will serve as CEO, focusing on the overall vision, while Janelle’s new role concentrates on U.S. operations and fund development. We are grateful to welcome Janelle Stoops as our U.S. President, who will help build the organizational support needed for our expanding work.)

My Upbringing

I grew up in Torrance, California, on the coast, as the youngest of a big family. When I share about my faith journey, I usually begin by talking a little about my parents because they were integral to it. I grew up with parents who knew and loved the Lord, though they actually became believers when I was just a couple of months old. I had the benefit of being raised in a family where we went to church and studied the Bible together.

My Faith's Foundation

I became a Christian when I was about five years old, so very young, and I’ve had the benefit of walking with the Lord all of these years. It was probably during middle school, when I was around 13, that I clearly remember realizing God wants people to be fully committed to Him, not lukewarm. Around that time, I also recognized that up until then, my parents had been making me go to church, and I realized that this faith needed to be my own. It couldn’t be my parents’ faith or anyone else’s—it had to be mine. At that point, I decided that I loved the Lord and wanted to serve Him wholeheartedly for the rest of my life.

Church Community & Discipleship 

I grew up going to church in the South Bay. I first attended St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church and then moved to Rolling Hills Covenant Church, where I am still a member today. There, I had the opportunity to be discipled and really grow in my faith. I am so blessed to have had mentors, people who discipled me, and pastors who faithfully taught the Word throughout my childhood.

God's Calling on My Life

I first felt God’s call to ministry when I was 16 years old while attending a Bible study at church. I remember God calling me to serve Him and bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Later, while I was in college, I went on a short-term trip to Central Asia. During that trip, God not only reaffirmed His calling on my life but also gave me clear direction that He wanted me to return to Central Asia.

Education & Preparation 

I graduated from UCLA with a degree in Communication Studies. After graduating, I attended Talbot Seminary for about a year, where I took classes toward a certificate in Biblical Studies. At that point, I knew I would be moving overseas someday, and I wanted a solid foundation in the Word of God and in how to study it. More recently, I earned my master’s degree in Organizational Leadership with a concentration in Global Business Leadership and Communication. I believe all of my educational experiences have prepared me well for this role. I love leadership and leading international organizations. 

My Supportive Family

I am blessed to have an amazing family. I have been married to my amazing husband, Brad, for 25 years. We also live across the street from my mom, who just turned 89. Brad and I have four incredible daughters: Elise, Chloe, Grace, and Brooke, who are 23, 22, 20, and 18 years old.

We have all girls, and they were raised in the Muslim world. I always felt that God gave us our daughters for a reason. While living there, people often asked if we were sad not to have boys or if my husband was angry. I would tell them no—my husband loves the Lord, and the Lord loves girls and women. Having daughters became a way to show the people around us that God values both men and women.

My family has been incredibly supportive of this move to A3. They know that my heart has always been to see leaders developed and to see the Gospel reach the ends of the earth, especially among unreached and unengaged people groups. They believe in the vision, mission, and values of A3, and they are excited to see what the next season holds. 

Watch my video...

If the video player does not work, click here... https://vimeo.com/1151693697

Stay tuned for my conversation with Joe Handley, coming soon!

Janelle Stoops
U.S. PRESIDENT OF A3

@janelle.stoops
@janelle.stoops
@janellestoops
jstoops@a3.email

Related Information

• Looking Ahead to 2026 + A Big Announcement  
• Stay tuned for my conversation with Joe coming soon...
• Special thanks to Hearken Creative Services for the videography.

CEO Joe Handley on what's coming up for A3 this year

Looking ahead to 2026, I am super thrilled with all that God has on the horizon for A3.

Deepening Foundations

First of all, the foundations that have been laid for A3 are really deepening. The work in Japan is showing promising signs in the fruit of evangelism and disciple making and church planting. And we're going to be investing in that even stronger. We're hoping that more missionaries would come through go2japan.org, and that foundation is the heart of A3, seeing the Gospel go to the least reached, in their case, the second largest unreached people group in the world.

New Opportunities

We also see new doors opening across the planet, and that's been very exciting. So "Middle Asia" is growing rapidly these days for us, and we're seeing birth happening across the middle part of Africa and into the Caucasus region. So a lot's happening with A3.

Our Global Community Extends into Latin America

And probably the exciting new development is we're actually entering Latin America on both the marketplace and in the church and mission space.

God is opening doors for us to become a global community, and it is just so exciting what God has on the horizon for us.

Strengthening the Foundation & Leadership with a new U.S. President

In order to do all this, we have to strengthen the foundation and the leadership of A3. So the most exciting thing about 2026 with all this growth happening, and we need to give a stronger support base to who we are and what we do. And that means building some new staffing structures.

And the thing that I am overjoyed about is welcoming a new U.S. President to the team. We're delighted to welcome our new U.S. President to the A3 family, and we are super jazzed about what God is going to do in 2026.

To meet our new U.S. President, please watch my video...

Watch my video...

If the video player does not work, click here... https://vimeo.com/1147882390

Stay tuned for more information about our new U.S. President, coming soon!

With great expectancy,

Rev. Joseph W. Handley, Jr., Ph.D.
CEO, A3

@jwhandley
@jwhandley
@JosephWHandleyJr
@jwhandley
jhandley@a3.email

More Information

• 2026 image by BoliviaInteligente on Unsplash  
• Stay tuned for more information about A3's new U.S. President...
• Special thanks to Hearken Creative Services for the videography.

c 

A3 Ministry Highlights from 2025

As 2025 draws to a close, I’ve found myself returning again and again to one word: MULTIPLICATION.

Not simply growth. Not just more activity or bigger numbers. But the quiet, powerful kind of multiplication that only God can orchestrate: leaders, movements, courage, calling, and influence spreading across the world.

This year marked one of the most significant seasons in A3’s history. What began more than four decades ago with a simple, faithful vision to invest in pastoral leaders in Japan has now become a multi-continental movement of Christ-like leaders serving across the church, the marketplace, and the public square.

And yet, even as God has carried us into new regions and new spheres, He has allowed us to do so without leaving our roots behind.

A3 has become a truly global movement without losing its original vision—to come alongside leaders and help them to achieve their vision.

In 2025, A3 crossed a historic threshold. The mission that started in 1967 focused on one country is now structured as a global movement of movements, focused on the world.

NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR A3

New work has taken root across Armenia, Middle Asia, the Southern Caucasus, Ecuador and Latin America, with Africa emerging as a serious next frontier. A3 is also beginning to develop leaders in new sectors and workplaces.

SPIRITUAL RENEWAL FOR JAPAN

At the same time, through A3 and go2japan in partnership with SIM, we continue to stand with pastors, missionaries, and churches in Japan, the soil where this ministry first took root. We are still sending workers; still discipling leaders; still believing for spiritual renewal in one of the most challenging mission fields in the world.

I am deeply grateful that God has allowed us to carry a rare posture, one of global expansion with long-term faithfulness.

LAUNCHING IN LATIN AMERICA

One of the great joys of 2025 was witnessing the birth of A3 in Latin America, beginning in Quito, Ecuador.

For the first time in our history, pastors and marketplace leaders were trained together from the very start. Leaders from several Latin nations gathered. Stories of calling, repentance, courage, and vision emerged almost immediately.

Latin America is no longer a future dream listed on a strategic plan. It is now a living, multiplying movement.

A3.BUSINESS DEVELOPING WORKPLACE LEADERS

A3.business also crossed an important threshold this year. What once began as an experiment is now a fully integrated second engine of our mission.

In Asia, South Asia, and now Latin America, business leaders and pastors are being formed side by side in character, in strategy, and in mission. Alumni are returning to their nations not merely as entrepreneurs, executives, or professionals, but as stewards of influence for God’s kingdom.

We are watching leaders emerge who carry the gospel into boardrooms, factories, classrooms, and city systems, quietly, faithfully, and powerfully.

NEXT GEN: EMERGING KINGDOM LEADERS

This year also marked a holy moment of generational handoff.

Long-serving leaders completed their assignments with dignity and joy. New global leadership structures came fully into operation. Responsibilities shifted without disruption or division.

Transitions like this are never automatic. They are formed through humility, prayer, and trust. I see in this moment not only good governance, but the very fruit of Christ-like leadership that A3 exists to form.

MOMENTUM FOR WOMEN IN MINISTRY & EMERGING LEADERS

One of the most encouraging signs of 2025 has been the intentional centering of women and emerging leaders.

Women are now serving as faculty, directors, and movement catalysts across several nations. Younger leaders are being mentored, released, and trusted with real responsibility. This is not a future aspiration. It is now a lived reality.

The next generation is not waiting at the door. They are already inside the room.

In ways I could not have imagined years ago, God also expanded A3’s influence far beyond our own network in 2025.

INCREASED FOCUS ON DISCIPLEMAKING

Through involvement with the Lausanne Movement, the World Evangelical Alliance ecosystem, and global mission scholarship and publications, A3 has been able to contribute to worldwide conversations on disciplemaking as the central leadership challenge of our time, Christlike character as the foundation for sustainable leadership, polycentric mission leadership across cultures and generations, and the new edges of mission in cities, migration, digital space, youth culture, and the marketplace.

It humbles me deeply to say this, but it is true. God is allowing A3 to help shape not only leaders, but the very architecture of global mission for the next generation.

GRATEFULNESS FOR YOU & THE LORD

None of this would be possible without the extraordinary faithfulness of our donors and partners.

In 2025, God provided strengthened unrestricted resources, new transformational partners, wise stewardship of long-held assets, and the freedom to look toward 2030 with confidence rather than fear.

You have not just helped us survive. You have helped us step forward boldly.

As I look back on this year, I see a beautiful tension that only God could sustain. Global expansion and local faithfulness. Church and marketplace together. Formation and strategy held in harmony. New frontiers and long-term commitments side by side.

This is the calling of A3 in this season. And it is one we carry with deep humility.

If you are a donor, prayer partner, faculty member, alumnus, or friend of A3, I want you to hear this clearly:

You are not funding programs.

You are helping build a global movement of Christ-like leaders.

Leaders who are shaping churches, businesses, cities, and nations. Leaders who carry both conviction and compassion. Leaders who are learning, slowly and imperfectly, to look more like Jesus.

As we step into 2026 and toward 2030, the harvest remains plentiful. And by God’s grace, the workers are multiplying.

Watch my video...

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With deep gratitude,

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

@jwhandley
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@JosephWHandleyJr
@jwhandley
jhandley@a3.email

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."
— JOHN 1:14

Merry Christmas, Everyone, from the A3 global family. Thank you for walking with us.

This Christmas, we remember that God chose to enter the world through a family, bringing hope into each home. And as Scripture tells us, the Word became flesh and made his dwelling amongst us.

Peace is not something we can create. Peace is a person.

When Christ is formed in our homes, his love and healing begin to multiply.

May the Prince of Peace fill your home with hope this Christmas. Thank you for being part of the A3 Family. God bless you and Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the A3 Family

We send you this brief Christmas greeting...

With joy this Christmas,

Joe & Silk Handley

@jwhandley
@jwhandley
@JosephWHandleyJr
@jwhandley
jhandley@a3.email

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By ROBERT ADAIR

Our fruit grows on other people’s trees...

I recall thinking, “He stole my idea,” several years ago during a staff meeting at my Japanese church. A few days earlier, I had shared an idea for ministry with my pastor, and he seemed intrigued. Then he shared the idea as his own at our regular staff meeting! The group was excited about it and decided to give it a try. To be honest, the idea itself wasn’t that impressive. If I remember correctly, it was something like having a barbecue and inviting friends from the community.

But in that moment, sitting at the table, I was less concerned about whether it was helpful; I just wanted everyone else to know that I thought of it. For the sake of this discussion, try to dismiss whether my pastor should have done what he did. You could argue that he should have given me credit, but you can also argue that, coming from him, the idea was able to get traction in a way that it wouldn’t have coming from the new missionary. The point is that I was overly concerned about who got credit for the idea.

This is the third of four articles in a series on postures of ministry where the missionary disappears or, at the very least, does not dominate the process. For this article, I would like to explore the topic of the fruit of our ministry, particularly in the context of collaboration.

When I came to Japan in 2005, I wrote in my Bible that I would “plant churches that plant churches that plant churches, etc.” In our newsletters and when we are back with our sending churches, our partners want to hear how many people are coming to faith. People regularly ask us to tell them about the fruit of our ministry. But the story of how people come to faith typically involves multiple people, various contexts, and often happens over an extended period.

I remember struggling after the 3.11 disaster, seeing the same story of one person’s conversion being referenced by multiple groups, each taking credit. I believe there are understandable desires—as well as unhealthy temptations—around the topic of fruit in ministry.

Counting our fruit

“Our fruit grows on other people’s trees.”

“Our fruit grows on other people’s trees.” As a first-term missionary, I was deeply impacted by this phrase that our leader at the time regularly referenced. It is often challenging to measure the actual fruit of our labor in Japan—whether it is someone we introduced to the church who became a Christian years later, a short-term volunteer who is somehow encouraged by us to come back as a long-term missionary, or Japanese colleagues who are able to better navigate a difficult season because of our presence.

That is because the results of our work often aren’t seen in the immediate time, location, or relationship where we are focusing. Our fruit really does grow on other people’s trees.

This phrase echoes what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3:4–9, discussing the conflict between his followers and those of Apollos. We intellectually know that it is God who is responsible for the fruit of ministry. There is also a real and understandable desire to point to how our work mattered or to champion people who really are gifted. Paul did the planting, and Apollos did the watering.

For example, I helped connect a young man to the church I worked with in Kyushu, and the pastor I worked with led him to faith years later. Ministry is interconnected. We each provide a piece of the puzzle, but it is God who creates and completes the image.

Tension or paradox

This puts us in a tension that can feel like a paradox. Scripture is clear that it is God who changes hearts, saves people, and is ultimately responsible for the results we see in ministry. So does that mean we should just be passive? Obviously not.

Paul calls us to run the race. Jesus sent out the disciples to do greater things than he did; the church has expanded throughout the globe and history through the efforts of men and women.

We are situated between two extremes. On one side is a self-oriented approach to ministry where “I am responsible for what goes well (or poorly) within my sphere of ministry.” This road leads to pride, burnout, and other sins best avoided. On the other side is a passive approach where “Nothing I do ultimately matters. Since God is in charge, what do I need to do? Whether I try or not, the results will be the same.” This can put us on a trajectory towards laziness or being poor stewards of resources.

Following the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, I had the opportunity to lead a few teams in the Kathmandu area to assist with the recovery effort. During that time, I got to know one Nepali pastor fairly well as we often stayed in his home. He is an avid gardener (among other things), and each morning, we would walk around his house checking the various plants he had grafted together. Branches of one tree were grafted onto another, living, and bearing fruit.

In the first few verses of John 15, Jesus paints a beautiful picture of this grafting dynamic. We are grafted into him and bear fruit through that connection. He particularly points out, in verse 4, that the branch cannot bear fruit by itself. Here, Jesus directly addresses the fallacy of believing that we bear fruit on our own. Then in verse 5, he goes on to say that by being grafted into him, we will bear much fruit.

We are all bearing fruit as branches on God’s vine. We also often have a role in producing the fruit that grows on someone else’s branch. The truth is that we have never produced any fruit on our own. Embracing this reality allows us to have a thankful heart toward God and avoid the temptation to be competitive, appreciating the fruit that is growing on other branches without feeling threatened or competitive.

Some questions to chew on

• How do you think about fruit in ministry?
• Who should get credit when someone comes to faith (planter, harvester, the One who makes things grow, key relationships along the way)?
• Who should get credit when ministry goes well (idea or execution)?
• Who should get credit when multiple people, teams, organizations, or churches collaborate on a specific ministry?
• What do I do if I put in the most time, effort, or energy for something, and someone else gets the credit?
• What is God already doing, and maybe, asking me to join?

I think we are called to recognize the efforts of others, be thankful, and give appropriate credit. The question is how do we respond when we get credit or, challengingly, when we don’t get the credit we think we deserve?

Collaboration starting point

I wrote this article thinking about collaboration. A few years ago, I was having a conversation with friends in leadership positions of their respective organizations. We were seeking ways to collaborate effectively, leveraging the strengths of our organizations to achieve a broader purpose. What were the things we could do together that we couldn’t do on our own? At some point, the conversation shifted to the idea of how to measure the success of this approach. One friend responded, “When you win, I win.”¹

It is my hope that all of us ministering in Japan can daily grow in internalizing this perspective. This posture is the only way we will truly be able to work together with one another and the Japanese church. If our starting point is competition or insecurity, we are destined to fail. If we can truly view the wins of others as our own and set aside our own (often selfish or prideful) desires for recognition, I truly believe we will see fruit beyond what we currently experience. It’s my prayer that we will all be able to rejoice when we see the fruit of our efforts growing on other people’s trees.

Robert Adair

NOTES

1. Given the theme of the article I didn’t know if I should or shouldn’t give my friend credit . . . but I can tell you if you are curious.

ROBERT ADAIR is a Texan who serves in Miyagi Prefecture through a partnership with Shiogama Bible Baptist Church and as the Vice President for A3 Missional Partners. He is married to Roberta and the father of four energetic boys.

This article by Robert Adair is reposted with permission and was originally published by Japan Harvest Magazine in its Autumn 2025 edition here: https://japanharvest.org/collaboration-and-the-fruit-of-ministry/ 

Japan Harvest is the official publication of the Japan Evangelical Missionary Association (JEMA). The purpose of the publication is to promote the evangelical church in Japan and the ministry of the association. Japan Harvest encourages, inspires, and equips the JEMA community and those seeking to reach the Japanese people with the gospel. 

by SUE PLUMB TAKAMOTO

Challenges of Japanese culture and the unique role of community

These are the words of a female missionary:

"I want so much to belong. Sometimes I think I kind of belong and then I realize that I really don’t belong. The scary thing for me is that I don’t belong in America. I go back to America and I am totally out of it and I don’t feel like, in America, that I belong. So it’s like I don’t belong anywhere. . . . Oh, not belonging is the hardest thing to deal with in my 19 years here."

Analysis of the individual journeys of forty missionaries serving in Japan from sixteen different mission agencies has revealed noteworthy and often surprising adjustment patterns.¹ Unfortunately, it takes 7.8 years for the average missionary to adjust to Japan! The statistics are discouraging; in fact, many career missionaries end up only staying two terms, meaning they leave the field just as they are about to finally begin to feel more at home and able to move towards effective ministry.

Fortunately, there are some significant factors that can greatly aid the missionary. Understanding the particular cultural challenges of the missionary and the unique factors that aid the adjustment process can greatly help the adjusting missionary and those of us who coach, train, and mentor new missionaries. This article will look at the importance of unique community in the missionary adjustment process.

Cultural struggles of the adjusting missionary

One of the qualitative research methods I have employed is called metaphor analysis. We don’t always have the right words to use when we are describing a process or our feelings, and we choose metaphors that can best summarize our situation. As I examined the responses of missionaries in my interviews with them about their adjustment process, I analyzed the metaphors that each one used, looking for common threads and themes to describe the journey. Three images repeatedly came out to show how missionaries feel while adjusting to Japan:

• Missionaries feel “outside of the club” before they have adjusted.
• Accepted/gaining entrance—The process of adjusting for the missionary is that of moving from the outside to the inside; once the missionary feels adjusted, he/she feels “on the inside.
• Guest/home/key—The missionary adjustment process is like a movement from being a guest outside of a home to moving into a home.

The adjusting missionaries have the feeling of being on the outside, of not being welcomed in a deeper sense into this culture where they choose to make their home. There is often a feeling of loneliness and being disconnected; the extreme cultural differences between Japan and a Western missionary’s own culture contributes to the sense of isolation during the process of adjustment. Here are four cultural challenges for Western missionaries.

Strong group mentality

The group mentality is the foundation of the Japanese society. One missiologist states of this culture, “Social relationships always take priority over individual relationships.”² The group mentality and dependence on those within the group begin from early childhood socialization and extend throughout adult society. Thus, being on the inside of the group is of utmost significance to the Japanese. Although there is no conscious desire on the part of Japanese people to exclude missionaries from belonging, this island-nation mentality does not resemble the values of the “melting-pot-American” way of living. It is no wonder, then, that missionaries seeking to find a home of security, identification, and connectedness have such a great struggle in Japan.

Indirect and hierarchical system

The Japanese system of building relationships through hierarchical structures often flows contrary to Western standards of fairness or rational thinking. Missionaries realize that, even though they are studying the language and perhaps have read some books on culture, there are still invisible governing laws that command the formation of relationships. As one missionary stated, “You want to be so nice and you don’t quite know how to do it because there is a whole different set of rules."

For missionaries who seek to build relationships as a means toward evangelism or who want to find a place to belong, it is disconcerting to not know the rules or to discover that the rules are very different from what one may know. Missionary men, in particular, expressed frustration in never being able to form deeper relationships with Japanese men. The strong value North Americans place on equality clashes with the Japanese choice of inequality in relationships.

Form over function

Both male and female missionaries struggle with the frustration of the Japanese need for proper appearance over truth, form over correctness. Foreigners coming to Japan will not only initially be outsiders from the group, but they will usually not understand the socialization process that has been an ongoing learning process since childhood. Whereas individualistic cultures can permit fluid boundaries and new people entering, collective cultures like Japan have a much harder time allowing people who do not know the rules into the group. The need to follow a certain form, which may not make sense to the Western missionary, can cause excessive stress and prolong the missionary’s sense of being on the outside and not even knowing the right key to get inside.

The Japanese church

While certainly not intentional, many adjusting missionaries find their new experience of serving in a Japanese church to be an alienating or negative force in their adjustment. This difficult experience can be exacerbated by the surprise of not having expected the problem. They are often disheartened that their Japanese church is not what they had expected. Language and culture create numerous challenges for the missionary adjusting to an established Japanese church, but one of the main things we need to recognize is that it is almost always difficult in any context in Japan for an outsider to find acceptance in an already established entity. It doesn’t make the Japanese church bad or insensitive, but this is simply a reality that can create challenges for the missionary.

Preventing alienation by creating communitas

When missionaries arrive in Japan, they quickly realize that who they were in their home country does not matter very much. Most are, in a sense, starting over. The inability to communicate, read, or write quickly removes any airs of importance from a missionary. Thus, they are thrust into a situation where their past relationships, formed within the structures of their home society, are no longer significant in defining who they are. They must start from a more basal and undifferentiated level to create relationships.

The adjustment process for missionaries occurs most quickly and effectively when they are given a chance to belong. Because the challenges of belonging in Japan are uniquely difficult, as discussed above, it takes intentionality and an understanding of the need for community to help the adjusting missionary jump this high hurdle. The concept of communitas is an anthropological term that describes what happens with a group of people who are all in the midst of adjusting, starting something new, and being stripped of hierarchical structures. If a new missionary can become part of something new that is starting, they have a much better chance of finding acceptance, belonging, and therefore, adjustment to Japan. Here are several places where missionaries find acceptance and belonging, assisting in moving past the initial challenges of isolation.

Experiences of communitas with other foreigners

Language school

Although it is considered grueling and painful by many missionaries, language school is often the context where communitas initially occurs for many missionaries. Many language school classes are full-time and contain other expatriates who have recently come to Japan and are experiencing similar surprises, difficulties, and joys in adjusting to Japan. Most importantly, all have been stripped of their previous status; there is a level playing field for bonding to happen.

Missionary small group

The small group experience (with other missionaries, expats, or Japanese) has served as a vital place for communitas to happen. The two most significant qualities of these experiences are forming relationships with others in the same boat who could go through the fire together and finding a place of belonging, acceptance, and encouragement. This feels crucial for the missionary’s growth and movement forward. Paul Tournier, known for his work in pastoral counseling, writes, “Jesus himself sought support from three of his disciples when he faced the greatest renunciation in his life, the acceptance of the Passion and the cross. He did not ask for their advice. . . He asked them to watch with him, and pray . . . I am often amazed at the progress that can be made by a [person] when he finds real support.”³

Missionaries are searching for connectedness and for acceptance. Because the adjustment process involves lack of structure and status, a spiritual oasis and a bond of being with like-minded people becomes life-giving for many missionaries who otherwise may be facing a life crisis.

Experiences of communitas with Japanese

Missionary moms with young kids

One of the most interesting settings for communitas to occur among young moms was in the midst of sending their small children to Japanese nursery schools/kindergartens. In Japan, the yōchien system is complicated, expensive, and time-consuming for mothers. Many moms new to the system liken it to a full-time job—having to prepare just the right snacks and lunches, dress their child in the proper uniforms each day, and attend the many meetings and functions and school trips. Yet it is here that many missionary moms have found unlikely communitas among the other moms: “[The young Japanese moms] made us feel a part of everything . . . I didn’t end up feeling lonely because they made a real point of making us feel like we belonged.”

Japanese and missionary moms are thrown together into a new life stage where, like their children, they are new and learning together. It serves as a bridge into the wider Japanese community for the missionary mother, a means for learning more Japanese language and culture, and an “in” into the usually tight community. I made my best Japanese friend when my daughter started yōchien; Natsuko guided me through many of my challenges, including the surprising excrement tests we needed to perform on our children, and we became lifelong friends. She brought me into the group and helped me to feel at home.

Church planting community

Church-planting projects, or starting new small groups or cell groups, provide a unique opportunity for new missionaries and Christian Japanese to bond together based on their mutually new assignments, being thrown together into a new situation.

“[These three women from my church] were helpful and encouraging and hospitable and just did so many fun things together—it was very precious.”

“[Involvement in cell groups] was a lot of sharing—this person’s pouring out their heart and I have no idea why they’re crying—and it’s a good motivation for learning Japanese to really understand their hearts, so when you felt like you could bond with this people—that’s when I started adjusting—feeling like I had my community in Japanese people.”

The Japanese and foreign members join together in a new project that puts everyone together, on the inside, from the beginning. These experiences of bonding between the missionaries and the Japanese church members serve as a unique bridge that aid greatly in adjustment.

Conclusion

While there are many different types of communitas that can help the adjusting missionary find help towards adjustment, I would suggest that the best possible scenario to help missionaries adjust is to give them the opportunity to be placed in a group with Japanese who are starting something new. Church planting or other outreach teams form the ideal setting for missionaries to learn language, culture, and be part of the inside of a group that has not yet gelled. The new team can learn and grow together, with the missionary being part of the inside from the beginning.

There are other options as well for missionaries working in churches that are not doing church planting. During our first two years as a married couple in Japan, Eric and I were working with a larger church in Sendai. As we began meeting our neighbors, we made a plan with some of our church members to start an evening English class in our home. This became much more than just a class—we had frequent barbecues, informal tea times with the ladies, and long times of fellowship into the night. We discovered that many of our neighbors were fairly isolated and not already belonging somewhere else; our gatherings became a place of identity and bonding for all of us. More than at our church, Eric and I found this to be a wonderful place for communitas, language learning, and friendships to form. (And two of our neighbors became Christians during that time!)

The missionary adjusting to Japan has a great number of challenges, with the huge overarching challenge being the human need to move from being on the outside to being on the inside. The best setup for missionaries to find a key to feeling “at home” in Japan is to be part of an experience in which hierarchical structures are removed and everyone is able to be part of starting something new. Understanding the need to place new missionaries into opportunities for communitas can make a huge difference in their adjustment process and ministry effectiveness. JH

Sue Plumb Takamoto

NOTES

1. Susan Plumb Takamoto, “Liminality and the North American Missionary Adjustment Process in Japan,” (PhD diss., Fuller Theological Seminary, 2003), 378.
2. John Offner, Relations that Succeed: Establishing and Maintaining Excellent Social Connections, (HarperCollins, 1988), 75.
3. Paul Tournier, A Place for You: Psychology and Religion, (Harper & Row, 1968), 180.Vector images: Vecteezy.com

SUE PLUMB TAKAMOTO , PhD. and her husband, Eric, invested over 22 years in Japan, working in evangelism and church planting in Sendai, Osaka, and Ishinomaki. In response to the 3.11 triple disaster in NE Japan, Sue launched the Nozomi Project, a micro-enterprise venture employing over 35 women, who created beautiful jewelry from pottery broken by the tsunami. Sue serves as an A3 faculty member covering leader formation, evangelism, cross-cultural training, and finishing well. In 2023, Sue and Eric relocated to the US, continuing their ministry with A3 and reaching out to local Japanese families. She is known affectionately as the best prankster in A3.

This article by Sue Plumb Takamoto is reposted with permission and was originally published by Japan Harvest Magazine in its Spring 2025 edition here: https://japanharvest.org/the-adjusting-missionary/

Japan Harvest is the official publication of the Japan Evangelical Missionary Association (JEMA). The purpose of the publication is to promote the evangelical church in Japan and the ministry of the association. Japan Harvest encourages, inspires, and equips the JEMA community and those seeking to reach the Japanese people with the gospel. 

WITH DEEP GRATITUDE FOR YOU AT THANKSGIVING

"And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us."
— 2 Corinthians 8:1-5 

Hi friends!

As we head into Thanksgiving week, Silk and I have been reflecting on the generosity we’ve been learning about in our church’s recent series on 2 Corinthians 8. Last week, one particular story really stood out—something Silk remembered from her childhood about her dad—and we wanted to share it with you.

Macedonian Generosity

In the passage, Paul highlights the incredible generosity of the Macedonian church. That reminded Silk of a moment when her father—who happens to be Macedonian—was serving as head usher at their church. A special speaker that day began coughing, and without hesitation, her dad quietly walked up to the platform with a glass of water. As he made his way forward, a few people chuckled, and someone whispered, “It just so happens that a Macedonian is being generous and bringing you some water!”

Macedonian Call

	Happy Thanksgiving from everyone in the A3 Community. Here we are in Hong Kong in October.

We loved that story. And this week, as we think about gratitude, it reminded us of the “Macedonian call” we see in your lives—your generosity, your partnership, and your commitment to the work of A3 and the Kingdom. You truly embody the spirit of 2 Corinthians 8.

We want you to know how deeply thankful we are for you. May your Thanksgiving be filled with joy, peace, and the presence of God.

"We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ."
— 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3

We are so grateful for you. Happy Thanksgiving!

If the video player below doesn't work, click the photo above or watch video on YouTube.

With Gratitude,

Joe & Silk Handley

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@jwhandley
jhandley@a3.email

• View the Handleys' video on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/1139885659
• View the Handleys' video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Kcu1OxhvczM

By ROBERTA ADAIR

I grew up loving stories about how God called people, especially into missions or other “professional Christian” careers. Often these stories involved some mystical experience – a line-in-the-sand moment that served as a turning point in people’s lives. Of course, the more dramatic and exciting the story, the better. 

I am still inspired by many of these stories, broadening as I got older to include how people in a wide variety of vocations discovered their purpose or calling. But more recently, I find myself drawn to and admiring the “boring” ones.

Recently in a small group, a woman shared, “I was on an airplane reading a brochure from a missions agency and found out that Japan was less than one percent Christian. This surprised me and broke my heart. Now I’m preparing to come to Japan to work with a Japanese church. I want to help them reach out to their community and to remind them that they’re not alone – they might feel lonely, but they’re not alone.” She is an older, soft-spoken woman who talked without the slightest hint of dramatic flair, yet as she spoke, tears came to my eyes. I was so moved by her compelling and quiet obedience.

Another friend then said, “As a timid little girl, I was so thankful for the knowledge that I was seen and loved by my Heavenly Father. When I heard that millions of people hadn’t heard about Him, I said to Jesus, ‘If you need someone to go and tell them, even though it scares me, I know you’ll be with me, and so I am willing.’ I sensed His pleasure and affirmation, and I’ve held onto that these last 45 years.”

These stories are so sweet and so, well, not the stories that grabbed me as a child. “My father was kidnapped by guerrilla warriors and then…” “As I watched a man dying on the side of the road, I heard God say to me…” “Someone I didn’t know came up to my table at Denny’s and told me God wanted me to go to (name of country), and I knew it was the Holy Spirit speaking to me.”

Some of my personal calling is simple. Some of it is dramatic. Some of it, well, I’m still trying to understand what was the Holy Spirit and what was me looking really hard for His will (or a good story). I can be quite cynical and judgmental toward my younger self, but I also see my sincerity in seeking God’s will and asking Him, “Lord, here am I. Show me what You want from me. I want to go where You want me to go, do what You want me to do, and be who You want me to be.” 

Here are some snapshots of my calling. 

#1. Initial Exposure and Calling

When I was a kid, missions conferences at my church were more exciting than Christmas. The week included a Parade of Nations, flags all over the sanctuary, and a packed schedule with extra gatherings, activities, and potlucks. Our church sang songs at these conferences like May I Be a Shining Light to the Nations and Will You Be the One? that I found compelling, inspiring, and moving. I remember soaking up stories of God working around the world, teachings from scripture about God’s love for people from all nations, and the overall festive atmosphere.

And at some point, perhaps when I was around seven or eight years old, I wrote on a commitment card that I would give a small portion ($1) from my monthly allowance toward missions and that I was willing to be a missionary. I was caught up in the excitement, genuinely burdened for the lost around the world, and…perhaps also a bit interested in being chosen and special and sent. Perhaps I was caught up in the emotional intensity of the week. Perhaps I loved the idea of going on an exotic adventure with God. And perhaps God genuinely was inviting – calling – me into missions at this young age.

#2. Calling Confirmed

Fast forward to me as a college student. I spent a couple of years in high school enjoying throwing out phrases like, “Missions is neocolonialism! It is cultural imperialism!” (While this is sometimes true, it is also true that I liked sounding smarter than I was.)

 At that point in my life, I was no longer pursuing missions but was instead interested in joining the Peace Corps and/or working with vulnerable populations in the US. I also really wanted to know what God wanted me to do with my life and fasted for the first time. While fasting, my mom invited me to go with her to three evening meetings of a missions conference at the church where I grew up but hadn’t attended in several years. Each evening, one of the visiting missionaries spoke on the same passage I had read that morning in my quiet time, and this got my attention.

 On the third day, the missionaries joined the leadership team of my campus fellowship for an afternoon. I sat by a feisty white-haired retired missionary and talked with her about my plans to be a Peace Corps volunteer and then get a master’s and then “maybe, probably pursue missions.”

She looked me in the eye and said, “Roberta, I don’t claim to know God’s will for your life, but if God has given you an interest and calling in missions, pursue that and don’t put it off.” And while I normally would have responded defensively, with, “Who are you to talk to me like this? You don’t know me at all,” I had been fasting and earnestly seeking God’s will for my future. Nearly twenty years later, I still consider this as one of my line-in-the-sand moments, leading me to change course and apply to be a missionary with my church’s denomination.

 #3. Calling Redirected

Fast forward a few more years to after I had completed three wonderful, stretching, and formational years as a missionary apprentice in Kosovo. I was back in the US to fulfill an educational requirement for my agency by getting a master’s degree in intercultural studies and fully intended to go back to the Balkans.

And then I fell in love. On the first day of new student orientation, I met an interesting fellow who was very committed to going back to Japan, where he had lived for four years. One of our professors often repeated the phrase, “Hold it lightly,” while holding his hands out, palms up – almost like a mantra. Hold your theological sticking points lightly. Hold your views on non-essentials lightly. When Robert and I started dating a few months after meeting, we agreed to try to hold our preferred countries and agencies lightly.

But we didn’t. We took turns trying to convince the other why our previous country of service had more need or our agency was a better fit. We were falling in love, but this elephant in the room was starting to squeeze out the fun in our relationship. We agreed not to talk about countries or agencies or the future for a full month (March 2010) and instead ask God to settle it for us.

I don’t know what I was expecting (other than the obvious – that Robert would realize he was to come with me). What I got: bombarded with the word, image, and idea of surrender/release/letting go. I remember almost walking out of church when the pastor began a sermon series on surrender. And turning off songs on the radio. These themes came up in conversations with friends that had nothing to do with Robert or missions. It was daily and kind of ridiculous. It wasn’t what I wanted, but it was clear.

At the end of the month, when I read David’s words, “I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing,” I bawled. This was another line-in-the-sand moment for me – an act of obedience and worship – and it hurt a lot. I sensed God asking (gently, loudly, clearly) to release my agency and my country of preference to Him as an act of worship and trust. (This was not a matter of me fulfilling a role of submitting to my husband but of us following God together, and I personally know plenty of people for whom the story happened the other direction.)

Robert had his own journey that month. Although his calling didn’t change, he sensed a need to reorient his priorities. He articulated it later as, “Under God, Roberta/family first.” This was important for me to see as I didn’t want to compete with Japan or view it as his mistress. I knew I couldn’t compete with 125 million people or with a place and people that he had an eight-year relationship with when we had dated for only a few.

#4. Calling Reconfirmed

Out of obedience and with very weak faith, I applied to be a missionary with Robert with a new-to-me agency. Then we went on a required vision trip. I tried so hard to be open and to have a curious, hopeful, and adventurous attitude, but my first impressions were rough. I was disoriented and insecure in our marriage. Robert’s voice, posture, and humor were different in Japan. I started wondering, “Who is this guy?” He didn’t translate much for me, and I felt out of place. I had travelled before, but Japan felt extremely other in a way I hadn’t experienced.

I remember feeling overwhelmed, wondering if we misunderstood God’s call. This was Your call for him, but how can this be Your call for us? I thought we needed to reevaluate and reconsider, so I was relieved about our mission-required meeting with a professional counselor during the retreat.

While we were meeting with the counselor on March 11, 2011, at 2:46 pm, we experienced six minutes of shaking during the 9.0 earthquake. It was terrifying. My memories are both blurry and clear – the tall cedar trees swaying overhead as the snow gently fell and watching the news on a TV in the lobby shoulder to shoulder with people I didn’t know.

I remember feeling confused, thinking, “What is happening? How many people are impacted? Why won’t anyone explain to me what is going on in English?” And I remember feeling terrified, wondering if it was the end of the world. It was very quiet as we watched horrible scenes of destruction. I heard some intakes of breath and someone praying quietly, “God, God, God!” Then a Japanese woman standing behind me to my left let out a scream, and her legs gave out.

That moment, I am ashamed to say, was the moment my heart broke for Japanese people. I am terrified, and she is terrified – Japanese people are not robots. They are people made in the image of God who mostly don’t know whom to call on when they are overwhelmed. I remember praying, “God, I am sorry for my lack of compassion for these people, for seeing them as too other.”

The next day, my now-teammate stood in the front of a chapel at the retreat center and read Psalm 46 to us. As he read, I felt the Lord speaking to me, inviting me, wooing me, calling me.

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountain fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging (1-3).

I was relieved that the earthquake and tsunami imagery was paired with the reminder of who God is.

God is within her (which I understood to mean the church), she will not fall; God will help her at break of day (5).

Earlier, our newly-appointed field director stood up in front of our mission and said, “The church in Japan is small, but the love of God is great.” I felt a whisper, a nudge – that it was a privilege to stand and partner with the Japanese church in this moment – and the promise that God would help “her.”

Come and see what the Lord has done (8)

Before this, I was gritting my teeth and obeying God as my master. I was trying to be willing to go, but I felt more like a servant being commanded to do so. When I heard this verse, I felt a gentle tug: “Come, Roberta. I want you to come and see – to join me in what I am doing!”

Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth (10).

I wish I could say, “and then we lived happily ever after.” Nope. Still newlyweds, we volunteered for a hard, disorienting summer in a traumatized community. After that summer, we decided to stay, and I struggled for years with culture shock. I am now in my twelfth year in Japan and fifteenth year as a career missionary, plodding away, trying to be one who values a long obedience in the same direction. I am trying to be one who stays yet keeps my hands open – not clenched around a place or a person or even my calling but clinging only to God.

When I meet missionaries with special or dramatic callings, I’m both a little cautious and see myself in them. I wonder if they, like me, needed something dramatic and several line-in-the-sand moments because our faith is weak and not because we are strong or special. I need my stories because, without them, I probably would have been out of here years ago.

God uses Scripture, people, experiences, nature, giftings, burdens, circumstances, and nudges from the Holy Spirit to send us on our divine assignments. Yet it is important for us to hold even these with an open hand. While God always calls us to Himself, He may redirect us to different people and places throughout our lifetime. Our job is to listen – and then obey His call.

Originally from Pennsylvania (USA), ROBERTA ADAIR lived in Kosovo for three years before getting married and moving to northern Japan in 2012. She and her husband partner with a Japanese church and have four young and energetic boys. She enjoys hiking, camping, and having friends over for average and boisterous meals. 

This article by Roberta Adair is reposted with permission and was originally published by A Life Overseas on April 3, 2025: https://www.alifeoverseas.com/author/roberta_adair/

Embracing new sectors of societal influence 

Eight years ago, A3 sought ways to succinctly explain our ministry to new potential donors. Through a rebranding process, we drafted this tagline to sum up who A3 is:

“Changing the few who change the many”

We influence servant leaders who will influence others toward Christ’s purposes...

We equip and unify visionary Christ-centered leaders to influence Spirit-led change. The Spirit truly changes people and transforms communities. We influence servant leaders who will influence others toward Christ’s purposes. Selecting the right leaders and fostering a healthy learning community creates space for the Spirit to change the few who change the many.

Empowering Others

Influence holds a profound significance when wielded for positive societal change. As CEO of A3, I ponder how we can shape communities, empower leaders, and navigate the evolving terrain of nonprofits and missions with a steadfast focus on Christ-centered influence. We can build on our past.

A Legacy of Impact

A3 has been at the forefront of leadership development for church multiplication across Asia for over three decades. Equipping leaders to impact their circles of influence expanded A3’s reach. This expansion reflected a deep commitment to nurturing a transformational leadership mindset rooted in Christ, cultivating leaders who influence entire communities for the kingdom.

Empowering Leaders for Influence

Central to A3’s impact strategy is empowering leaders within and beyond its reach. A3 equips individuals not only to lead effectively but also to exert influence that transcends organizational boundaries. This approach extends to cultivating personal influence in every facet of life.

True influence starts with character and extends through relationships. Accomplishing this requires a holistic approach to leader development, emphasizing spiritual engagement, interpersonal growth, and transformational impact on society.

Navigating Change and Impact

Influence for Christ is dynamic; it requires discerning cultural shifts and understanding organizational growth capacity. A3 has responded by leveraging strategic initiatives and partnerships to amplify its influence. To enhance effectiveness in a rapidly changing world, we have adapted through innovative leadership programs, cross-cultural collaborations, and digital transformation.

A3’s New Chapter

A3 signifies a monumental shift from a focus on Asia to a global perspective.

Recently, A3 (formerly Asian Access) unveiled its new name. A3 signifies a monumental shift from a focus on Asia to a global perspective. This marks an expansion beyond geographic and generational boundaries into new sectors of societal influence.

“A3 connects us to our past as LIFE Ministries and Asian Access,” one A3 leader explained. “It also bridges us to our future, reflecting our commitment to following God’s trajectory into new realms of influence.” This evolution underscores A3’s enduring commitment to empower leaders and foster Christ-centered movements globally.

Building a Culture of Influence

For ministry leaders seeking to maximize their influence, our journey underscores three essential principles:  fostering a culture of empowerment and trust, integrating faith with leadership principles, and embracing change as an opportunity for growth.

Our brand isn’t just a new logo and tagline; it’s a symbol of our commitment to transformative leadership in every sphere of society, grounded in faith. A3’s brand ethos reinforces our mission-driven influence, resonating with stakeholders and inspiring a shared vision for kingdom impact.

Outcomes Toward Making Kingdom Impact 

1. Living in a Love Relationship with God: Effective ministry flows from a deep, personal relationship with God. Leaders who maintain and deepen this relationship are continually transformed and can profoundly influence their spheres of influence.
2. Growing as a Christ-like Leader: Leaders who abide in Jesus grow to lead more like him. They exhibit the fruits of the Spirit and lead with integrity and humility. This Christlikeness is essential for preventing spiritual plateau and misuse of power.
3. Reproducing Disciple-Making Leaders: Our leaders are taught to make disciples who can, in turn, make more disciples. This multiplication of leaders is crucial for sustained ministry growth and impact.
4. Catalyzing Christ-Centered Movements: Our leaders are equipped to build movements that extend the reach of their ministries. Whether through starting new witnessing communities or launching missional businesses, these movements bring God’s transformative power to more people, families, cities, and countries.

Redefining Influence

As A3 continues to evolve, the future of influence for Christ remains promising. The ongoing commitment to innovation, leadership excellence, and spiritual formation positions A3 as a beacon of influence in the global Christian community.

Our journey is a testament to the enduring influence that Christian ministries can have in the world. By empowering leaders and fostering a culture of Christ-centered influence, we can transform individual lives and catalyze community-wide change across the globe.

May the insights shared here encourage you to enhance your influence, perpetuating the transformative impact of Christ in an ever-changing world.

About the Author

Joseph W. Handley, Jr., Ph.D., is the president/CEO of A3 (A3leaders.org/A3.business), a global network that accelerates Church and marketplace leaders for mission movements. Joe is also a Global Catalyst for Leadership with the Lausanne Movement, affiliated faculty with Fuller Seminary, and author of Polycentric Mission Leadership (polycentricleadership.com). 

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By ROBERT ADAIR

Whether conscious or unconscious, our view of the role of a missionary significantly impacts our praxis. Are we hoping for credit as the hero or willing to be forgotten in God’s broader story?

“Poop!”¹ my colleague blurted out when I asked our team to describe 肥料 (hiryō, fertilizer). We were at our annual training event at the base of Mt. Bandai in beautiful Fukushima, discussing the differences between being a hero and hiryō as missionaries. The comparison is a convergence of what I have learned about mission work over the last two decades and my love for 親父ギャグ (dad jokes). Images related to the word “hero” come to mind quickly, but few people think much about fertilizer unless they are gardeners or farmers. When I was in Boy Scouts, we had a fundraiser selling various types of fertilizer. I remember driving around with my dad in his truck and unloading fifty-pound bags of some mysterious substance to our friends and neighbors, which I didn’t understand but that they were willing to buy.

Patrick Fung described the second general director of the China Inland Mission, D. E. Hoste, in this way: “He lived to be forgotten in order that Christ may be remembered.”² As I look at Scripture and reflect on my understanding of church history, I am drawn to this quote. I believe the ministry of cross-cultural workers is central to the expansion of the kingdom of God yet it is primarily a call to give our lives, work really hard, and be forgotten in the process. A call not to be a hero but hiryō. This is not an unfortunate reality but good missiology.

Hero

When I first came to Japan in 2005, I believed the rural area where I was living would change because of my presence. God had called me to this unreached country. I had experience in ministry, and I believed that God would do something new because I was there. In short, I viewed myself as a hero in the story of what God was doing in Okuchi.

In my experience, most of us would adamantly deny viewing ourselves as heroes in the story of what God is doing in Japan and in our local contexts. We say, with sincerity, that we are here to serve. At the same time, we struggle when we don’t get credit for our contribution or if our ministry is less fruitful than others. I remember once I shared a ministry idea with our ministry partner. A few days later in a meeting, he shared the idea without giving me credit. The group loved it and decided to give it a try—and it went well. I am ashamed to say that I was more upset about not getting credit than I was excited about the fruit we saw in our ministry. I was more interested in being recognized for the good idea than God being honored and the kingdom advancing through this idea. I wanted to be the hero.

Sometimes Japanese churches can hold hero-like expectations of a missionary. They may be convinced that a missionary can overcome certain problems that they can’t solve themselves. I understand the reasoning behind this thinking, but the dangers of this often-subconscious belief are obvious. It’s not helpful to think of missionaries as heroes.

History also serves up heroes. Following World War II, many missionaries came to Japan and did amazing work. I am humbled by these men and women of faith and perseverance, and we see their legacies continuing today. I have been encouraged by the stories of the Kaylors in Kyushu and the Meekos in Tohoku. But there is also an (often unvoiced) expectation that missionaries today will have the same capacity, gifting, and fruit as the postwar generation. It is also significant that the individuals who are most often remembered are those who had the most spectacular or broadest-reaching impact. The majority of the postwar generation have been (appropriately) forgotten. There is an expectation that we will imitate the few who God used to do exceptional things instead of the thousands who lived faithful and fruitful lives and were forgotten.

Hiryō

When used correctly, fertilizer provides nutrition and strengthens a crop that is already growing. The right amount at the right time can help multiply what is already growing. Fertilizer can do little on its own. If we expand the metaphor a little further, we can see how the seed of the gospel is good, the field doesn’t belong to the missionaries, and when everything else goes well, missionaries disappear in the process. When a field bears a lot of good fruit, the fertilizer is forgotten by most people, except for the farmer. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:5–9, the participants are insignificant; God makes things grow.

So why do I think hiryō/fertilizer is a helpful metaphor? Other than the weak play on words, I think it provides a picture of how the missionary can bring value without becoming too central in the process. Fertilizer applied at the proper time helps the plant grow healthier and bear more fruit. Too much or the wrong timing can actually harm the plant. There are also three helpful built-in assumptions with this metaphor. There is an assumption that somebody else is responsible for the field, that a plant or crop is already bearing fruit in that field, and finally, that missionaries are a type of fertilizer helpful in Japan. The chart below provides a simple comparison of the two approaches to mission:

Table 1 – Qualities of a Hero and Hiryō

From idea to practice

No metaphor is perfect, but I really like this one. I believe in the value of missionaries working cross-culturally to help reach communities where Christ is unknown. In some circles I have also observed momentum toward viewing missionaries as heroes, and in other circles, as unnecessary. We need to avoid both traps. Missionaries are not the ultimate answer—we would all agree that Christ and the gospel are. There is also a tremendous need for missionaries in Japan, where well over 99% of the population is not actively following Jesus.

I love how the image of fertilizer fights both of these traps. As missionaries, we are not central but add nutrition to the soil for the gospel to bear fruit. In the right amount and with the right timing, we can be both significant and forgotten in the process. In ministry, we have the perfect seed. The gospel is sufficient. We are ministering in the country of Japan, where there are specific needs and challenges. How do we orient our lives in such a way that the soil is enriched and Christ is remembered? Is my ultimate desire to be the hero of the story, or am I ready to embrace a strategy in which I am likely to be forgotten, underappreciated, yet pleasing to our Father in heaven?

Robert Adair

NOTES

1. I’ve always wanted to start an article with the word poop (smile).
2. Patrick Fung. Live to be Forgotten, OMF International, 2008, Forward, Kindle. Illustrations: Vecteezy.com

ROBERT ADAIR is a Texan who serves in Miyagi Prefecture through a partnership with Shiogama Bible Baptist Church and as the Director of A3 Missional Partners. He is married to Roberta and the father of four energetic boys.

This article by Robert Adair is reposted with permission and was originally published by Japan Harvest magazine in its Spring 2025 edition here: https://japanharvest.org/model-of-missions-hero-or-hiryo/

Japan Harvest is the official publication of the Japan Evangelical Missionary Association (JEMA). The purpose of the publication is to promote the evangelical church in Japan and the ministry of the association. Japan Harvest encourages, inspires, and equips the JEMA community and those seeking to reach the Japanese people with the gospel. 

by JOSEPH W. HANDLEY, President, A3

Forty years ago, the “edges” of mission were relatively clear. Unreached people groups were primarily mapped geographically, pioneering missions meant long journeys to faraway lands, and “access” was defined by political and physical barriers. But in today’s hyper-connected, globalized, and mobile world, the edges are not just geographical or based on ethnicity—they can be everywhere. That said, despite major progress, the frontier task remains. There are still more than 2 billion people with no known access to a viable, contextual gospel witness.¹

At A3, we believe the Church must follow the Spirit to the new frontiers—those that are geographic, cultural, digital, ideological, and even ecclesial. And as we do so, we must shift from a centralized, Western-centric model to a polycentric, Spirit-led approach that listens deeply to local voices, shares leadership across contexts, and multiplies mission through relational networks.

From Fixed Frontiers to Fluid Edges

For decades, the mission enterprise was largely driven by the West—well-meaning, passionate pioneers charting a course toward “unreached” regions. This model bore tremendous fruit, and we celebrate that legacy. But today, mission is not from the West to the rest—it is from everywhere to everywhere. Frankly, it’s always been that way!

In fact, some of the hardest “edges” of the gospel are not only in unreached villages in Central Asia or the Sahel but in corporate boardrooms in Tokyo, influencer circles in Jakarta, and post-Christian urban centers in North America and Europe. Paul Borthwick notes that, “Globalization has not only redistributed the world’s people but also its spiritual longings and missional challenges.”² The boundaries of access have shifted from geography to worldview—apathy, secularism, nationalism, and spiritual disillusionment form powerful barriers, even in places with churches on every corner.

Reframing the Edges

So, what comprises the edges today?

1. Edge as Pioneer Territory:

This is the most pressing edge. According to R. Lewis, “There are essentially no national believers to partner with” in these groups, requiring fresh cross-cultural engagement. Joshua Project data confirms that more than 2 billion people still live in these contexts.³

2. Edge as Spiritual Openness:

In regions where the Church is small but resilient (like Türkiye), the spiritual hunger of a generation can create unexpected receptivity. We have seen young leaders, shaped by trauma and transformation, become catalysts of gospel movements—even in places long deemed “hard.”

3. Edge as Influence Hubs:

A3 prioritizes equipping leaders in important sectors—business, media, education, and politics—because we believe the Spirit is drawing us to places of cultural and social leverage. In cities like Seoul and Chennai, we’ve witnessed how Christ-centered leaders in business can spark renewal and shape whole ecosystems.

Several of our business and young professional alumni share that they never realized their marketplace work could be a mission field until our network showed them how.

4. Edge as Leadership:

One of the most important frontiers is the shortage of character-rich, vision-driven leaders across the global Church. Leader development is not optional—it is strategic mission. The edge, in this sense, is anywhere the Church is growing faster than leaders can be trained with depth, contextual wisdom, and Christlike humility.

5. Edge as Collaboration:

Mission today demands networks, not empires. At A3, we model polycentric leadership, drawing on the wisdom of diverse leaders across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. We’ve learned that mission accelerates when leadership is shared, contextualized, and deeply relational.

Polycentric Mission and Spirit-Led Discernment

Rather than defining the edge by distance, we must discern where the Spirit is leading. Some of the hardest- to-reach peoples still need gospel pioneers. But others—like burned-out pastors in post-COVID Europe or skeptical Gen Z students in New York—also represent spiritual edges.

Rather than applying a rigid definition to the “edge,” perhaps the better posture is one of discernment. As one of my mentors once implied, “The edge is wherever the Spirit is stirring hearts.”

This doesn’t mean we abandon strategy. On the contrary, we need better maps—ones that overlay geography with influence, receptivity, leadership gaps, and missional readiness. But these maps must be held lightly as we sense where the Spirit blows and redraws the edges. The Spirit often calls us to go where others are not looking—to the margins of society, the forgotten subcultures, the burned-out pastors, the digital natives.

Rebecca Lewis highlights that while tremendous gains have been made—dropping the percentage of global population in Frontier People Groups from 60% in 1974 to 25% in 2024—60% of all UPGs still have no known indigenous churches or movements to Christ. These groups still require intentional cross-cultural witness.⁴

Following these ideas requires a posture of listening and a shift in mission strategy. A3 models polycentric leadership, a distributed, multi-nodal approach that values local agency, shared power, and contextual intelligence. “Polycentric leadership empowers diverse centers of influence, rooted in mutual trust and shared discernment.”5 Instead of mission being led from one center, we see movements cross the edges when voices from Asia, Africa, and Latin America shape strategy in collaboration with others. This is not only more—it’s more effective.

Conclusion: The Edges Are Closer Than We Think

Today, a Bengali software engineer in Silicon Valley, a Buddhist CEO in Bangkok, and a spiritually hungry Gen Z in Boston may all sit at mission’s frontier. The “edge” is not necessarily defined by access to the gospel but by awareness, engagement, and transformation. And that requires a Church willing to walk slowly, listen deeply, collaborate widely, and lead humbly.

The edges are in rural Afghanistan and in London’s refugee housing. They are in the Buddhist monasteries of Myanmar and the hip cafés of Seoul. They are where the Church does not yet exist, and where it does exist but lacks depth and discipleship.

At A3, we’ve embraced this journey. We’re seeing Christ-centered movements emerge—not through force or formulas, but through the Spirit’s prompting and the Church’s faithful response.

Let us not merely chase the old frontiers. Let us also ask, “Where is the Spirit moving now?” That’s the true edge of mission. We must remain deeply committed to the unengaged and least reached peoples while also discerning new frontiers emerging in urban centers, digital ecosystems, and fragile church contexts.

The edge is not only a place—it is a posture. A commitment to go where the Spirit leads, especially among those with no access to the gospel. A3 is resolved to invest in leaders who can multiply that witness among the world’s most vulnerable and unreached. May we walk forward with courage and humility to the true cutting edges of mission.

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

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More Information

• This feature article was originally published here in Mission Frontiers on Volume #47- Issue 5 for Sept/Oct 2025, Page #38 and reposted here with permission. Mission Frontiers is a bi-monthly magazine of Frontier Ventures. Since 1979, Mission Frontiers has provided subscribers with innovative insights on a wide range of topics from field practitioners and thought leaders in missiology.
• Image credits: Cover photo by jötâkå on Unsplash; magazine cover by Mission Frontiers
• Editor's Notes: OpenAI’s ChatGPT was employed for research and to enhance the clarity and grammar of this article.

End Notes

1 Rebecca Lewis, “The Great Progress of the Gospel: 50 Unbelievable Years” (Pasadena, CA: Frontier Ventures, 2024).
2 Borthwick, Paul, Western Christians in Global Mission: What’s the Role of the North American Church? (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 2012), 47.
3 Rebecca Lewis, “The Great Progress of the Gospel.” See also: Newell, M. J. (2021). A Third of Us: What It Takes to Reach the Unreached. William Carey Publishing.
4 Rebecca Lewis. Email correspondence in Motus Dei Network, Dec 6, 2024
5 Handley, Joseph W., Polycentric Mission Leadership: Toward a New Theory for Global Leadership (Oxford, UK: Regnum Books, 2022), 32.