HISTORIC INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN EVENT
- A FIRST IN ASIA!

The first ever Asia-Pacific Consultation on Discipleship was held from 25th-28th July, 2001 in the coastal city of Kota Kinabalu, capital of Sabah, epicentered in the heart of the region on the exotic island of Malaysian Borneo. Organised by Summer Fruit Global Vision Sdn. Bhd., around 500 Christians came together to reconsider the foundations of their faith, and to re-establish the historical roots of Biblical Discipleship. Delegates and speakers from a total of 21 nations as far afield as Ghana, Nigeria and U.K. to the west, U.S.A. to the east, Mongolia to the north and New Zealand down south, came together to learn and reflect on the matter of urgency for authentic Christian Discipleship in the Church of Jesus Christ at the dawn of the 21st century.


Heart-felt Vision
The purpose of the Consultation was to stir Christian leaders of the region to re-examine the making of authentic Christian disciples in the modern world, transforming believers into Kingdom disciples in disciple making churches focused on making an impact for righteousness in the societies in which they live. The organizers comprised men and women working in the professional and business world, who desire to see the Church to be salt and light in the community at large, in the manner that our Lord first intended. The Archbishop of the Anglican Province of South East Asia, the Most Rev. Datuk Yong Ping Chung, on behalf of the Sabah Council of Churches, and Rev. Datuk Dr. Prince Guneratnam, Chairman of the Christian Federation of Malaysia and the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship of Malaysia welcomed this highly significant gathering.

The whole program began with a moving, impressive and colourful opening ceremony, which, in addition to the welcome speeches, included a multimedia presentation of the APCOD vision and theme, local cultural dances, a very moving national flag march past and a choral arrangement of the APCOD theme song, 'Make Us Your Light' composed specially for the occasion by the Consultation Director, Dr Charles Lee, with music by Colin Chong. The Archbishop gave a challenging opening address based on the acronym BOLD, drawing attention to the need for real discipleship , pointing out that there are many Christians, even clergy, who are merely nominal believers and not followers of Jesus impacting their communities as salt and light to the glory of God.


Christian Leaders Challenged
The three and a half days Consultation was jam-packed with plenary sessions and a wide range of workshops including those specialising in children, youth and equipping women for discipleship. One of the plenary speakers was Dr Os Guinness, Vice-Chairman and Senior Fellow of The Trinity Forum, who traveled all the way from Virginia, USA to bring the 'Challenges to Christian leadership at the dawn of the 21st Century'. After detailing the major impacting events and philosophies of the 20th Century and their effect on evangelical Christianity in the West, Dr. Guinness stressed the need for the church in Asia not to make the same mistakes that have occurred there. He stressed the need to stand firm in the orthodox faith against the dilution in the moral stand of Western evangelicals. Noted Professor of Spiritual Theology and Founder of Regent College in Vancouver, Canada, Dr James Houston pointed to the need to recover the loss of historical consciousness in our history and in the Biblical roots of Christian discipleship, recognising the historical distortions and effects of pagan culture that have hindered the development of genuine New Testament disciples walking after Jesus the Messiah today.

Key note speaker and President of the Center for Judaic-Christian Studies in Ohio, USA, Dwight Pryor, together with Prof. Dr Brad Young of Oral Roberts University drew attention to the Hebraic roots of the Christian faith and the fresh need today to see and hear more clearly the Jewish context of the message of the man in Christ, Jesus of Nazareth. C. B. Samuel of EFICOR, India spoke passionately of the need for modern disciples to share Jesus' concern for the poor of the world. Inspiring devotionals were delivered by Rev. Eric Chang of Hong Kong who focused on our need to share the humility of the apostle Paul who compared himself to the scum of the earth and Kanui Allana Hiha, a Maori lecturer from New Zealand shared in her devotional 'Modelling Integrity' the valued status of being a child of God in today's world of tribal warfare and cultural disintegration.


Key Points
- In the modern world, evangelism is easier as more people are more open than ever before, but discipleship is harder;

- Most Christian communication assumes people are open, interested and needy; the approach of creative persuasion shaped by the life of a true disciple will reach the closed, the hostile and the indifferent;

- It is important to love God with all of our minds, and use our minds in understanding and learning what is means to be a true and authentic disciple of Jesus Christ, and to make disciples;

- 'Calling' means that in Jesus, God calls us so decisively that everything we are, and everything we have, and everything we do becomes a part of our response to His call and summons;

- There is no higher and lower, no sacred and secular, no part-time and full-time, but calling always means the Lordship of Christ in everyone, everywhere and in everything.

- Salvation is a gift, but discipleship is a process, and a walk with Jesus;

- There is too much focus on what we believe rather than what we do as a result of belief; applying this spiritual sensitivity to the message of God in all areas of faith and life;

- We need to be renewed by a fresh understanding of the biblical and Hebraic roots of our faith, and recognise that a biblical disciple is a learner whose life is formed with the aid of personal transformation by the power of the Holy Spirit and through mentoring;

- There is a need to be more conscious of Jesus in his Jewish setting, and to see him as a man; His life is important as His death, burial and resurrection;

- By focussing on the miraculous birth, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, the church has been impoverished by neglecting the LIFE and ministry of Jesus, while the importance of salvation has centred on going to heaven when we die, rather than on the transformed life here and now;

- If you don't have a passion for the Kingdom, you won't have a passion for discipleship; instead, you'll be satisfied to secure your salvation and wait your future reward, regarding discipleship as a mere option;

- There is a danger of us using all the right words on 'discipleship' and 'kingdom' but yet having no real change in our behaviour or action;

- It is not possible to walk with Jesus without remembering the poor; there is no true discipleship without being able to work amongst the poor of this world; the poor are not people to show charity to, but are God's agents of blessing;

- We are all called to be disciples and disciple makers; if you are too busy to disciple people, you are too busy for God; we have neglected the need for all disciples to become disciple-makers.


Positive Feedback
Responses of delegates after the Consultation was very positive with over 94% of those completing the evaluation form grading the overall conference and the speakers as either good or excellent. There were some from U.S.A. who described it as the most impacting conference they had attended. Dr. Os Guinness stated 'In a day when Asia has taken its place as a leading region of the modern world, the significance of APCOD is enormous. Modernity makes evangelism easier but discipleship harder, and APCOD addresses this imbalance with strategic vision and wisdom.'

Prof. James Houston writes: 'The first Asia-Pacific Consultation on Christian Discipleship at Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, has become recognised as a major step forward in the consolidation of Christianity in a difficult environment. All major religions seek converts, if for no other reason than for political votes. The disciplines of true discipleship are harder to sustain and to deepen for the true spiritual growth and maturity of God's people. The call to Christian discipleship at Kota Kinabalu was reinforced by a strong emphasis upon understanding the historic roots of Biblical discipleship, while the many workshops manifested the diverse needs and methods being now considered for the training of Christian disciples. The representation from twenty two countries was an excellent beginning to what God in His grace may lead to a remarkable renewal of the Christian faith throughout the southern hemisphere. Often envisaged derogatively, as 'down under'!, this may become the sphere of global leadership for the Christian expansion of the third millennium. I was privileged to be a participant at this event, and pray this Consultation will be the prelude to a new seriousness among Christians everywhere, to seek personal transformation in Christ through His Holy Spirit'


What were the main messages taken away from this consultation?
The first was the need to take the matter of making disciples seriously. So much effort and focus has been on evangelism, and making converts, that the important aspect of discipling believers to maturity in Christ has been neglected by the major part of the church.

The second was that the Hebraic roots have been so abandoned that belief has become intellectualised by Greek thinking, resulting in believers who live dichotomised lives, with religion and its associated practices of prayer and Bible study being relegated to church and sometimes family life, with work and social activities definitely classified as 'secular'. The message was clear that the Kingdom of God comprises the Lordship of Jesus Christ in every area of life.

Many delegates made many new friends, and as the whole event came to a close, all were urged to make contacts with those from other nations in Asia to ensure no nation is excluded from the 2nd Consultation to be held in Sri Lanka in July 2003. This Consultation is recognised as merely the beginning. Much more needs to be done.


Richard B. Barrow
Aquila Communications
Email : aquila@pc.jaring.my
2nd September 2001