Some 4,000 Christians from across Asia and beyond gathered in Manila on July 27 for the opening session of the Arise Asia 2026 Congress, a five-day gathering of students and young leaders focused on frontier missions and evangelism.
Representatives from 50 countries filled the venue for the event, which runs through July 31 under the theme "For the Joy," drawn from Hebrews 12:2: "For the joy set before him, he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Bishop Noel Pantoja, National Director of the Philippines Council of Evangelical Churches and chair of the Arise Asia board, opened the congress by drawing attention to the scale of the task facing global missions. Nearly 7,000 people groups — comprising roughly three billion people, or about 40 percent of the world's population — remain without meaningful access to the gospel, he said.
"The highest concentration of unreached groups are found in this region," Pantoja told the congress, pointing to South Asia, the Middle East, and parts of East and Southeast Asia. He called on participants to move past national and organizational identities and engage the task as "brothers and sisters in Christ" bound by a shared calling.
"I invite you to pray with me that thousands of young people will rise up as God's agents and ambassadors to bring the gospel to these nations," Pantoja said. He described the challenge as one requiring "sensitivity, creativity, partnership and collaboration."
The theme: joy through the cross
Rev. Dr. David Ro, co-founder and executive director of Arise Asia, acknowledged that while arriving at the Congress had been very smooth for some, there are also many delegates that had traveled long distances under difficult conditions — hours on planes, delays at airports, and other logistical challenges. He offered that experience as a preview of the missionary road ahead.
He referred to the well-known worship song "Blessed be your name", which first praises God amid abundance and sunshine but then continues to praise God "on the road marked with suffering."
"The life ahead of you is not going to be easy," Ro said. "And if you can still say, 'Blessed be your name,' then amen."
The conference theme, he explained, does not promise that everything will always go smoothly. "For the joy of the Lord doesn't necessarily come on an easy path. Remember Hebrews chapter 12? For the joy set before him — what? Endure the cross."
Ro outlined how the five days of the congress would each explore a dimension of that joy: for the joy is the theme of the first day, the joy of following Jesus on the second day; the joy of surrender, holiness, and sacrifice on the third; the joy of purposeful perseverance on the fourth; and the joy of eternity on the final day.
Opening address: serve God with joy, finish well
The evening's first address came from Pastor Peter Tan-Chi, founder and senior pastor of Christ's Commission Fellowship (CCF) in the Philippines. Speaking to a hall where the majority of delegates are under 40, he urged them to carry a single resolve throughout their years of ministry: serve God with joy, and finish well.
Tan-Chi cited research suggesting that only 25% of Christian leaders complete their lives and ministries faithfully. He said that figure — which he first heard from a professor and initially dismissed — eventually reshaped his entire approach to developing leaders.
"I began to focus on character: the heart, not activities, not performance, not competence," he said.
He identified common reasons leaders fall away: neglecting personal time with God, failing to maintain boundaries with the opposite sex, and having no one in their lives willing to hold them accountable.
"Most of us, especially in Asian culture, we want to save face and don't want to confront people," Tan-Chi said.
Drawing on 2 Timothy 2:15, he offered three principles for those who want to both serve God with joy and finish their course. The first is a passion to please God above every other audience. "You can please people. You can please your denomination. You can please your church organization. But God is emphatic — you are going to give an account of your life."
The second is a commitment to excellence. Tan-Chi told delegates that Christians who cut corners in their professional work and blame ministry commitments do damage to the gospel's credibility. "Don't use Bible study as an excuse to be a lousy performer in your company," he said. "Whatever you do, do your work as for the Lord rather than for men."
The third principle, he said, is a passion for God's truth — and the courage to teach it without compromise. "Truth is not truth because the majority of people believe it," he said. Truth is not about feelings or preferences either, he emphasized. "Truth is narrow and exclusive." He pressed delegates to hold the scriptural witness against the grain of cultural accommodation on questions of human identity and sexual ethics.
Tan-Chi closed with the story of John Stephen Akhwari, the Tanzanian marathon runner who fell and injured himself during the 1968 Mexico City Olympics but continued to the finish line, arriving hours after the other competitors. When asked why he kept going, Akhwari said his country had not sent him to start the race but to finish it.
"God has told you to run the race," Tan-Chi said. "Serve God with joy. Finish well. It does not mean you will never fall down. It does not mean you will never get hurt. But you get up."
The Arise Asia Congress continues through July 31 in Manila. The event is organized by Arise Asia, a missions mobilization movement focused on engaging unreached people groups across the Asian continent.
