With the resignation of the current Asia Director (for no particularly negative reasons), EFCCM Director Dave Penner asked Dale to consider this option in July. After attending the EFC of Canada conference in August where Dale & Ann discussed this role further with Dave, they returned to Tokyo and a few weeks later prayerfully made the decision to accept this role.

The Lord has allowed Ann & Dale to develop a good church planting missionary team to help establish Tokyo Multicultural Church. This frees up Dale to take on this new part-time role, still living in Tokyo and leading TMC. He will also continue his part time theology teaching in Japanese at Japan Bible Seminary.

Dale hopes to wrap his Asia leadership around the following five verbs: communicate, care, network, equip, and recruit.

The EFCCM has personnel in five countries of Asia, of which four are Thailand, Philippines, Taiwan, and Japan. The idea is for Dale & Ann to visit each of the 17 missionaries (9 households) in each of these countries once a year in their places of ministry. Dale will also likely visit them at other times in the year.

His responsibilities also include sitting on the International Mission Leadership Team of the EFC of Canada. This will require a few trips to Canada each year.

Dale’s new website, efccm.asia, provides a glimpse of the Asia ministries of the EFCCM.