Eager to benefit from the interest in tourism, the local government has made it easy for foreigners to obtain tourist residence visas. However, this provision is not sufficient for church planters like Peter to live there for the purpose of sharing the gospel and remain there long-term.

The local government and nationals love the tourists, but are extremely suspicious of foreign residents. One of the best ways to naturally build trust with nationals is to get involved in normal daily life. Simply, your life has to make sense to the community – and jumping into local commerce is one way of doing this. For this to happen legally, however, a work permit is needed. Due to massive unemployment and a general desire to save jobs for locals, this is extremely difficult to do.

For Peter, answering the question, “what do you do?” is very important. This is why obtaining a work permit that would allow him to engage in the local economy and remain in the country has been a priority for him. In order to share the gospel effectively, church planters must be trusted and it usually takes more than honesty, charm, and a winsome personality to earn trust in his area. He knew he needed to fit in a culturally-relevant vocational category, but to do this he needed a work permit.

It has been difficult for Peter to determine how to obtain such a permit. Recently, however, as he got to know others in his city, Peter met a local business man who wanted to hire him to help his business and serve the local community. Peter accepted, and soon after the necessary work permit was granted. It allows Peter to stay in the country and build relationships and trust with the locals. We’re praising God for this provision.

Peter’s story highlights the importance of work permits. Many visas are available to church planters overseas, but they have cumbersome requirements such as mandating that the holder exit the country every few months or limiting how much they can engage in local community. Work permits are a critical part of church planters like Peter remaining on the field. Recognizing this, Access Partners will continue to respond to this unique need by seeking to build businesses that can supply work permits to church planters among unreached people groups.

*Name changed for security reasons

Culture and religion are intertwined. Although other religions are practiced, Hinduism influences many aspects of life, both unifying and diversifying the country. While some holidays and traditions are observed by all four Hindu castes, each of the castes and thousands of sub-castes have different deities, traditions, and family customs.

North India is home to 500 million people – most of whom do not know Christ.

Spirituality and piety are common in India. Very rarely does someone claim not to believe in a higher power. The powers they worship, however, are those in the Hindu pantheon, the Allah of Islam, or the varied gods of Sikhism, Jainism, Buddhism and animism. Christians account for only 0.1% of North India’s population, making it one of the least reached regions of the world.

However, with 500 million people calling North India home, 0.1% is still five hundred thousand people calling Christ Lord. Despite the cultural dislike and suspicion of Christianity there, the gospel is advancing.

For believers, it can be difficult living among people who view their faith as the ‘Western religion’ left over from the British Raj. The temptation always exists to quietly practice without sharing the Good News. This fear of rejection has sadly resulted in pockets of nominal Christianity, especially in urban areas.

However, the growth of the Church in India shows that not all Christians are shrinking back. Over the past two decades there has been a slow but steady establishment of faithful, Bible teaching churches in urban areas, and a growing conviction among young Christians there to study God’s word.

In the rural regions, response to the Gospel has been great particularly among the Dalit, or the lowest Hindu caste, which is not even counted among the major four. Thousands of rural churches have sprung up as people there have repented and believed in Christ. In a country where religious freedom is legal, but conversion difficult or even illegal at times, this is very encouraging.

AP is considering expanding our work to include India. God is worthy of India’s praise and we desire to see many there saved from their sins through His Gospel, just as in the other places we’re working.

AP has a friend in India who has helped us know how to better pray for the people there. Please join us in praying for India, as well as for us as we possibly begin work there.

• Pray that the believers in India would be bold and willing to take risks in sharing the gospel despite persecution.
• Pray that God would soften the hearts of government leaders in regions that have laws making conversion difficult, so the laws can be changed and Christians can bear witness without fear.
• Pray that God would raise up theologically sound, passionate Indian men to be pastors who exemplify what they teach and believe.
• Pray that God would make a way for theologically faithful teaching in India to help equip pastors to teach the Bible.
• Pray for our friend, who is a church planter in North India. Pray that God would bless his work.

Day 1 –
Last night, we attended a small church which met on a busy commercial street.  I later learned that many other churches meet at this location throughout the week.  During the service, I didn’t understand a single word that was said, but I recognized the music and the joy in the room.  God is doing much in this part of the world, and there is much work for us to do, too.  Churches like these encourage those working in the field, who can often feel weary from the threat of persecution and from carrying the burden of the lost on their hearts.  When we adjourned there was excitement to meet again.

I attended a weekly prayer meeting later in the week. The people sitting around the table were precious.  One man told me that he and his pastor had been sentenced to over 7 years in prison because of their faith and the work they did to disciple believers.  Praise God that he was able to serve less than 1 year of the sentence.  No doubt a shorter sentence was good news, but it was obvious the experience had affected him deeply. He was wary even as he shared his story with fellow believers, fearful that if he was caught in his new home doing similar work, he would be deported for his faith.  If he were to be caught and sent back to his home country, the punishment there would be severe.

Another man shared that he had recently lost his cell phone.  He was clearly upset.  When I asked if he was upset because of the inconvenience or the potential risk, he responded, “both.”  The loss potentially exposed many of his church contacts to harm.  I noticed the familiar look of great burden, but also the abounding joy that comes from faith.

Day 3 –
I was blessed to be with friends today.  After sharing dinner out, one friend said it was likely that we were the only two Christians there that night.  Considering we were at a rather large shopping center, this was a sobering statement.  Spiritual poverty is a heartbreaking reality here, and the look on the faces of the local people evidences the spiritual void.

Day 7 –
Access Partners’ work here is encouraging.  The business I visited has been a wonderful blessing to church planters here, giving them access to people they would never otherwise meet and allowing them to build a loving if small community within the company.  It’s an excellent example of how a Business-as-Mission company can be a shining light in the midst of darkness.

While en route to the airport to travel to another part of Central Asia, I found myself talking with a taxi driver who spoke basic conversational English.  In God’s kindness, our conversation turned to the gospel, and I am hopeful that our brief conversation will help him see there is something more for him when he places his trust in our Savior.

Day 8 –
Today I had the privilege of attending a small fellowship group that meets at the top of a building in a working class neighborhood.  It was evident to me that the Holy Spirit was among us.  I couldn’t keep back tears as I watched the faces and listened to the worship songs.  Whenever I’m in these situations I cannot help but weep with joy and sorrow – joy for those who have been found, and sorrow for those who have not.  I’m reminded that the battle for the lost of this world is real.  It’s amazing how God, who doesn’t need us to accomplish his purpose, allows us to join him in His work.  Observing this is a privilege.

One of the people attending the gathering was a former Central Asian mafia man who is instrumental in helping to lead this fellowship.  He realized one day in the middle of a gunfight that he couldn’t go on as he was. “There must be more to life,” he remembers thinking.  This realization set him on a path of discovery and he found salvation and forgiveness.  Today, I watched the transformed man sing hymns to God, unable to contain his own smile.  His heart was obviously filled with joy.

Another man with his teenager son was there, deported from their home country because of their faith.  I was affected by seeing two generations present at this church, the older leading the younger by sharing the truth with him.

A mother with her three daughters also attended.  They have been unemployed and have endured unspeakable tragedies in their home country.  They worshiped near me and their heartfelt praise was beautiful to hear.  They are new believers, but have already seen God’s faithfulness in their lives.  They know his goodness and how he answers prayers.

Although they have very little – some church members are unemployed – the group tithes on what they earn, and recently collected enough to pay one month’s rent in advance so they could keep praising God together.

Day 9 –
I learned today that a believer was once arrested in the very building I where I worshiped on Sunday.  The man was working on Bible correspondence, and was taken from his home late one evening.  Once in jail, he began evangelizing those in prison with him.  He had his wife bring him Christian materials, telling her, “there is much work to be done here.” The authorities caught on and placed him in isolation shortly after.  He was released after some days in prison.

Day 15 –
We went to church today and had the privilege of seeing new Christians baptized.  There were many people in attendance, and the excitement level was high.  Those being baptized were tearfully joyful as they were baptized in a large tub filled with water.  I learned that baptisms are not common in Central Asia.  In fact, some veteran church planters told me that they had only seen two other baptisms in nine years of service.  I was blessed to have been present for this event.

Day 20 –
I travel home today.  I’m grateful I was able to take notes about my time here, otherwise I might forget the wonderful things I’ve learned and the kindness of the teams I’ve met.  I do not want to forget the lost, the hopeless looks, and the absence of joy that comes from not knowing what Christ has done for us.  This trip has reminded me how truly blessed I am to live where I have such freedom, but also that I’m not boldly using my freedom to share the Gospel, even with those in my neighborhood.  These church planters are an example to be emulated.

These are just a few recent headlines from the 10/40 window that illustrate the prevalence of religious persecution in countries where Access Partners operates. What is the Christian response to such a situation?

On one level, Christians should call and work for liberty in the public sphere. We should support religious liberty for all people, including Buddhists, Muslims, and Jews. Becoming a Christian cannot be compulsory since it is God alone who chooses those who will repent and believe in Christ.

Yet on another level, we recognize that the biggest hurdle in missions is not big government, but rather sinful hearts. Sure, it would be great if all governments supported religious freedom. But the gospel compels us to spread our good news—even when sharing it is prohibited. The demands of the gospel supersede any law; there are no barriers that can prevent its expansion or disqualify us from missions.

Ultimately, it’s important to consider why we do missions. We do missions because God is worthy to be proclaimed for Who He is; He deserves to receive worship from all peoples of the earth. In other words, it is impossible to divorce Christianity from missions.  God is a missionary God and we are commanded to call others to the knowledge and worship of Him.

All Christians, thus, are in a sense missionaries. We should look to share the gospel wherever we are, regardless of whether we are a bank teller in Wichita or a teacher in China.  Sharing the gospel overseas is essentially the same as sharing the gospel in the States: the goal is to make God known.

Of course, we must express our zeal with “gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:16). As much as possible, we should abide by cultural and governmental standards. The examples of Christ and of Paul are helpful in this regard.

Second Corinthians 8:9 states: “Though he [Christ] was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” Paul notes his own example: “For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. (1 Thess. 2:9).

How do these verses affect how Access Partners approaches projects in countries with religious persecution?

Following these Biblical principles means we should respect, as far as it is possible, the customs of locals and avoid actions that will offend them.  For instance, it would be appropriate to consider others’ cultures by following dress codes and valuing the elders in the community.

Church planters should also follow, to the best of their ability, the laws of the country in which they live. Certainly, the businesses that we operate need to conform to local laws and regulations.  Of course, we ultimately serve God and not men (Acts 4). Yet human laws should be obeyed as much as possible, even if they seem pedantic. For example, in many former Soviet Republics, every purchase that a business makes, even from a grocery store, needs a contract. Writing up contracts for mundane purchases takes a lot of time yet Paul calls us in Romans 13 to submit to such authorities.

Doing what you say you do is another important part of work overseas.  If church planters say they are doing business, they should do such work—and do it well. Sometimes, the question of dual identity causes church planters a great deal of thought and stress. People ask, “Is it OK to call myself a businessperson if I’m really doing church planting? Am I putting up a deceptive front?”

We believe that these mental gymnastics are the wrong way to look at the issue.  Church planters shouldn’t feel like they are using a cover in order to share the gospel.  Instead, they should focus on doing their work honorably and well. Doing so glorifies God and provides a helpful model to locals who seek to combine vocation and faith.

Finally, we as Christians believe that God is sovereign—He can use persecution to further His kingdom. When believers suffer for Christ, they effectively demonstrate His worth to others.

In the book of Acts, it was the persecution launched after the death of Stephen that caused the gospel to go to new cities and regions, bringing Gentiles into the church.  Similarly, the church in China was estimated to be around 700,000 before the communists took over in 1949. Missionaries were expelled and many thought the church would wither away. But now it is estimated that there are 60-80 million Christians in China—a 10,000% increase in just over 50 years!

So yes, we should advocate for religious liberty and support those who do so.  However, even if there is no official freedom, Christians do not need to be discouraged. God is faithful and He will accomplish the salvation of His people.

Jesus directs His followers to “Go and make disciples of all nations.” (Matthew 28:19) This command may sound extreme; it requires us to reorganize our goals. Yet if we truly reflect on Christ, recognizing that He is worthy of the world’s worship, our trust, and all our treasures, we should want to reorient our lives.

Regardless of your circumstances, it is good to ask, “How can I fulfill Jesus’ command to make disciples?” Many missionaries who are pursuing the advance of the Gospel depend on partners who regularly provide for them financially. Are there parts of your monthly budget that you could designate for overseas work? Church planters also agree that prayer support is integral to their ministry. Purchase Operation World or use The Joshua Project to begin praying for one country, unreached people group, or missionary each day.

Most people set New Year’s resolutions which require them to sacrifice time, money, energy, and maybe even a favorite dessert. But as you consider the remaining months of 2010, you could reflect on these words of Christ:

“Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’” (Matthew 9:37-38)

Are you one of these workers? Be the answer to your prayer.

Perhaps you’re not sure about how to proceed. A good way to start is by thinking about the relationships you have already formed with non-Christians such as your coworkers, neighbors, and unsaved relatives. Are there ways you can introduce the Gospel into your conversations with them?

You could also look for opportunities to build deeper relationships with acquaintances you see on a regular basis. Do you have a favorite server at the restaurant where you eat each week? Do you talk with other parents on your children’s sports teams? Do you have a hobby that allows you to meet others in your community? If so, you should consider investing in or initiating these types of relationships for the sake of the Gospel.

You might want to seek first-hand knowledge of local and overseas missions work too. For example, your church may participate in ministries for college students, unwed mothers, the homeless, or prisoners in your area. Your church might also organize short-term missions trips. These trips allow you not only to assist overseas workers directly, but also to gain a first-hand glimpse into everyday life of missionaries. In addition, they equip you to better pray for church planters and the unreached people they serve.

Brett*, a church planter in Central Asia, was willing to risk everything to share the Good News—even his family. Over a decade ago, he moved his wife and four young children to a country where they faced difficulties unimaginable in the west. What would motivate Brett to make such a radical decision? The answer is found in the same Person who is the role model for all Christians. As Paul writes,

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant…He humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:5-8)

Amazingly, Brett doesn’t emphasize the cost of his obedience—such as leaving family, retirement funds, and healthcare behind. Instead, he focuses on the joy of knowing God’s promises: “Like Abraham, [we] can trust God’s protection and faithfulness with the unknowns.”

Those who do not know God cannot comprehend such a peace. They eat and drink without a care for tomorrow (1 Corinthians 15:32.) But we, who know our eternal end, should live in such a way that we look like Christ—scarred, beaten, broken—and yet confident and hopeful in our future. An example like that not only brings God glory, but also it can be used by God to bring others into His Kingdom.

As you begin 2010, take some time to reflect on how you will follow Christ’s sacrificial example and obey His command to make disciples. In the words of martyred missionary Jim Elliot: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”

Please pray:

ask God to show you what radical ways you can obey his command to go and make disciples, whether that’s in your current community or in another country.
for opportunities to promote the spread of the Gospel by going on a short-term missions trip, giving financially, developing relationships with neighbors, or praying regularly for AP
that the work of overseas church planters will be strengthened in the upcoming year.

* For security, his name has been changed.

Editor’s note: One of our New Year’s resolutions is to make sure not to be late in sending out our monthly newsletters.

Then Samuel took a stone…and called its name Ebenezer; for he said, “Till now the LORD has helped us.” 1 Samuel 7:12

We have many reminders of how the Lord has helped us in our work this past year.
God placed resources on our path when we needed them most.  He was with us at every turn as we sought to be faithful to the Great Commission, and along the way we have many “ebenezers” to point to. Here are a few.

A Replicable Business

Two years, 12 volunteers, 1 business director, and five partner churches. God used this combination of resources so that we could launch one more business in the 10/40 window this year. Lord willing, it will support six, maybe seven church planters in the next few years. We are also grateful because the business model lends itself to potential replication in other areas of Central Asia.

Church Partnerships

We are not able to do our work without our partnerships with local churches.  This year, our partner churches have sent their members to AP trips abroad, funded a startup business, and have offered needed advice on a number of our projects. Their willingness to help us as we support the people in the field is overwhelming and humbling.

Faithful Co-Laborers

Our friends in the 10/40 window are our heroes. We can say “it is not easy to serve as a church planter in these countries,” but they can show you why that statement is true. They face disappointment, medical problems, the loss of loved ones, persecution, and death, yet their joy in the Lord remains. We have learned so much through their example.

100 Church Planters

Our team set a goal of supporting 100 church planters by the end of 2010. In God’s sovereign kindness, we were able to achieve that goal ahead of schedule in 2009.

Safety

We’ve had the pleasure of traveling to Central Asian countries to work with BAM (Business-as-Mission) companies and church planters.  Not all travel destinations are safe, but by God’s grace, we have been able to conduct our business without direct threats or harm to the people working on a particular project.  We are grateful that we have been able to complete the objectives of our trips in a safe and productive manner.

10/40 Pioneers

We launched a monthly donation program called the “10/40 Pioneers” this year and we are grateful for all the donations that came in – large and small.  It is these very donations that provide us with the opportunity to help bring the gospel to the ends of the earth.

Pro-bono Staff

Since January, we have counted approximately 2,400 donated hours from friends who worked on different AP projects. Several pro bono administrators, industry experts, and business consultants have passed through our doors this year. We recognize we could not have paid for the high caliber of support we received from volunteers each month.

A Growing Network

More people are growing in their interest in Business as Missions (BAM) strategies. This year, we talked to business owners, expatriates in the 10/40 window, and other industry experts who are open to help us. Lord willing, these connections will help us find more ways for church planters to live in least reached countries.

Business Directors

Without business directors on the field, raising up a successful company is a bigger challenge.  It is difficult for church planters to launch and run a successful company while also planting a church. Business directors are people we recruit and send to the field to help with various BAM initiatives.  We are especially thankful that we have been able to place business directors on the field and that we have more candidates who are considering placement.

New Believers

In Turkey, there are 3,062 Christians in a country of 72 million people. In Turkmenistan, there are about 2,000 believers out of a population of 4 million. That’s the size of some churches here in DC. These numbers can be discouraging if you didn’t know that in the early 1990s, there were only 540 known believers in Turkey and only 5 known Turkmen Christians.

By God’s grace, there are more people who came to know Christ as their Savior this year compared to the years before.  God willing, we will continue to play a small role in helping church planters bring the good news of the gospel to the lost people of Central Asia.

We are grateful that we have the opportunity to see God work in Central Asia—in a remote city, in a church in the suburbs, in a small local government office—He has been faithful and amazing.  We count ourselves blessed that we can join Him in the small role we play in sharing the gospel with the lost people of Central Asia.

We have been placed in challenging environments but God has removed the barriers to our progress.  While we never take God’s grace for granted, we are also not surprised when He meets us.  He is continually providing the funds we need, directing us to the right people to help us, guiding our plans (and changing them!), and sustaining our desire and determination to serve our brothers and sisters in the 10/40 window. As we look back on the year, we also say, “Till now, the Lord has helped us.”

“You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me,” the apostle Paul told the crowd of Ephesian elders as he brought his work in that city to a close. For three years he had labored among them, planting a church in a land that had never known one. To that end he subordinated everything, including his entrepreneurship and industry, in so far as they aided the ministry of the Word. “In all things, I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak …” (Acts 20: 34-35a)

At Access Partners, we see Paul’s task as a great example for pioneering churches in regions hostile to Christianity and to unreached people groups. We use business in the same way that Paul did – as a means to enter, and remain, and make way for evangelization and church growth.

In the array of Business-As-Missions techniques now on offer, we at Access Partners seek to follow the apostle Paul’s simple priorities of the apostle Paul, which we call “Pioneering BAM.”

In Ephesus, where Paul’s means to support himself and credibility in the community were in doubt, where both the society and the government had shown themselves hostile to his mission, Paul used his entrepreneurship to clear these obstacles to his ministry. By working hard and supplying his own needs, he was able to remain above reproach and independent of local needs. Thus, he could concentrate on the work of teaching publicly, and from house to house, the “repentance towards God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Acts. 20:21).

Many advocates of BAM seek to use their business operations for social and community development as well, thus requiring a doubling of efforts for the business organization. We call this type of business “Transformational BAM” since the business side of the mission includes the broader goals of transforming the community in which it is located. For instance, transformational businesses may require a defined environmental plan, seek to employ the marginalized, and plan a transfer of ownership within a fixed window of time. These are all laudable goals, but they add significantly to the work of the missionaries.

As we seek to plant churches in the 10/40 Window, we believe that the Pioneering BAM method is most effective. The region, less than 2% Christian, is marked by hostile governments, uncertain and time-consuming visa processes, and locals that are often suspicious of foreigners. It is similar in these ways to the world in which Paul preached.

A business-mission is the needed tool to overcome these formidable obstacles. Once the obstacles are overcome, any mission’s remaining resources are best used, as Paul used them, solely for the ministry of the Word and for the planting and building of churches.

To that end, Access Partners seeks to establish legitimate businesses that enable church planting. These goals are a sufficient challenge for church planters in and of themselves.

Pioneering BAM streamlines the businesses tasks so as to strengthen the church’s ministry. Access Partners’ businesses will of course positively benefit the community in which they operate. However,those benefits would be more incidental than in a Transformative BAM model. This allows the mission team to focus on the primary reason of their ministry: the spread of the gospel.

Legitimate businesses used for Pioneering BAM in the 10/40 Window require the essential elements of all businesses: a good idea, sufficient capital, and talented personnel to run the business. Access Partners seeks to connect existing resources, such as experienced businessmen and proven business models, with experienced ministers of the word in particular communities. In this way both the business platform and the church-planting ministry receive adequate attention and are respectively managed well.

Access Partners has already worked to help twenty such teams in the 10/40 Window. For the glory of God, we desire to establish even more. We ask that you consider the talents the Lord has lent you – business skills, the means to give, and the calling of the ministry of the Word. How may the Lord want you to contribute to the building of his Kingdom?

Please pray

… that God would draw experienced and motivated businessmen and women to give the gifts they have received for the benefit of the work of building the church.

… that Access Partners would continue to develop strong legitimate businesses to aid missionaries in the planting of churches.

… that God would continue to give strength and wisdom to missionaries who are using BAM as a tool in church planting.

“Today the Silk Road is almost entirely Muslim. In fact, in many ways that is the heart of the Islamic world,” said George Moore*, who has devoted his whole career to church planting in this barren land. Through his and many others’ efforts, the gospel is again beginning to break through amidst the hundreds of millions in this difficult place. The means is through business, moving along the once gospel-bearing ancient Silk Road.

The gospel once thrived along the Silk Road. For centuries, before Islam’s rise in the Middle Ages, God’s truth spread throughout the interior of the continent carried along this trade route between the Far East and the Mediterranean. The Silk Road, which was really an extensive network of trading roads and highways, snaked through all of the modern nations now centered in the 10/40 window. The Road’s main highways moved west from China through Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon.

In ancient times, the Christians who first brought the gospel to the Silk Road region were themselves the very same merchants and traders who took to the Silk Road for its commercial opportunity. Their exchanges of goods in the marketplace gave way to a priceless exchange of ideas. The Christians traded as a means to build relationships with the lost. In turn, these relationships were the means to proclaim the gospel to the many who did not yet know. From this preaching, churches were born. This very same pattern of evangelism is now in revival.

“We’re talking about business now as a means of carrying the gospel because that is in fact the best way for us to get into many of these areas,” said Moore. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the Silk Road region has resumed the ancient network of trade and business activity of a millennium ago. The governments of the region, freely encourage entrepreneurship within their borders.

The Silk Road is again opened, and Christians are entering and finding access to long-unreached peoples. Business and entrepreneurship again provide the universal entry point.

Access Partners helps church planters enter, live, and form relationships for the gospel along the Silk Road by aiding and establishing businesses. Access Partners develops business models that are useful across the Silk Road region. And the need continues to grow as opportunities for overt missionary activity decrease while there are increasing opportunities for business that enable church planting.

The missionaries who need the businesses are each skilled church planters, experts in language and culture, blessed by God in their fields, and eager with a passion for the gospel. They and their teams concentrate on communities where less than 2% of the population are Christians. Access Partners wants to help them use business to sustain their presence along the Silk Road for years to come.

As a result of this joint labor, the gospel of truth again rings out in a once dark land. Men, women and children are coming to a knowledge of the truth. And God’s glory is being made known.

Please pray:
… ask God how he may use the talents he has given you, in business and entrepreneurship, technology and support, to help in the new proclamation of the gospel along the ancient Silk Road.
…for Access Partners and church planters to have the wisdom to identify viable business models.
…for the Lord to sustain the strength and endurance of the church planters along the Silk Road.

*Note: For their safety, the names of the church planters have been changed.

As governments and religious leaders in Central Asia become increasingly hostile toward Christianity, many missionaries have discovered that house churches are often the safest and most convenient places for Christians in the region to assemble.

A house church, as the name implies, is simply a small group of believers who meet together in a nearby home. They are typically led by one or several men, who may or may not have formal Biblical training. The mission workers we interviewed each have their own stories and experiences but generally have found that in regions where the Christian church is persecuted, house churches offer believers refuge, spiritual growth, and close relationships.

For years, missionary Brian Keller and his family have concentrated their efforts on helping form Central Asian believers into healthy house churches. Brian has developed a training regimen to help house-church ministers and elders develop a biblical understanding of preaching, discipleship, and evangelism. Access Partners is currently helping Brian think through a business strategy that will help get him into a new community to once again plant such house churches.

Carrie Campbell, a missionary in Southern Asia, says that house churches are rife for biblical training because they are largely unmonitored by governments in the region. As a result, house-church congregations, as opposed to some Christian churches that meet in a public place, can worship more freely and in a fashion that remains true to Scripture.

Charles Campbell, Carrie’s husband, says the ability to assemble in secret is very important. He says that because Christians in southern Asia are violently oppressed, it’s important that believers “simply stay alive long enough to learn what following Christ means.”

The Campbell family has been especially encouraged by the close-knit fellowship they have experienced in house churches. The smallness of congregations allows for deep personal relationships and provides built-in accountability.

House churches are relatively cheap to operate. “I don’t really think the importance of having near-zero costs can be repeated enough,” Charles says. Because Christians living in Asia often cannot afford the buildings, materials, and staff Christians in the U.S. are used to, planting churches in homes where shelter and food are readily available is of tremendous benefit to congregations.

And yet there are challenges with house churches. Pastors without formal training can sometimes misinterpret Scripture. “These churches are often dependent on lay leaders with heavy daily responsibilities,” Carrie says. “Their time is often divided, and their knowledge can be limited, and yet they have the task of leading a group of mostly new believers as a church.” In some places in the region, churches are mostly made up of men because laws prohibit evangelism and men are afraid of the consequences of sharing the gospel with their wives and family.

Although Brian Keller continues to help house churches in the region face up to these challenges, he is slow to trumpet the success of the house-church model. “Whether you’re planting a church in a house or a factory,” he says, “the important thing is not to exalt the form over the function. The purpose of the church is to preach the gospel and to make disciples, wherever the church meets.”

Please pray:

• For God to strengthen the house churches in Central Asia by raising up leaders who have sound doctrine
• For the safety of those who meet in house churches and for the church planters who support them

* Note: For their safety, the names of the church planters have been changed.

In 1731, Ludwig von Zinsendorf, a German count who had turned his estate in Saxony into a refuge for persecuted Moravian Christians, traveled to Holland for the coronation of a new king. At the palace, Zinsendorf struck up conversation with a slave named Anthony from Saint Thomas, a Dutch colony in the West Indies.

“Tell me, how did you come to hear of Christ?” the count asked.

“I first heard when I was on the ship coming to Europe,” the slave replied.

The count was baffled by the slave’s admission. He had assumed the colonies to be saturated with gospel ministry since they had been settled by Christian nations. But Anthony told a story about a slave he knew whose master had cut off his ears on the church steps when he caught him learning against the door straining to hear the sermon.

“The white people on Saint Thomas do not want their slaves to hear about Jesus Christ,” Anthony explained. “They fear the message will fill their heads with new ideas and cause them to rebel.”

Zinsendorf asked Anthony to travel with him to Saxony and share his testimony with the exiles on his estate. The Moravians were moved by the account and began to pray with Zinsendorf for missions’ opportunities in the colonies. The following August, two missionaries offered themselves to be sold as slaves to secure a spot on a ship bound for the West Indies, giving up their freedom in hopes of sharing the gospel with the slaves on board.

As this harrowing story illustrates, world missions hinges on access. Church leaders have long realized the need to couple their passion for cross-cultural evangelism and church planting with creative strategies to secure a relevant and lasting presence in unreached places.
In the 18th century, colonialism, for all its shortcomings, provided a natural bridge to the mission field and a cloak of legitimacy for European Christians seeking to spread the gospel abroad. When William Carey journeyed to India half a century after the Moravian’s venture in the West Indies, he and the thousands who followed him relegated much of their ministry to territories controlled by the British East India Company and other Western countries with Protestant sympathies however superficial they were in practice.

It wasn’t until Hudson Taylor set out for China that missions began to shake off its colonial presumptions. Taylor’s goal was straightforward: “To evangelize the whole of China.” In order to accomplish it, Taylor would have to veer from the eastern coast inland—to a vast region untouched by Western civilization and without its safety net and social strictures. He donned traditional Chinese garb and cut his hair in a pigtail, the style of the commoners. By 1905, the year Taylor died, the China Inland Mission had brought 800 missionaries to the country, founded 125 schools, and set up 300 missions across 18 provinces.

But Taylor’s model of setting up mission stations within countries has encountered obstacles in recent decades. The vast majority of unreached people groups, as presented at the 1974 International Congress on World Evangelization in Switzerland, live in countries where access is minimal and Christian ministry is often illegal, socially unsavory, and strategically illogical.

From the apostle Paul’s first missionary journeys to the faith-filled experiments of Count Zinsendorf and Hudson Taylor, God has been making good on his promise in Acts 1:9 to spread his gospel to the ends of the earth. In each era, the message is the same, but the methods of spreading it must morph with the changing global realities.

As students and humanitarian aid works, missionaries have had some success penetrating restricted countries in recent decades. But as governments begin catching on to these tactics and cracking down on religious freedom on college campuses and village streets, creative new methods are needed to spread the Christian message. From a historical perspective, now is a particularly opportune time to pursue business-as-missions.

To learn more about how Access Partners approaches Business-as-Missions, read the following white papers:

Hand in Hand: Implementing Business as Mission to facilitate church planting
Catalyst and Collaborator: The Strategic Role of a Business Director in Frontier Cross-cultural Missions

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