Around the World
Why Men Need MOVE
By Jim Beaird
On January 21, 2020, 44 men from across the U.S. met at the airport in Houston to board a plane to Liberia, Costa Rica, to participate in a MOVE building trip. Every year an Open Bible MOVE ministry team chooses a project to undertake. The locations vary but usually require travel to a foreign country where men work and live in less-than-ideal conditions.
I scanned the group of men for a couple guys I knew from college days, Dick Crawley and Rick Jarvis. I must admit to a certain level of apprehension as I realized I was not a young man anymore, and that it was too late to bail out.
I had not participated in a MOVE trip for 28 years. I had allowed the business of ministry and the responsibilities associated with my position as regional executive director to negate the possibility of spending a couple weeks being “one of the guys” sent to make a difference in the lives of people who desperately needed our help as the answer to their prayers.
After connecting with my two dear friends, we grabbed a bite to eat and waited to board our flight. Once the flight took off, our team spent the next three and a half hours getting acquainted and sharing our expectations as best as we could speculate. Some men were new to this kind of expedition, and others were veterans with up to thirty years of trips behind them.
Once in Liberia, we boarded a bus for a two-hour trip to Upala, where we were assigned rooms and roommates for the next two weeks. After a full day of travel, the simple accommodations of a no-frills motel room beckoned to us for a good night’s sleep before beginning our long-awaited project of building a beautiful church in rural Costa Rica.
The next morning, we boarded another bus for a forty-five minute trip to a small community called Nazareth. A cement slab greeted us, as did villagers wondering what to expect. We gathered on the slab and had prayer, just as we would do every day before beginning work. Each morning a different man would share his personal story. We became aware of the narratives behind each man and what brought him to this point in his life. I could tell that this trip was about to change everything I believed about the real purpose of MOVE trips.
Challenge for Lonely Leaders and Unchallenged Men
As I previously stated, my schedule and budget simply had not allowed me to participate in such ventures, or so I thought. Leadership is lonely. Nobody understands that aloneness as well as a leader who is continually called upon to solve problems and act as the perceived paragon of virtue. A leader often cannot have a “buddy” with whom he can occasionally let his hair down or enjoy carefree moments not attached to his role as leader. During the 48 years of my ministry, I forfeited many opportunities to have a close friend or a life apart from my ministry.
In addition, most churches are blessed with men who will unite behind a common goal or agenda – men who are project-driven and enjoy accomplishing tangible projects that meet a specified need. It’s sad when church leaders don’t promote these projects and men miss out on a challenge not even presented to them.
My participation in this trip provided me with insight I would like to pass on to lonely leaders and these unchallenged men. Leadership does not have to be lonely, and men need their leaders to challenge them to a project in which they work together to beat the odds and produce something only God can bless.
In Costa Rica eight pastors joined thirty-six laymen in a cross-cultural project in which more was erected than simply a physical building. “Skilled craftsmen” such as those found in Exodus 31:1-6 provided the guidance and labor for laying block, welding, and utilizing various other skills needed to successfully complete the task at hand. I felt my heart bonding with the hearts of men from across the nation as we labored together – each man doing his part to build a lasting monument to the glory of God. We laughed with each other, and at times we cried. There were times when someone would touch my shoulder and say, “Here, let me help.” We were there for each other, and we saw to it that everyone stayed safe.
I know of no other project presently in Open Bible Churches that brings lonely leadership and challenge-driven men together as does MOVE. A special thanks to Pastor Aaron Keller, MOVE’s national director, and Dave Bethany, its director of construction, for their galvanizing efforts to provide this opportunity to serve God’s Kingdom.
By Jim Beaird
Dr. Jim Beaird pastored for 30 years before becoming the regional executive director for the Southeast Region of Open Bible Churches, a position he held from 2002 until his retirement in 2019. He has a heart to train pastors and leaders to be true to their calling and to be lifelong learners who finish life’s course with a strong and vibrant effort. His books include The Proximity Factor and The Providence Factor.
Have you ever wondered, What in the world are our Open Bible missionaries doing now? We wish we could visit every church or sit down over coffee and share what God is doing where we serve—but that isn’t always possible.
So this month, we’ve gathered brief notes from missionaries around the world. As you’ve read these updates from around the world, we invite you to pray for our missionaries—their families, their ministries, and the communities they serve. Please also share these stories with your church so others can join in prayer.
Use the interactive map below to see the updates:
Trouble seeing the map? Click HERE
About the Author
Tammy Swailes is passionate about cross-cultural Christian education, so working with INSTE Bible College to disciple and equip leaders throughout Europe and beyond is a great fit! Tammy has lived in Europe since 1999 – first in Hungary and now Ukraine. Before that, she was in Japan, as well as Spokane, Washington. She now serves as INSTE regional director in Europe, assisting INSTE programs in five languages. Tammy has her undergraduate degrees in both Missions and Christian Education and a MA in Intercultural Studies. Photography, good coffee, multi-cultural experiences, and the family’s Yorkie are some of Tammy’s favorite things.
Ask Open Bible pastors in Africa what the biggest problem in their church is and most reply with one word: REVIVAL! Just as Saul once ravaged the early church in Acts 8, our African brothers today face similar conditions: harassment, arrest, and even death for following Christ. But in the face of persecution, our churches are experiencing rapid growth in thirteen African nations. They’re calling for our help, not to alleviate the suffering, but to build new church facilities to serve their expanding congregations and communities.
The Global Harvest Offering of 2026 is “Building Hope in Africa,” and it is our opportunity to participate in this revival. In this initiative, we will partner with our missionaries and national directors to fund thirteen new church building projects across the continent. God is using faithful missionaries and nationals to plant churches, raise leaders, and reach communities with the hope only found in Jesus!
… in the face of persecution, our churches are experiencing rapid growth in thirteen African nations.
Our missionary partners are many: the Godwins, the Kopps, the Parkers, Okon Obot, Peter Mahoye, the Moores, the Welches, and our brothers and sisters throughout the Antioch Network.
Thirteen churches.
Thirteen countries.
One goal:
to raise the $200,000 needed to
cover the costs for all thirteen projects.
With over 230 Open Bible churches in the United States, we can meet the financial goal of the Global Harvest Offering if each church gives $875. Alternatively, just 2,000 people giving $100 this year would meet the goal. Your support in this effort helps build more than walls; it builds hope, community and the Kingdom of God. Look for the QR code or this link to give to Building Hope in Africa today. Thank you for your partnership to build hope for Africa.
On October 31 – November 5, 2025, Japan Open Bible Churches celebrated their seventieth anniversary. Global Missions Director Vince and Lois McCarty, Open Bible President Michael and Julie Nortune and I were honored to join them for this celebratory occasion.
My own connection with Japan goes back to my twenty-third birthday when I boarded a plane to Kobe with two suitcases, only five words in my Japanese vocabulary, and a heart full of missionary zeal. During my six years there, the Japanese church shaped me deeply as both a missionary and a person. When I left Japan thirty-six years ago, I left a piece of my heart. Joining them again to celebrate seventy years brought me real joy!
When I left Japan thirty-six years ago, I left a piece of my heart.
Japan Open Bible has become a true partner in ministry with Open Bible Churches globally, a partnership especially visible across Asia. The anniversary celebration honored the legacy of Japan Open Bible missionaries and the heritage of churches they planted while also affirming the importance of today’s smaller, community-based congregations. We visited, preached in, and celebrated with churches and pastors in both eastern and western Japan.
Japan’s geographical isolation and a 250-year ban on Christian missions in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries gave Japan a reputation as “the missionaries’ graveyard.” Yet, after World War II some US veterans, having seen the spiritual vacuum in Japan, returned as carriers of the hope of the Gospel. The Jake Collins, Eddie Carnes, and Phil Rounds families were among the first in the 1950s era to be sent by Open Bible Churches.
From a handful of missionaries and new believers in the early years to a network of Open Bible Churches across Japan today, God’s presence has been a steady flame of hope in the darkness.
From a handful of missionaries and new believers in the early years to a network of Open Bible Churches across Japan today, God’s presence has been a steady flame of hope in the darkness. Even though fewer than one percent of Japanese identify as Christian, today across Japan we see our churches, large and small, alive with joy and power of the Holy Spirit.
One of the early converts, now ninety-year-old Yaeko Yoshinaga, is likely the oldest surviving member of those first Japan Open Bible congregations. As an eighteen-year-old, she lived with the Rounds family helping in the home. She loved their children and learned to love potatoes (more than rice) as they did, but even more, came to faith in Jesus Christ.
Yaeko says, “I would not have believed in Jesus if I had not met Mr. Rounds, the missionary.“ She and her husband later pastored for 45 years, and today her son and wife pastor the flourishing church. Decades later, the flame of God’s love still burns brightly in Yaeko sensei. Her love, joy, humility, and faith impact every generation in the church. She remains a powerful reminder of how one relationship can change the direction of an entire life.
Pastor Yoshio Ishikawa told me the story of how he came to Jesus as a young boy. In the late 1960s, ten-year-old Yoshio’s family lived near an Open Bible Church in the Sumida neighborhood of Tokyo. He recalls, “When I was ten, I saw a TV drama about an incurable disease. It scared me, and without really knowing why, I walked into the church in my neighborhood that I had passed by many times. That church was Sumida Open Bible – the church I now pastor.”
Today, Pastor Ishikawa uses his talent as a skilled musician to reach people in new, non-traditional ways. He teaches a group ukulele class as a bridge to the gospel. Students learn to play the ukulele, then hear a teaching from the Bible and join in prayer. Other approaches, like book clubs, English lessons, and choirs, give churches relational ways to connect and open doors for evangelism.
In fact, many “unconventional” forms of evangelism are used to touch lives in churches in Japan. Often, churches and Christians invest years building trust and relationships before someone decides to follow Jesus. In my own experience, I saw that converts under my ministry were often a result of groundwork laid by others before me.
Looking ahead, Japan Open Bible embraces a bold vision: to plant ten new churches throughout the country in the next decade. I, for one, believe it can happen! God has not abandoned Japan. The hope of the Gospel that the missionaries brought with them back in the 1950s continues to burn brightly in our brothers and sisters of Japan Open Bible. May God fan that flame as they carry His hope across the country in ways we have not yet imagined!
As I leave Japan once again, I reflect and am grateful to have shared in the celebrations of what God has done, excitedly anticipating what He will do next!
Listen to Yaeko Yoshinaga’s testimony:
About the Author
Tammy Swailes is passionate about cross-cultural Christian education, so working with INSTE Bible College to disciple and equip leaders throughout Europe and beyond is a great fit! Tammy has lived in Europe since 1999 – first in Hungary and now Ukraine. Before that, she was in Japan, as well as Spokane, Washington. She now serves as INSTE regional director in Europe, assisting INSTE programs in five languages. Tammy has her undergraduate degrees in both Missions and Christian Education and a MA in Intercultural Studies. Photography, good coffee, multi-cultural experiences, and the family’s Yorkie are some of Tammy’s favorite things.
