Get to know OTAN
OTAN trains and equips persecuted Asian pastors to reach their own people. Here’s what that means:
About 80% of Asian pastors have had no biblical training of any kind. Most have limited access to the Bible and biblical resources. They want to lead and teach their people, but they don’t know how. That’s why OTAN exists—to train and equip persecuted pastors.
In almost all of the countries where OTAN serves, the gospel is restricted or even forbidden, and believers face persecution. In a broad sense, Christian persecution can be defined as any hostility experienced because of dedication to and identity with Jesus Christ. For more than 40 years, Outreach To Asia Nationals has served in countries where Christians are ostracized by their communities, restricted from and discriminated against in schools and workplaces, watched and followed, harassed and interrogated, attacked and molested, imprisoned, tortured, and even murdered.
Training and equipping leaders in these countries is difficult, and OTAN has been blessed by God’s goodness and protection in many miraculous ways. Even more so, God has used OTAN to equip, encourage, and strengthen the national leaders who come to us for biblical training so they can minister to the needs of His church. And in the cultures where these pastors serve, an educated leader is more respected, which means a greater influence and impact for the cause of Christ.
Because the pastors and leaders we work with have varied degrees of education, we design our trainings to meet them where they are academically. The first level of training is for tribal groups with limited education and gives pastors basic sermon examples, introduces message structure, and features ready-to-teach materials.
In our Mobile Bible College (MBC)–our second level of study–students learn with us for about 2 ½ years, completing 10 classes. Upon completion, students receive a certificate for achieving a level of education similar to an associate’s degree. MBC classes feature foundational topics like:
- Old and New Testament surveys
- Biblical doctrine
- Hermeneutics (biblical interpretation)
- Pastoral care
- Evangelism
- Discipleship
- Missions
- Family counseling
- Church administration
Our OTAN Bible Institute classes (OBI) are designed to move pastors and leaders from biblical basics to more in-depth learning. Nationals enrolled in OBI take 10 advanced courses taught over a period of 3+ years. Subjects include:
- Apologetics
- Textual criticism
- Book of Romans
- Biblical counseling
- Understanding Islam
- Christian philosophy and ethics
- Spiritual transformational leadership
After completing the 10-course OBI curriculum, students receive a certificate from New England Bible College and Seminary.
The leaders we train and equip are so thankful to receive this biblical training and education. We often hear feedback like this:
“I finally feel like I’m able to do the work God has called me to do. I’m more prepared, and I’m so grateful!”
Why Nationals?
At OTAN, we believe that equipping nationals is the most effective method of bringing the gospel to the “uttermost” parts of Asia. It is also the method modeled by the apostle Paul in the Book of Acts as he traveled from city to city and country to country training the nationals to do God’s work.
Rather than creating a culture of dependency on churches in the United States, OTAN strives to empower local Asian churches to flourish and grow in faith, knowledge, and maturity.
By nationals, we mean trained, tried, faithful, and educated men of God who are pastors and evangelists working to evangelize their own country and culture. These men already know the language and culture, thus saving months and years of training required by a Western missionary.
Nationals are able to fully assimilate the gospel into their culture without compromise so that their people will have a better understanding of Christianity.
A national pastor can work in countries controlled by a hostile government or hostile religion with much less confrontation. These men are the only method of evangelization available to their people. They are, however, without tools and materials.
The job of evangelizing the masses in Asia cannot be accomplished through the traditional missionary-sending method alone. We must activate, finance, and provide for the national pastors and evangelists in order to complete the work.
Nationals’ Advantages:
- Fluent in the national language
- Nationals already speak the national language or local dialect and don’t need language schools (which average 18 – 24 months of time).
- Faultless with culture
- Nationals use their own culture to their advantage and won’t make the cultural mistakes that foreigners ultimately do.
- Faces that “fit in with the crowd”
- Foreign faces stand out and can attract unwanted attention. Nationals blend right in to their country and their communities.
- Forget visa/passport problems
- More and more countries are not open to receiving missionaries. Nationals don’t have to deal with passport red tape, visa delays, or declined admittance.
- Family and support systems nearby
- Nationals don’t have to worry about leaving the support of family, friends, and community.
- Furlough? Not needed
- Nationals don’t need to come home to raise funds or tend to family matters. They ARE home!
- Financially efficient
- A national pastor in most Asian countries needs approximately 10% of the support costs of a North American missionary overseas.
OTAN is an ECFA accredited organization.
Founded 40 years ago by Billy Graham and other evangelical leaders, the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability enhances trust in Christ-centered churches and ministries through its annual accreditation of organizations based on Seven Standards of Responsible Stewardship™, drawn from Scripture.
ECFA serves as a financial accountability partner to ministries who voluntarily seek accreditation and continue to demonstrate their commitment to ECFA’s high standards faithfully. The standards are set at an appropriately high level to provide the essential guardrails for financial integrity in churches and ministries of all sizes.
https://vimeo.com/286021343
Our ECFA Accreditation Page Here: https://www.ecfa.org/MemberProfile.aspx?ID=63268