Exploring the New Ministry Landscape
Student Ministry Consultation (SMC) 2026 was held from 26 to 31 January 2026 in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia. Forty-nine staff workers from 17 movements across East Asia gathered to reflect on and reimagine student leadership, considering the rapidly changing ministry landscape. As the previous SMC was held about a decade ago, this Consultation aimed to help us discern how student leadership must adapt amid shifting campus cultures, church dynamics, and technological developments.
Some of the issues our students face
I left SMC immensely grateful – not only for the insightful sessions and devotions, but for the fellowship of fellow labourers across the region. One key insight came from our Regional Secretary, Lisman Komaladi’s framing of student leadership as a complex, interconnected ecosystem. The effectiveness of student leadership, he explained, is shaped by multiple factors: campus fellowship culture, societal and university pressures, church influence, and the quality of staff partnership. These factors are multiplicative rather than merely additive; weakness in one domain can disproportionately weaken the whole.
FES Singapore delegates (left to right): Lim Ying, Indrik, Lim Jie, Nancy, and Steve discussing the influence of different factors on our student leadership and discerning how to respond wisely.
Together, we analysed how each factor influences our respective movements and learned from other movements. Some movements faced challenges from strict restrictions of the universities, while others struggled due to a lack of support from the local churches or influences from false teachings. Furthermore, we identified relevant issues such as AI and church abuses, which students struggle to address biblically. These conversations forced us to go beyond surface-level diagnoses and helped us think more strategically.
Equally inspiring were the informal spaces shared during meals and chance encounters during breaks. The one-to-one afternoon walks – pairing with a staff worker from another movement – were particularly refreshing and uplifting. Sharing our beginnings, ministry disappointments, small encouragements, and praying for one another definitely nourished my heart. The slow pace of that walk reminded me that God’s work across East Asia is far larger than our local concerns.
Closing Service on the final day, as staff across East Asia gathered for worship, prayer, and commissioning.
The Consultation broadened my understanding of student leadership in several ways. First, it strengthened my conviction that student leadership remains the heart of FES ministry – both a theological and strategic commitment to entrust the gospel to faithful young leaders reaching their peers. Second, the evolving landscape of ministry requires intentional unlearning. I must let go of assumptions about this generation and relinquish overconfidence in methods that ‘worked before’ but may no longer be relevant. Third, I must continually relearn the unchanging foundations of discipleship – Christ, Scripture, prayer, and community – within the new cultural waters our students inhabit. If FES is to serve them well, we must learn to ask better questions, listen more attentively, and walk with them rather than prescribe from a distance.
Go, my friends! Hold on to this,
Your SHEPHERD will defend you.
Through the highest mountains and deepest valleys,
He will lead. He goes before and behind you.
(part of commissioning prayer)
– Indrik Wijaya is currently a campus ministry staff worker at FES
