The Asia Evangelical Leadership Forum concluded Friday evening in Seoul with a solemn and hopeful call to rededicate the Church in Asia to Jesus Christ and his commission to make disciples. The three-day gathering, held June 11–13 under the theme “Disciple or Die 2,” brought together evangelical leaders from across the continent for strategic collaboration on advancing disciple-making as the central focus of Christian mission.
The closing session featured remarks from Dr. Bambang Budijanto, General Secretary of the Asia Evangelical Alliance (AEA), and Bishop Efraim Tendero, Executive Director of the Galilean Movement and former Secretary General of the World Evangelical Alliance. Participants also joined in worship, prayer for the nations, and a communal celebration of the Lord’s Supper led by Dr. Budijanto.
“This is not a normal time,” Budijanto said in his final address. “We don’t have much time, and the stakes are very high. If the Church does not disciple, it will die. We must go back to the sender—Jesus himself.”
He emphasized that disciple-making is not one of several ministry options but the only strategy Jesus gave his followers and called on churches to repent where ministry programs and institutional activities have overshadowed personal obedience to Christ. “Sometimes the mission becomes bigger than Jesus, the organization becomes bigger than Jesus, and we end up spiritually broken,” he said. “Tonight, we dedicate ourselves again to Jesus, to his last words, and to his only strategy.”
The final gathering marked the culmination of focused discussions among participants who had worked in four strategic thrust groups throughout the week: Children and Family Discipleship, Youth Empowerment, Mission Mobilization and Acceleration, and AI Kingdom Deployment. Each group presented actionable proposals to help churches and alliances across Asia equip their members for long-term, relational disciple-making.
Bishop Tendero echoed Budijanto’s urgency in his closing charge, framing disciple-making not only as obedience to Christ’s command, but as the path to spiritual renewal. “We need to complete the Great Commission,” he said. “Making disciples is not one strategy among many. It is the only strategy Jesus gave.”
Tendero challenged the audience with sobering statistics, noting that less than 12 percent of the global population consists of committed followers of Christ, despite nearly 2,000 years of church history. “We are lagging behind,” he said. “After all these years, why are we not further along in reaching the world? Because we have neglected the main thing.”
Tendero also reminded listeners that the early church grew not through the efforts of apostles alone, but through the witness of ordinary believers scattered by persecution. He warned that the church has, in many contexts, become professionalized and passive, turning many believers into spectators. “We need to correct the great omission,” he said. “We’ve relegated disciple-making to the background while filling our time with many other good things. It’s time to realign.”
A central theme of both addresses was the necessity of brokenness and sacrifice in the life of a disciple. Budijanto led the congregation into communion by recalling the scene of Jesus’ last supper with his disciples. “Discipleship is not just sharing information,” he said. “It is the breaking of our lives so that others may live.”
Participants were invited to take communion in groups of two or three, exchanging the bread and cup with one another as a symbol of mutual commitment and unity. “Nothing of eternal impact happens without unity,” Budijanto said, noting that true unity is built not through sentiment but through the costly choice of humility and service.
As the gathering concluded, Budijanto commissioned attendees to go forward in faith. “We dedicate AEA for the cause of Jesus and for His glory alone,” he declared. “Wherever you go, disciple people who will disciple people who will disciple people. And the Lord will be glorified.”
As the closing prayers concluded, the forum formally ended with participants having reviewed strategic proposals and renewed commitments to disciple-making. Leaders emphasized that prioritizing discipleship is both necessary and achievable, identifying it as a critical component for the long-term growth and health of the Church in Asia.
“Disciple or die is not a slogan,” Budijanto said in conclusion. “It is the call of Jesus. And tonight, we say yes.”
