South Asia Hubs

We believe the book of Acts shows us the pattern of how the early church and specifically the Apostle Paul and his teammates boldly spread the gospel into new, unreached places. In light of this and the full testimony of Scripture, we believe the Core Missionary Task has 6 components: entry, evangelism, discipleship, healthy church formation, leadership development, and exit to partnership (Acts 14:19-23). Because abiding and prayer is central to our strategy, it is not a separate component of the task, but rather an essential element in every part. Abiding and prayer must permeate every aspect of the CMT. Through this work, we pray that in every South Asia Hub, God would bring about movements of multiplying churches that are actively owning the Great Commission and sending missionaries to the ends of the earth. This is No Place Left, where foreign missionaries are no longer needed due to local ownership of the Great Commission and the CMT, as Paul stated in Romans 15:14-24.

For more resources on this topic check out: Mission Work in Acts and NT Norms Pt.3: The Word podcast episodes.

Most of the current team leadership has been in South Asia for more than 10 years. The city team is a “team of teams” where different sub-teams focus on different strategic segments of the city, such as Muslims, Slums and Red Light areas, and Young People. Every member of our team is engaged in the CMT. This includes sharing the gospel and discipling new believers as well as equipping and empowering local believers to make disciples and plant churches. In short, we labor among some of the most unreached peoples in the world. While each sub-team will have a different focus, they are all actively working to get the gospel to new places and new peoples previously unreached with the good news of Jesus Christ.

For more resources on this topic check out: Mission Work in Acts and NT Norms Pt.3: The Word podcast episodes.

Team members joining the Hub will integrate into an existing team structure, where they will join the regular meetings and ministry rhythms of their sub-team. Most of their mentorship and training will happen in the context of this sub-team. Sometimes this takes the form of weekly team meetings and other times in one-on-one settings. Many times, this happens “on the go” as we work alongside one another. Language-learning will be a priority and will be integrated with ministry opportunities. They will also enter our on-boarding process and follow our “apprentice” track of online courses. This includes in-person check-ups and regular cohort calls with other first-term laborers in South Asia for coaching and encouragement in things like culture, language, and strategy.

The truth is, there’s nothing magic about the seatbelts on the plane. If you are not making disciples where you are, you will struggle to do it in South Asia where you are also learning a new culture and language. The two most important things you can do right now are develop healthy abiding rhythms and cultivate a lifestyle of disciple-making. A good team member will pursue the Lord and the lost, manage time well, communicate and resolve conflict, know biblical missiology, work hard, and be emotionally healthy and flexible.

For more resources on this topic check out: Prep for Goers podcast episode and the Prep for Goers document.

Our goal in the Hub is to welcome goers into our team and family; to train them in the Biblical ways of pioneer church planting; to encourage them in building relationships and partnerships; and to launch them into fruitful ministry among the unreached peoples and places of South Asia. We expect the churches who send workers to the Hub to pray, pastor, and provide for their goers. The greatest support a sending church can provide is a strong network of people committed to praying for their goers. We also see a key need that sending churches can fill by providing ongoing pastoral care to their goers as they struggle through the transitions of living among the unreached. Finally, sending churches “hold the ropes” not only by praying but also by providing for the needs of their goers.

Here’s 6 ways you can grow in loving the nations, participating in the mission, and sending missionaries to the field: vision-cast for sending, provide evangelism and disciple-making training, educate for missions, partner strategically, train sent-ones, and celebrate and support goers.

For more resources on this topic check out: Church Sending Assessment, Prep for Senders podcast episode, and the The Coworkers Podcast.

All of our Western team members are sent out by partnering churches in the US who continue to connect with them and provide support in terms of prayer and partnership. On the ground, all of our team members engage with local fellowships for training and equipping in the CMT. Team members also pursue meaningful involvement in local church life through joining established South Asian churches or by starting new ones.

For more resources on this topic check out: Church on the Field podcast episode.

Pray for more laborers (Luke 10:2), more gospel shares, more healthy churches, more partners, and more sent ones. You can also join our team in praying for our city at 12:12 every day (Romans 12:12). We believe that prayer is the greater work. To receive daily prayer prompts for South Asia and unreached peoples, download the apps below.

For more resources on this topic check out: Pray ASAP, NPL Prayer, and Unreached of the Day in the App Store.

Like God, we desire “all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4). We recognize also that we have a role to play in that, a stewardship from God to preach the mystery of God’s grace to the nations and to present everyone mature in Christ. We work hard to fulfill that stewardship, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works in us (Col. 1:25-29). Faithful, hard work in the missionary task is our definition of success (1 Cor. 4:1-2).

For more resources on this topic check out: Working Hard on the Field podcast episode.