The 10th Chinese Congress on World Evangelization (10th CCOWE), a quinary landmark event for the global Chinese Christian community, is taking place from July 20 to 24 at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) in Sarawak, Malaysia. Theme-centered on "Open our EAR, Understand our ERA, Here we ARE," the conference aims to listen to the challenges facing Chinese churches across various contexts in a rapidly changing era and collaboratively seek ways to respond.
Organized by the Chinese Coordination Centre of World Evangelization (CCCOWE) and co-hosted by the Sarawak Chinese Annual Conference of the Methodist Church in Malaysia alongside the Sarawak CCOWE Regional Committee, the invitation-only event brings together nearly 1,800 pastors, missionaries, theological educators, and marketplace leaders from more than 50 countries and regions. Encouragingly, 15% of this year’s participants are young leaders under 35, fulfilling the conference's goal of "walking together across generations."
On the opening night, the ceremony showcased a performance featuring the sape—a traditional plucked lute native to Borneo’s indigenous people—blended with ethnic dance and choral music, celebrating the beauty of diverse Chinese cultures. Attendees also viewed the retrospective film CCOWE at 50, which traced the history and development of the movement over the past half-century.
Due to venue constraints and the invitation-only format, the official keynote addresses were streamed online. Although heavy traffic caused initial server congestion on the first evening, the broadcast was quickly transitioned to YouTube, allowing Chinese believers worldwide to participate seamlessly. GOOD TV and the Malaysian Methodist Message served as official media partners to document and stream the proceedings.
Rev. David Doong: Listening and Looking to God in an Anxious Age
In his opening welcoming remarks, Rev. David Doong (董家驊), General Secretary of CCCOWE, noted that the world currently stands at the intersection of rapid technological expansion, geopolitical volatility, and deep-seated human anxiety. Nevertheless, he urged the church not to focus merely on the boulders of its environment, but to look up to the God who has already rolled the stone away and continues to speak and work through history.
As the CCOWE movement approaches its 50th anniversary, Rev. Doong called on Chinese churches to begin with repentance—repenting of pride, fear, selfishness, greed, and complacency. He reminded believers to listen to God anew in faith, love one another across cultural and identity boundaries, and remain faithful to the Gospel of the Kingdom, holistic mission, and disciple-making. Leading the congregation in singing the CCOWE Anthem, he stressed that the true spirit of CCOWE lies not in commemorating past achievements, but in looking earnestly to God and boldly responding to His mission amid hardship and flux.
Rev. Joshua Ting: Church Renewal Begins with Inner Repentance
In his opening exhortation, Rev. Joshua Ting (陳世欽), former General Secretary of CCCOWE and current Acting President of the GETS Theological Seminary, solemnly pointed out that while contemporary Chinese churches have matured organizationally, administratively, and financially, they risk straying from their original purpose centered on Christ and the Gospel mission. This drift has led to diminished prayer, loss of youth and second-generation members, staff burnout, and internal strife and power struggles.
Rev. Ting emphasized that authentic church renewal cannot rely solely on structural or methodological reform; it must begin with spiritual repentance among leaders and believers. He called on everyone to return to the cross, remain loyal to the truth, obey the Holy Spirit, cultivate genuine discipleship, and bear witness to this generation by fulfilling the Gospel mission.
Dr. Cheung Teng: Returning to the Original Mission of CCOWE
Dr. Cheung Teng (滕張佳音), widow of the late Rev. Philip Teng (滕近輝) and one of the founding figures of CCCOWE, reflected on the movement's original vision during the opening ceremony. She noted that CCOWE inherited the Lausanne Movement’s vision of "world evangelization," with the primary intention of mobilizing every believer to engage in evangelism and missions.
Addressing contemporary global migration and cross-cultural realities, Dr. Cheung Teng encouraged Chinese churches to elevate workplace calling to a missional level, inspiring believers to participate in both local and cross-cultural missions. At the same time, she cautioned churches against letting the pursuit of numerical growth and scale replace the core of the Gospel. She emphasized that every generation must re-examine the essence of the Gospel—repentance, rebirth, and a focus on Jesus Christ crucified—and called on the older generation to faithfully pass the baton to younger leaders.
Rev. Edmund Chan: Returning to Basics to Nurture Lord-Loving Disciples
Rev. Edmund Chan (曾金發), founder of the Global Alliance of Intentional Disciple Making Churches and leadership mentor, urged Chinese churches to return to fundamentals by first cultivating an inner life of walking with the Lord. He remarked that while churches today often ask "how to do more for God," the truly vital question is whether they are "going deeper with God."
Emphasizing that "stewardship precedes mission," Rev. Chan asserted that a church's most important output is raising authentic disciples who follow Jesus and can carry out the Great Commission. He called on Chinese churches over the next 50 years to start from repentance and grow to "love Jesus more" alongside the next generation, allowing inner spiritual depth to serve as a solid foundation for Kingdom ministry.
The opening ceremony concluded with a response worship led by Rev. Abraham Liu, Senior Pastor of Taipei Revival Church, and a worship team. Moved by the Holy Spirit, attending leaders prayed earnestly for personal repentance and the renewal of Chinese churches, laying hands on one another in prayer. The warm and touching atmosphere set a reflective and encouraging tone for the five-day conference.
