Mission in the 10/40 Window
Dec. 18 2007
For many, the Christmas season is a chance to reflect Christ to the world around us by giving selflessly as He did. If God is moving on your heart to lend prayers, talents, or financial support to help an organization we’d like to suggest two organizations to consider. Of course, there are many worthy causes and organizations to pray about supporting but we want to do our part by highlighting two that are run by people we know and respect.
Today, we’d like to introduce you to Access Partners give some of the reasons we respect the work they’re doing.
_AP is doing important mission work trying to reach the 10/40 window and places traditionally closed to the gospel.
_We know the guys that started it and they’re great people. Both of them were successful businessmen in the marketplace but they’ve decided to use their gifts to serve the advance of the gospel.
_They’re local church based. AP is about people from local churches in here working toward establishing local churches over there.
We’ll let Access Partners explain a little more about what they do…
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In a country closed to Christians, how do God’s people take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost of that country?
Here’s an example of what Access Partners does…
An English training center business is located in the university district of a Central Asian country. It is very difficult to operate as a Christian in this country, but this legitimate business allows a church planting team to employ locals, provide a service that is seen as helpful by the community, and operate in a way that the government looks favorably upon. At the same time, this business is helping these missionaries build relationships and share Christ with unbelievers and disciple current believers.
Access Partners helped this business establish their business plan and then led a team of Christian professionals to assist in its launch. Some members of the team provided training to the staff on accounting, some on marketing, and others built the database which serves as the backbone of their operation. This short term trip yielded some exciting fruit, when two people the team had interacted with repented of their sin and put their faith in Jesus Christ shortly after the trip. Through the conversations and friendships that the business promotes, the English center is now a successful example of how business can help support and enable the spread of the Gospel.
Our vision…
Access Partners seeks to glorify God by helping church planters bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth through business. We come alongside church planters and provide them business and technology consulting services in order to launch, operate, and optimize their businesses. We currently have projects in over 10 countries spanning some pretty remote and interesting areas.
Because it is impossible to operate as a Christian or a “missionary” in many countries, these church planters need a legitimate reason for being there, and in many cases business is the only reason governments will let foreigners stay in their country. We seek to maintain a good witness for Christ by working within all governmental constraints while creating jobs, local market opportunities, and showcasing to the local community what a business based on Kingdom principles looks like. In all our work, we seek to glorify the Name of Jesus Christ. All these activities work to facilitate our ultimate goal: to reach those who have not heard the Good News of Jesus Christ.
In addition to the goal of helping establish businesses to spread the Gospel overseas, it is our intention to help churches and individuals here in the US think more creatively and constructively about how they may be involved in the Great Commission. Every Christian has some skill set or abilities that can be useful to expanding the Kingdom, and it is our prayer that we might help Christians discover how they might use them. To this end, we seek to match Christians who have professional skills and interests with teams overseas that might use their abilities with their business.
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You can support Access Partners by praying for them, giving financially, or by volunteering your talents and skills. For more information, please visit their website at www.creativemission.org/ap or email them at accesspartners@creativemission.org.