Traveling from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, and even a mother and her son from New Zealand, families gathered in Malaysia for the Southeast Asia Family Conference. They came with the desire to be encouraged in their relationship with the Lord and to have fellowship with other like-minded families. Held November 11-14, the theme of the conference was “Draw Near To God.”

Southeast Asia director, Thomas Teh, gave the opening message for the conference and spoke a special message later for the men. Many of the families helped with the conference in order to make it possible. One father led the singing, several dads helped run the sound equipment, and other individuals assisted with books sales. So many of the families joyfully volunteered their time and energy to facilitate the conference for everyone’s benefit.

Gabriel Cleator traveled from the United States to speak at the conference. On the first full day of the conference, his topic focused on the secret of the Christian life which is Christ in us, and on the glorious reality of our co-death and co-resurrection with Christ. Gabriel had two sessions with the young people; in one session he spoke about the life-changing importance of meditating on God’s Word. His attentive audience was excited to hear how they could practically meditate on God’s Word through various ways such as repeating the verse numerous times, picturing it, personalizing it, and emphasizing different words within the verse.

In a testimony given, one young man shared how he had been struggling with getting irritated. After hearing the message about Scripture meditation, he and another fellow discovered a verse in Proverbs about the dangers of anger and wrath and began meditating on it. What joy to hear about these young people digging into the rich treasures of God’s Word for themselves! Gabriel’s message on the last conference day was about the wonder and majesty of the amazing God we have the privilege of drawing near to.

Taped messages from the Family Conferences held in the United States were shown at the Southeast Asia Family Conference. One father expressed appreciation for S.M. Davis’s message on anger, saying that it was exactly what he needed to hear. Video messages by Gil Bates, David and Jason Benham, Paul and Jenny Speed and others were also shared at the conference in Malaysia.

The young ladies participated in a program called “Fulfill,” which was organized by some of the ladies from Southeast Asia. It focused on having a real, vibrant, personal relationship with the Lord rather than “faking” the Christian life by only living a “good life” outwardly. Meanwhile, several ALERT staff traveled from Texas to serve with some of the fathers at the conference and to lead the Alert Cadet program. The young cadets were encouraged to work together as a team and to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

A unique aspect of this conference was delivered on the final day. Several families from the different nations represented gave presentations such as music, a story, or a narration. The narration by a group of young people was called “Three Trees.” The play depicted the importance of surrendering to the Lord and the reality that Jesus does all things well. Other presentations were also insightful and required quite a bit of time and effort to put together. The Fulfill program participants and the Alert Cadets shared verses and songs they learned throughout the week. These various presentations revealed the encouraged hearts and lives of the participants. Praise the Lord for another successfully completed Southeast Asia Family Conference!

Photos courtesy of Joshua Ong and Gabriel Cleator.