Our Asia Pacific Emerging Leaders development initiative in 2024 (APEL24) involves over 150 young leaders from across Asia Pacific, including ten Kiwis. The overall theme of APEL24 is Navigating Our Times.
We live in complex, fast-paced, uncertain times. The Gospel is needed as much today as ever. Many people need to slow down to realise they are heading in the wrong direction, one that will ultimately fail them. Other people already realise that their direction is wrong and that their way of living is cracked and broken, but they don’t know what to do or where to go instead. We labour and lead in these settings. But through APEL24, we are learning how to transform these settings.
Through online workshops, personal assignments and in-country meetings, participants of APEL24 are exploring how our Navigator calling, values and vision can guide us in our settings so that we can play a crucial role in shaping the future. How can we live well in our context; how can we help others move in the right direction; how should we lead in the complex world of today?
The aims and desires of APEL24 are to give participants:
- Ideas, skills, and frameworks to help in their leading.
- Interactions with peers from other countries.
- Opportunities to gain experience from experienced leaders.
- ways to bring together their context and our Nav Calling, vision and values, so that we can live out what God is calling us to,
- and most importantly, encounters with the Lord.
Here are some comments from people from Aotearoa, NZ, who are participating in APEL24:
- “I am called into a particular place and time, and God knows my context. I don’t need to be overwhelmed. This helps me to feel less stressed. God meets the needs we have and is responsible for the outcomes.” – Aislinn Molloy
- “I am encouraged by the story in Luke about a friend asking for food late at night and given what they needed because of their shameless audacity. What does it look like to pray with shameless audacity for people and initiatives at Lincoln University? This encourages me to press into the new and unexpected things of God.” – Rebecca Moorhouse
- “God’s kingdom is growing more beautifully than anything we see in the world. Jesus is transforming hearts and relationships, and no one knows how to transform people’s hearts better. I am wanting people to encounter Jesus and have their hearts transformed.” – Peter Molloy
- “How many seeds are in an apple? A better question is how many apples can come from a seed? God can do so much through seeds planted and watered in faith. He can grow them into fruitful mature trees which cause more seeds to establish. As we invest deeply in a few we can miss the vision and value of this.” – Stu Moorhouse
- “It takes a long time to invest in people. It is hard to think long-term. However, you can be more encouraged if you think long-term. It can help you to be more patient and trusting in God’s work. This takes the burden off.” – Abbey Johnson
- “A recurring theme for me is prayer; it comes up all the time! How much am I praying, what am I praying for? John 15:5 encourages me to abide with Jesus and invest my life. I have a real need to deepen my prayer life. Like to try lots of things.” – Dee Burnell
Simon Cayzer