Disciple or die, Asian evangelicals told

Over 200 evangelicals from 25 nations across Asia focused on disciple-making at this year’s Asia Conference on Church and Mission (ACCM) in the Philippines.

The landmark Asia Evangelical Alliance (AEA) event, hosted in Manila in partnership with the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEC), was held under the banner “Disciple or Die 3.0”, which the alliance describes as “a call to move from discussion to decisive, measurable action” as it looks to “transform” the Asian church into a continental movement of disciple-makers.

The four-day conference set a target stipulating that 20% of evangelical churches in the AEA are to become “disciple-making churches” by 2033, meaning that at least a fifth of these churches’ membership must be involved in personally discipling others and not just attending church events themselves.

Addresses from speakers stressed the importance of discipleship, with AEA Chair Godfrey Yogarajah opening proceedings with words from Matthew 28, stating that a church where most members are “consuming rather than reproducing” is “a church one generation from decline.”

Other keynote speakers included World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) General Secretary Botrus Mansour, PCEC CEO Noel Pantoja, theological adviser C.B. Samuel, and Global Alliance of Intentional Disciple-making Churches founder Edmund Chan, amongst others.

The AEA’s Disciple-making Playbook details that 50% of Asia’s national evangelical alliances were considered “disciple-making alliances” as of 2023, made up of “disciple-making” denominations, made up of “disciple-making” churches. It defines disciple-making churches as congregations where 20% of their members are discipling others.