Serve Asia Bible Study Podcast

There are lots of ideas about what Christian missions is. Often there is a preconception that missions is about helping people.

You might bring a group of young people to an underdeveloped part of the world, build some buildings and take some photos with children. Then when you return you report to your church what you have have done.

But Japan is a wealthy country, with technology and healthcare. The standard of living is very high.

So what is the essence of mission?

In this episode, we have a special guest who has been church planting in a rural town of Japan where out of ~27,000 people his family of five is about half of the Christian population. We welcome Andrew Wong.

Matthew 9:35-38, is often used when we are trying to encourage people to share the gospel, be involved in missions…

Jesus 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.”

But this passage is actually a command not to share the gospel, but to pray. To ASK God to do something.

Tina Keller, who is now OMF's international director for evangelisation, shares about the blessings of participating in prayer throughout her work in missions. She was formerly part of a church planting team and continues to work with local churches in Taiping, Taichung (Taiwan).

"Sharing the gospel is very important. But I think we only have the right to share when we have made an effort to understand the people we are reaching out to, or are trying to love and help, or love and support, or walk with."

How does social justice fit in with our faith? Hear from Tera van Twillert who has over 20 years sharing the gospel and loving women who work in the sex trade.

God can bring his opponents in to become part of his blessed people, and sometimes that’s a shock. In Taiwan, God sometimes works in the hearts of those have given up on.

Joining us to discuss this is Thomas McIntyre who has been church planting in Taiwan for more than a decade.

Have you ever tried to share Jesus with someone and they’re not interested? It can be quite disappointing, discouraging - what do you do if that keeps happening?

Even though Christianity has been in Taiwan for over 150 years, in many parts of Taiwan there’s very little interest in Jesus.

Today, our guest is Jason. He lives in rural Taiwan, where there are less than 1% Christian, maybe 0.5% Christian. He has experienced, over many years, what it feels like “when no one listens."

Phil Nicholson has served for over 30 years in Australia, Taiwan, and across Asia in pastoral ministry, student work, leadership, training preachers, and many other areas. Over this time, society's view of Christianity has shifted drastically, increasingly viewing Christians as intolerant and narrow-minded.

How do you respond to someone who says that Christians are intolerant and narrow-minded for claiming that the Lord is the only true God?

In the West, Christians may often be (sometimes rightly) accused of being bigoted and narrow-minded. What are some objections that other cultures might have to Christianity?

Hear from Phil's experience answering these questions and more.

King Solomon’s wisdom and wealth greatly influenced the whole world but it didn't last as he turned away from God. Yet even he points forward to the greater glories of the kingdom of heaven ruled by King Jesus.

Brian Janssen has been ministering to university students in Taiwan for a decade. In this episode, he shares about how one might be an influencer of God in today’s society through our faith in all seasons of life.

We hate to think other people have it better than us. Up until now God raised up judges like Samuel to lead Israel and had planned that one-day Israel would have a king (See Deuteronomy 17:14-20). But when Israel asks for a king, God says that “they have rejected me as their king.” God answers their request, but it is a disaster.

In this episode Teo Sin Ee shares about how God has grown her through things she has missed out on by choosing to be a missionary. She also shares some stories of how God has helped women in the sex trade face their fears.

Character matters. If Israel keep God’s commands, the nations would see God’s wisdom. God’s plan was always that their uniqueness would bear witness to the nations and draw them to know him.

For this episode, we are joined by Tera van Twillert. She has over 20 years experience loving and serving women who work in the sex trade. Tera's shares some of her interactions showing just important your life and attitude are in Christian ministry.

Just as Israel was set apart and a blessing to the nations, so we as Christians are set apart to show God’s goodness to the world. 

Joining us is Amy Gibson, who has over 20 years of experience in church planting and ministry in Taiwan. She can speak Taiwanese and Mandarin, and she lives in a countryside village in Chiayi County - a type of place where the average person may not feel very special.

Today we are going to talk about Abraham, from the Bible, and what a big impact Abraham had on the world, Christianity, and missions.

Our guest is the field director for OMF Taiwan. He has over 25 years experience in living missions, he is a deep thinker on the Bible and culture, particularly how that all comes together here in Taiwan.

Today we hear from a bible teacher with over 30 years of intercultural missions experience in student ministry, pastoral ministry, discipleship, leadership, and now with Langham Preaching. Phil Nicholson trains people in Asia, in how to preach from the Bible.