East Asia (MNN) — A3 has been training pastors and Christian leaders for over three decades in 12 countries with great success. Their programs set up small groups of pastors to take classes that promote Christlikeness at home, at work, and in their daily lives. “This model of developing pastoral leaders through a cohort program has been very successful in developing Christlike leaders who have a vision to reach their cities and transform their communities,” said Brother Jake. “With this being so successful, A3 came up with the idea that the same program could be run for business leaders as well, and that’s how A3.business has come about. Brother Jake is a regional coordinator of A3 in his country, and he hopes the program will do the same thing for the business world of East Asia that it did for ministry. In fact, the two systems are so similar they even have the exact same four goals. By the end of the program, the businesswomen and men will have the training to “live in a love relationship with God, grow as a Christlike leader, reproduce disciple-making leaders, and catalyze disciple-making movements,” Brother Jake said. The timing for this program is critical. “There is a big need for Christian businessmen and marketplace leaders to realize that God has placed them in their spheres of influence to impact their world for Christ,” Brother Jake said. That need comes from countries like India, whose leadership and economic climate has set it to become a powerful nation in the marketplace in the future. If the future spells good news for India’s economy, it will need Christian leaders who can work and minister in the business world. But there’s a problem. Brother Jake said many men and women working in the marketplace are looked down upon in Christian circles. Some East Asian cultures believe that people are only truly serving God if they become members of the clergy, but A3 wants to refute that.

“People are called, appointed, and anointed by God to be salt and light in the marketplace,” Brother Jake said. “You are a full-time missionary.”

Christian businesspeople would help ministries already in place in East Asian countries too. It can be difficult to get funding into some countries, but Brother Jake thinks that “once Christian business people realize the role they play, they can help fund the ministries in their own countries without outside help.” A3.business can only be successful with your prayer and support. “We can be praying that this small beginning will multiply, that the leaders that have been trained will, in turn, pass on what has been deposited in them, and that we’ll see a mighty generation of business and marketplace leaders who are rising up to their calling in Christ and bringing transformation in the workplace.” Find out more about A3.business here.   Listen to the broadcast: (story starts at 1:43) More Information

• This story by Alex Anhalt was originally published on 29 June, 2017 by Mission Network News: https://www.mnnonline.org/news/missions-in-the-marketplace/
• Download the audio file: 
  https://s3.amazonaws.com/a2-media/audio/4-5min-Jun29-2017.mp3     
• Photo credits: photo of Brother Jake courtesy A2
• Mission Network News is a ministry of OneWay Ministries.
• A3.business – A3's leader development for the marketplace