Awesome Asian Youth Ambassadors
by Chris Quah
Proverbs 29:18 states that “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he”. We are reminded of this again in the well-known verse, Hosea 4:6; that “without knowledge, the people perish”.
The future of a nation or people group depends on how well a robust legacy is passed from generation to generation. It is likewise with Christians. As the people of God, we need to ensure that the future generations are grounded in the word and knowledge of God.
Our writer, Chris Quah, shares about an initiative started by Acts Church more than 20 years ago to transform and steer the lives of young adults towards discipleship, and which is still going strong today
While many events celebrate the achievements of the young adult generation, not many do so from a Christian perspective. As such, the Asian Youth Ambassador (AYA) is one of the first of its kind in Malaysia. First started by Pr Kenneth Chin, the senior pastor of Acts Church in the year 1995, the main vision for AYA was that of revival.
AYA was started with the primary purpose of “inviting, inspiring, instructing, and involving young people to dare to dream and be responsible for fulfilling those dreams for the good of all.” AYA’s main priority is a commitment to raising leaders of admirable standards and excellence, believing that sound and solid leaders determine the overall health (spirit, mind, and body) of a whole generation as it does a whole nation.
Since then AYA has held many sorts of events and activities. Among them is the promotion of compassion and unity events and other nation-building projects, for example, AYA Awards (previously known as AYA Dream Malaysia Awards, 2005 – 2010) – this is an awards initiative that seeks to recognise the outstanding spirit of young Malaysians.
There are also various fund-raising concerts through the AYA Festivals (2007-2008), which were conducted to raise funds for flood victims through having local artists and international bands like Delirious and Sonic Flood. There were also carnivals like the health carnival (2011) held at low-cost apartments, and the Revo Garden (2011) involving youths to restore Millennium Park in SS13. AYA also has been active in community work such as providing free tuition at low-cost apartments in Subang Jaya and Puchong.
On top of that, Pr Kenneth was led by God into organising motivational talks, concerts, and conferences, such as the Revo Tours & Conferences (a revival centric conference that is held in different cities in Malaysia), and FairStival (2016-2019), a one-stop resources platform for all things youth, where more than 60 practical and relevant workshops were offered to delegates to equip all of them to reach the youths. The topics included media, sports, mental health, LGBTQ, and drug abuse, just to name a few. Other products of AYA was the creation of the youth development resource through research – eg. D2Y2 magazine, and the Breathe video series (a collaboration with a local media arm to produce a resource on mental health awareness).
The fruits of their hard labour were that those who have been impacted by the ministry of AYA over the past 20+ years have become leaders in their own right. They are leaders in their churches; marketplace influencers, and entrepreneurs running businesses who are investing back into the work of the Lord. Some are serving as global church planters. A good number are married and are raising their children but still committed to serving in their local churches without excuses just because their lives have been promoted to parenthood. They also help many young adults so that they are given opportunities to sow their time, talents, and treasure back to the community.
Presently, AYA is much involved in Local Community initiatives. Among these is in empowering the lower-income families’ children – giving tuitions for subjects like English and Maths; engaging them in sports programs like soccer, cricket, and dance; and the provision of essentials as and when the need arises. They are also publishing resources on leadership, and youth revival movement stories and engagement, such as Now Every Believer Can, Ten Commitments of a Leaders Committed to Growth, Revolution Stories, and so on.
God’s purpose for AYA is not done yet. The current leaders of AYA have been led towards upcoming plans and hopes for AYA. Among such is the continuation of efforts in reaching youth with the Gospel through creative evangelism, as we believe that every young person should have the opportunity to hear the Gospel at least once. From here, the young people are engaged so that they can discipled into building Christlike character and to develop their leadership skills.
Another effort is to partner with different parties to bring about mental health awareness and to connect youth with such needs to the right channels. This is even more important especially in the times of the coronavirus pandemic that has caused so much uncertainty among the youth and young adults.
For those interested in supporting the AYA ministry, you can contact them through email at info@aya.org.my
