After Easter, I headed to Bangkok to be a part of the City to City Faith and Work Intensive. City to City Asia Pacific is an organisation committed to raising up local Christian leaders to plant new churches that reach new people with the good news of Jesus. In the DNA of this organisation is the belief that church plants should also bring renewal to the local area they belong to. The Faith and Work Intensive is part of mobilising churches to impact their local area by discipling believers to bring their faith into their work.

There was a dual focus to this intensive, equipping the pastors and business leaders (a lot of people were both business leaders and pastors) with a vision for Faith and Work discipleship, and also training up some ‘trainers’ who could repeat the material in their local languages and in ways sensitive to local needs. We had delegates from: Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, India, Singapore, Hong Kong and Mongolia. The vision is that in the churches in all these locations, Christian workers seek the good of their neighbour, their industry and their city, and so bring flourishing to many.

The good news of Jesus provides a lens through which we can see our work. Work becomes a way of loving God and loving neighbour. We led sessions on: understanding different types of brokenness at work, how God seeks to transform our hearts and relationships at work, how the five-act gospel can give us a lens for work, what a Faith and Work ministry can look like in a church, and how churches can collaborate with each other and faith organisations to bring a renewing presence to their cities.

I am thankful for the support of Parish Council in allowing me time to train these leaders. It is exciting to see the sizable, ongoing impact of this work beyond South Head.

Here are a few snippets of feedback we received from the intensive:

Thank you very much to the City to City—Faith and Work team for generously providing me with a scholarship to attend this F&W conference. I learned many new and meaningful concepts, including lament, idolatry, and what it truly means to pursue personal transformation and city renewal. Both Alistair and Matt are excellent speakers who explained Faith & Work concepts with great clarity and depth. I feel truly blessed and empowered to contribute to the growing Faith & Work ecosystem and community.

Thank you for doing this great ministry. I am so inspired and grateful for this opportunity. I understand more that this is such essential ministry for everywhere. I would like to attend other activities in the future and keep doing this ministry in my country and reach more people to help them to understand faith and work in their workplaces and businesses.

Thank you so much for having me to this intensive. It’s highly impactful for my next steps. The personal brokenness and heart-change activities are really helpful to see God and to see myself.