Spending time in Penang with 40 young Asian leaders was one of those experiences that has stayed with me.
They were not all theology students in the traditional sense. They were entrepreneurs, nurses, teachers, and NGO workers. A majority of the students arrived from India (Nagaland, Punjab, Telangana) with others coming from Malaysia and the UK. Some had been in ministry for years while others were just starting out. Others were still working out how their professional vocations fit into God’s mission purposes. All of them had paid their own way and taken limited vacation time in March to spend 13 full days sharpening their discernment about, understanding of and practice toward mission. All of us had come to learn.
It was an incredible privilege to meet these students and a rare opportunity to test some ideas I’ve been wrestling with. I arrived with a hunch that Michael Rynkiewich had it right about mission training. By the end of the week, I was convinced. Rynkiewich, writing on postmodern anthropology, argues that we can no longer train missionaries for a given context. We can only train them to learn within their context.
The old model assumed you could prepare someone for a specific, stable “people group.” But that world is gone (if it ever existed). Personal and group identities are fluid. Migration is constant and culture changes unceasingly. What’s needed now isn’t a fixed cultural map handed to someone before they board a plane. It is the capacity to be, as Rynkiewich puts it, someone who knows how to listen, observe, and read the dynamics of their context.
Seeing this Malaysian Baptist Theological Seminary classroom in Penang made his point feel less academic and more urgently real. Dr. Aniu Kevichusa from Baptist Mission Society organised the training together with his team and reached out to Baptist Mission Australia to collaborate. It was a natural fit because of the shared change journey our organisations have been on. My friend and colleague, Chris MacCartney, and I were the only trainers of Anglo background in the room. That was, honestly, the most refreshing part of the week. This wasn’t a Western-led event with a few international guests. It was a genuinely global gathering (polycentric!), and our minority status reflected where the Christian movement actually sits in 2026. The centre of gravity has shifted, and as we have noted in our Future Directions work, that’s a good and exciting change!
The conversations were sharp and current. One day we were debating the ethics of AI. The next, we were comparing youth cultures in London, Nagaland, Kuala Lumpur and Punjab. Units on Creation Care, Integral Mission and Business as Mission occupied sessions throughout the training. These young leaders are interested in a gospel that is at home in the plurality of the real world. They want to know how to work across borders and streets without the old hierarchies and assumptions of mission reasserting themselves. They asked about how Baptist agencies can work together, including our connections with associations in places like Mizoram and Nagaland. We already have such a rich history with workers in these places.
I learned much more than I imparted. I learned again that the future is collaborative. I learned that Rynkiewich is most likely right and that the best thing we can do is learn how to learn. Watching these leaders, I came away feeling genuinely optimistic. They aren’t waiting for permission. They’re already leading with a global vision. I’m grateful for this opportunity and humbled we are invited to join this world-wide Christian movement.
