Tag: Missions
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The Way of the Ninja: 6 Ways to Define Our Missional Role
Every Asian kid growing up has one time played ninja. You take a black t-shirt, wrap it around your head, make some paper throwing stars and hide in the closet to get the drop on your unsuspecting brother or sister. Movies and pop-culture show the ninja to be a bad-ass warrior. But real life ninjas…
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Bonfires VS Forest Fires: Sparking Church Movements
I once started a forest fire. As a teenager I always had a lighter in my pocket to smoke a cigarette or a joint. One day, when I was a bored novice monk in Fresno, CA, I wanted to see if sparks could light some dry grass behind the Buddhist temple. Yea, I know, really…
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The Greatest Pioneer
The very definition of a pioneer is someone who goes where no else will. Someone who does something that no other person is willing to do. Someone who envisions far beyond what others can see. Jesus was the greatest pioneer. The Son of God laid aside his heavenly glory and went to the deepest reaches…
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Catfish & Rice: Finishing the Task by Reproducing Disciples
In the west we equate time with money. In the Kingdom of God we equate time with souls. Every second someone somewhere in the world dies without ever hearing about the hope offered in Jesus. Every second God is being robbed the glory and fame that is due his name. As the population of the…
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What Dreams May Come: Pornography and its Effect on the Mission Field
(Special thanks to Inheritance Magazine for originally publishing this story. Much gratitude for telling stories worth telling.) I HAD A CRAZY, vivid dream during my first year on the mission field in Southeast Asia. In it, I was surrounded by attractive women lavishing me with attention. It was a feast of carnal entertainment, and I…
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Persecution Story
I was trying hard not to shed tears as I was listening to Chanthi’s story. I had asked him a very simple question, “So tell me about your time in prison for Jesus.” Chanthi was from a remote tribe of spirit worshippers in Southeast Asia. He lived in a simple village high up the mountains…
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Starting with the End in Mind: 4 Ways to Clarify Your Vision
In 2017 we’ll be celebrating 10 years of serving overseas as cross cultural Kingdom workers…that’s insane! When people hear that they often ask how much longer do we plan to stay overseas. The short answer is, “When the work is done.” There is this misconception that missionaries leave for the jungles and return decades later…
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The Greatest Injustice: Not Loving Those Who Hate
A few months ago I was I sitting in a small wooden boat in Southeast Asia with some of my closest friends and teammates. We were trying to find our way up river through a maze of thousands of dead trees rising up out of the water. The naked trees rose high above our heads…
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Is the Gospel Worth the Risk?
I was on a skinny wooden boat recently traveling up river to a remote cluster of villages we had never been to. We’ve only seen these villages in our minds as we prayed for them and on satellite images surrounded by mountain valleys. We were determined to get there despite the fact that we didn’t…
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What Next? The 4 Stages of Launching Church Movements
As church planters, “What next?” is probably one of the questions we ask the most. What do we do after reaching the lost? How do we make disciples and train them to train others? How do we form groups and catalyze a movement of reproducing churches? There are so many methods and answers out there…
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True Struggles of Missional Workers
My wife and I have served overseas for almost 7 years now. Towards the beginning I remember a horribly vivid dream I once had. In it I was approached by a beautiful woman. As she got uncomfortably closer her entire faced transformed into a hideous snake like demon. She gnashed her teeth at me and…
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6 Reasons Why Asian Americans Make Great Missionaries (Part 2)
The last post gave you 3 reasons why Asians can be strategically positioned to fulfill the Great Commission. Here are the final 3 reasons why you’d make a great ninja for Jesus. Reason 4) Pioneering Opportunities: Caramel Faces Just the other day we sat in a thatched house in a tiny little village at…
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6 Reasons Why Asian Americans Make Great Missionaries (Part 1)
Have you ever asked yourself if engaging the lost in some far-off country was something you could do? Have you ever considered being a cross-cultural worker for the Kingdom? Your parents, as refugees and migrants, might think you are insane for even considering going back to the country they left. But don’t fret, all things…
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Our Gospel Aim: Decisions or Disciples?
Last week some friends and I were gathered around a frail woman who was possessed by evil spirits. The woman and her family had come from a rural village several hours away. They were desperate for help and wanted to turn from spirit worship. They decided to put their faith in Jesus. The moment we…
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Easter Doesn’t Exist…For The Unreached
Last week I found myself with a broken motorbike surrounded by jungle and stranded in a mountain pass with no cell phone reception. There was no other choice but to split the group up and push the heavy ass bike back the way we came – up and down the mountain in the heat of…
The Asian Rough Rider 