As Baptist Church of NSW & ACT we recognise that we are GREATER TOGETHER. By working together, our movement of churches harnesses a greater potential to impact the world around us and provides a more professional and influential response to key issues. We believe we can have a greater positive impact on the world around us when we partner together.
Being GREATER TOGETHER means working with networks broader than just churches in NSW & ACT. At an international level, Baptist Churches of NSW & ACT is part of the Asia Pacific Baptist Federation (APBF), and more broadly the Baptist World Alliance. This allows us to work with our Baptist partners across the Asia Pacific and the world to serve the Gospel together.
And, like us, the APBF believes that “we are stronger when we work together”. Every five years, they hold the Asia Pacific Baptist Youth Conference to bring together youth and their leaders from across the region. The 2024 Conference happened on 29 May to 01 June in Melaka, Malaysia, and sought to build and strengthen the network of Baptists Youth Leaders in the Asia Pacific region, investing in the next generation of leaders.
The Conference program included keynote sessions, workshop and “off-limits” sessions. The “off limits” sessions dealt with topics often taboo and not spoken about in churches across the Asia Pacific, including “Youth Advocacy and Activism”, “K-Pop Culture and Show Biz Craze”, and “AreTattoos Good or Bad?”.
Delegates were also blessed with broad cross-cultural engagement and experiences. Spurred on by a desire to connect and serve, many churches traveled with their bands and choirs to worship with delegates from across the region.
Wapung, a delegate from India, says “it’s a great opportunity to connect and to pass on the message and awareness. It’s a great light for the young people to gather together.”
Steve Dixon, Chair of Youth Committee of APBF, travelled to Malaysia with Mark Wilson, President of APBF, for this year’s conference. Steve gave a keynote session titled “Be Saved” and presented a workshop on “Living a Transformed Life – The Impact of Salvation”.
“I see being part of the network and Conference as something we benefit from because we have a greater sense of what it means to follow Jesus in other parts of the world,” reflects Steve, “but I also view it through the lense of responsibility. We have a position of privilege, particularly in education and resources, so how are we utelising those to the benefit of the majority world? How do we use our privileged position to provide pathways for others into leadership and influence?”
“Leading well amongst Asia Pacific churches means considering the needs of the other and how you can be hospitable and gracious,” Steve explains, “hospitality is key to Gospel work in the Asia Pacific. Displays of hospitality are an expression of how they understand what it is to be the church.”
Steve recounted multiple conversations he had with pastors who did not know what they would be going back to when they returned to their countries. They did not know if their churches would still be standing. Or if they would face political or legal consequences for traveling to a Christian conference. “There’s much benefit for me to take the humble seat and sit and pray with someone who doesn’t know what they’re going back to, and to offer a word of nurture or care,” explains Steve.
Similarly, reflecting on her experience of the Conference, Hosana from Japan says, “I love that I’ve been able to catch up with women from across the globe. We share our struggles, we share what we want in our lives, and we all look up to the same God. I feel very comforted and encouraged.”
Please join with APBY in celebrating the success of the 2025 Conference, and the 28 countries represented by 560 delegates. Pray for the strengthening of delegates, local churches, and Baptist networks in the Asia Pacific, such that the Good News of Jesus may continue to spread. And please pray for youth in our region as they seek to send two million young people from Asia Pacific Baptists on short term mission between 2025 and 2040.
The next opportunity to engage in an international Baptist event like this is the Baptist World Congress in Brisbane in July 2025. The Congress is open to anyone connected to a Baptist church and will be an incredible time of cross-cultural fellowship, worship, teaching, prayer and service. Find out more here: https://bwabrisbane.com/
