A3 CONFERENCE 2015: FAMILY
FAMILY, the theme of A3 conference this year focuses on our relationship in God’s spiritual family and how we could nurture this relationship for the greater harvest ahead. The conference was held in Johor Bahru from 17th July to 20th July 2015, which saw the gathering of our family of churches across southern region in Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Taiwan, and Japan, alongside with participants from other countries. These areas and countries make up Asia 3 or better known as “A3”. Over 400 people were soaked in the presence of God through worship, testimonies, fellowship and teaching.
The conference kicked started with an ice-breaking activity and followed by Global Village 2.0, a continuation from last year. The idea was mooted to stir up the burden of all the participants towards mission. We were invited to embark on an “experiential” journey to explore the diverse cultures of four different countries and localities through numerous cultural activities, which included tribal dancing, face painting, artwork and language learning. These are the places where we believed God would open the door for church planting in the near future: Papua (Indonesia), North East India, Cambodia and China. The event ended with an inspiring multimedia of our brothers and sisters from different centres and Ps. Kwong Lie's sharing.
The highlight of the day was none other than the opening ceremony and teaching session in the evening. The opening ceremony was choreographed by Hope Batu Pahat in tandem with the theme - FAMILY. It portrayed the struggle of our brothers and sisters who responded to God vision and how as a family of churches we supported one another. The message was delivered creatively through dance, testimonies and a song presentation.
Throughout the 4 days and 3 nights conference, we were immensely blessed by the Word of God. Through Ps. Kwong Lie's sharing and his characteristic testimonies, we were reminded to put God at the centre of our relationship, be it with our physical or spiritual family. Apart from that, we were challenged to be adventurous and be prepared to pay the price if we want to see breakthrough in our churches.
During the second night, we had the chance to revisit a prophecy concerning our movement and we were thrilled to see how God used His servants who had no prior knowledge about our movement, to speak prophetically to us. Amazingly, we could see that many parts of the prophecy have come to pass while some are still in the progress. Indeed, God works miraculously and often times beyond our imagination! Pastor went on to exhort us to go “beyond”, to believe God for our breakthrough in spiritual life and to live differently compared to the world.
We were also touched by various testimonies shared during the conference. Bro. Mani from Hope Bangalore testified about the love and support that he received from the church especially from his shepherd, Ps. Joshua, concerning some of the challenges he encountered in his family. Dr. Moses from Hope Taipei, on the other hand, shared about God’s leading in his life throughout his career as a medical specialist. He testified how God moulded him and softened his heart from an assertive personality through leader’s advice and acceptance. Sis Grace from Hope Bangalore also shared, with gladness, on the faithfulness of God for this big family in supporting her and Ps. Joshua for their pioneering work in Bangalore, either financially, physically or spiritually. The love shown by the family of God helped her to realise that she was not fighting the battle alone but alongside with other parts of the Body.
Apart from the teaching and testimonies, the participants were greeted by an exciting event on the second day afternoon, called “food-lowship" (a.k.a the fellowship of food). They had the opportunity to taste some of the Malaysian’s all-time favourite such as laksa, cendol, satay and durian…just to name a few, while having a great time of chit-chat during the "makan" (eating) session. Some of the participants even had the chance to open the durians and savour authentic horse milk imported freshly from Mongolia.
Various workshops were held on the third day afternoon in order to provide the participants with spiritual input on some dedicated topics like parenting, managing relationship with the opposite sex, God’s view on marriage and etc. We were able to hear from the sharing of not just the conference speaker, but also our pastors from different centres as well as some invited speakers. Through these workshops, we were able to learn much more and be inspired by the lives of these servants who have experienced much in their walk with God.
The empowering teachings and the activities on the previous days set the tone for the Family Worship on the final night, thus culminating to the climax of the conference whereby hundreds of participants step forward to make a personal decision in responding to God’s call for breakthrough. Ps. Kwong Lie shared from the biblical account in Ezekiel 37:1-14 and urged the church to continue to abide in Christ and believed that God is about to do great things among us, just like what He had done to the dry bones in the valley. A vast army we shall become!
On the last day, the conference was closed with a song presentation by Hope Melaka. It was a heart-moving song written by our Bro. Aaron depicting our love for and cry to Abba Father to make us "one". This year's A3 conference was indeed a wonderful time where all of us were inspired on the impending breakthrough. Yes, we need to have a greater dependency on the Holy Spirit and be led by Him to bring forth a greater impact in our ministry. We thank God for all that we have experienced and we look forward to our next meet. As for now, it is time to work!
