“Every pastor connecting, every church collaborating, and all Asian Americans celebrating.”

That’s Peter Yanes vision and strategy for reaching Asian American communities in his role as executive director of Asian American relations and mobilization at the Southern Baptist Convention executive committee.

The three-fold strategy involves having every pastor connecting regardless of their ethnicity or Asian background. His desire is to have every Asian church collaborate across Asian ethnicity groups to share resources and to be on mission together. He also wants to celebrate the rich history, languages and diverse cultural backgrounds of Asian Americans, who are committed to the Great Commission.

“Every pastor connecting, every church collaborating, and all Asian Americans celebrating.”

During a recent wide-ranging interview with Sammy Joo, Asian Ministries consultant with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, Yanes shared about his family, his conversion and his ministry experience. He also shares more about his current role, the Great Commission being fulfilled through minority communities in the United States, challenges he is facing and resources that can help better understand these groups. (Watch the video. | Listen to the podcast.)

“The best resources we could ever use are the Bible and prayer,” Yanes said. “But a great resource that I have been sharing with many churches and leaders is building relationships with your local neighboring minority churches.”

Yanes concludes the interview by saying, “My hope is that these conversations open up the opportunity to share our faith in Jesus Christ.”