A young man stranded in Kabul told the missionary who'd spent weeks with him: "I really like your Jesus, but I can't stand you."

That line has stayed with Marko for years — and it gets at a potentially uncomfortable reality. The lack of harvest in our cities may not be from a lack of care or vision. It may be because we never stopped to ask what we needed to become.

The water we swim in shapes us in ways we rarely notice. For those of us in Western Protestant traditions, that water is often individualism — and it runs deep enough to blind us to the New Testament's relentless emphasis on unity. What does it cost the cities we serve when the movements and churches within them remain scattered and competitive? And what becomes possible when they don't?

The same Spirit, working across wildly different cities. Practitioners from East Asia to Central Asia keep reporting the same patterns — brokenness opening doors, simple obedience producing fruit, youth moving without waiting for permission.

These aren't coincidences, and they aren't models to copy. They're fingerprints. What does it mean when God's methods look this consistent across such diverse contexts?

Most disciplemakers are wrestling with two hard questions: what stops people from engaging with those far from Jesus, and what stops discipleship from taking root?

But there's a third question that most practitioners never ask — and it transforms the other two. If discipleship can't replicate without you, you may have built dependence, not disciples.

The gap between God's vision for our cities and the reality in front of us is vast — and it refuses to close no matter how much we programme, engineer, or expertise our way toward it.

Sixty urban disciple-makers across Asian cities sat with that tension together, and what emerged wasn't a better strategy. It was a return to something far simpler — and far more reproducible.

Have you ever felt the pressure to pack the entire gospel into one coffee session? Let’s look more closely at the message that Jesus asked the disciples to share and how “showing” one bit at a time could be more powerful than “telling”.

We know that it doesn’t have to be all work and no joy. But how do we “get” or “find” joy? There is a reliable pathway. Join me on this journey… joy is just down the road.

The joy was drying up… there was a disconnect between what David and his team were living and what they were trying to sow.

They needed to take stock and recalibrate. What did they learn?

What are the things we can cultivate now that will serve and sustain us in the long race of life and ministry?

Our posture could be more important than what we do or where we go.

We’re surrounded by infinite possibilities to join in what God is doing. So what is that unique assignment that God has given us for this season?

Here are some questions that will give you greater clarity as you discern.

Our cities are huge. Where do we begin? 

Urban leaders in Asia are discovering the ability of powerful questions to open up fresh perspectives and possibilities.

What is the Bible talking about when it talks about fruitfulness?

Is it the same thing that WE are talking about? How did Jesus define it?

God’s work of character building was being accomplished in Joseph, even when he might have thought nothing was happening.

Engaging Urban Affinities - Part 5

So much in effective urban mission involves listening and discerning.

In this article, I'm going to zoom in on seeking out the hunger that He is stirring up within the affinity. How can we be confident there is hunger for God's Kingdom? What might that hunger look like?

"That might work in African or Asian villages, but it can't happen here."

Yet in Finland, one of Europe's most secular and individualistic nations, a different story is emerging.

Engaging Urban Affinities - Part 1

How do we practically engage affinity groups? Is there a reliable approach to engaging our cities with the Kingdom of God that is relational, natural and led by the Father rather than formulas or rules?

How do you lead in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) environment like a city? It is not easy to lead in complex urban environments. Bottom-up leadership is a solution that multiplies our impact.

God's Kingdom is fundamentally relational and cities have changed the way people relate. The better we understand this, the better we are empowered to sow Kingdom seed that invites people into a renewed relationship with our Father-King.