It started as an English-teaching ministry in Japan in 1967. Today, A3 is raising up church leaders in 25 countries; leaders equipped and unified to accelerate gospel movements around the world, including numerous hostile areas and restricted nations where Voice of the Martyrs works with persecuted Christians.Dr Joe Handley, CEO of A3, and Janelle Stoops, US President for the ministry, share how A3 was founded and how it serves the global church by meeting one of the biggest needs: trained leaders.Janelle will share her background as a gospel worker seeing God establish his church among Muslims in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. She also had a personal taste of Christian persecution as she and her family were expelled from the country they'd grown to love. She wrestled with having to leave the place they felt called to, but ultimately accepted that "God was working here before we got here, and even when we leave, He is still going to be at work."Joe and Janelle will share challenges they face in ministry, how they work under the radar in places where Christian teaching is not welcome and how A3 provides resilience training to leaders in countries where there is intense persecution. These leaders also experience fellowship within the Body of Christ, knowing they are not alone in their suffering.One tool A3 uses to help build resiliency in the leaders is a book published by VOM titled In the Shadow of the Cross: https://vom.com.au/product/in-the-shadow-of-the-cross/