As Mao’s Red Army advanced on Shanghai in 1948, Rev. John Rhoads arrived at the China Bible Seminary. Fresh from Dallas Theological Seminary, it was his first assignment with Hudson Taylor’s China Inland Mission. Passionate about training Chinese Christians, he taught in secret even after the city fell. By the time all missionaries fled in 1951, seventy trained Chinese had been sent in pairs throughout China.  

   John moved his family to Japan, where he launched a twenty-year evangelistic ministry with large open-air meetings. As Japan rebuilt, he moved his crusades into large public auditoriums. In time, he also held meetings in Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and India.

   “Asia’s millions can never be reached by the foreign missionary alone”, John told the MEF board as he related his vision for the Asian School of Evangelism. ASE was formed in 1970 to provide a full year’s training for small, select groups of gifted men. Held every other year for 15 years, the school has graduated 37 men from seven countries.

   John’s vision was to develop national leaders. During the 1990′s, key leaders in seven countries have trained over 200 local workers and planted 45 churches. They have recorded more than 150,000 decisions for Christ and reached millions with the Gospel.

 

                                                        Rev. John Rhoads                             

                                           Nov. 28, 1919 – June 28, 2002