Singapore, Sealands Field: Twelve committed cross-cultural workers. Four intense days together. One very large Asian city. And one loving God who desires that all the peoples of the earth might come to know Him. Add it all together and the result is the 13th “Mission Strategy Training” (MST) week facilitated by the Asia-Pacific Regional Office in Singapore.

Team members who were participating in the MST Event.

August 22 – 25, the six couples, currently working in five Asia-Pacific fields, explored together what it means to, “Make Christlike Disciples in the Nations.” They were challenged to every day, see the person that God has placed in front of them and to use every opportunity to not only make disciples, but to teach those disciples to make more disciples. The times of study and discussion were mixed with media, group exercises, team building activities, worship, and prayer.

Reading assignments given to participants in the weeks prior to the training included “Organic Church” (Neil Cole) and “Church Planting Movements” (David Garrison). During the week, the group discussed the missional implications of such statements as, “We want to lower the bar of how church is done and raise the bar of what it means to be a disciple,” (Neil Cole, Organic Church, pg 27.)

Making new friends on the bus.

The participants, some of whom are ministering in Creative Access Areas, were impacted in various ways, as evidenced by their comments:

• “I was reminded of the absolute necessity for prayer. Without God stepping into these situations, we don’t have a chance. But all things can be accomplished through prayer.”
•  “Don’t let busy-ness overtake your relationship with God. It’s okay to pace yourself. To breathe. Let God’s plans be your plans.”
• “We have started with a one month plan! Now we are working on 3 month, 6 month, and 1 year plans!”

Regional Director, Mark Louw, was pleased with the week of training.

Experiencing various cultures of Singapore

“MST continues to be the single most effective team development resource that we have as a Region,” said Louw.  “It was evidenced again with this group, as missional concepts were introduced and new insight was gained. Comments were overwhelmingly positive with many expressing regret that they had not been exposed to these concepts earlier. We thank God and the Holy Spirit for His transforming presence and leadership.”

Prayer Focus:

• Pray for these 6 couples as they return to their fields of service and begin to implement the concepts in their particularly ministries.
• Pray for the 180 cross-cultural workers on the Asia-Pacific Region who are daily Making Christlike Disciples in the Nations.

— Submitted by Dave Hane, Asia-Pacific Personnel Coordinator