From 25-28 March 2019, over 220 younger leaders from across the East Asia region gathered at Seong Ahn Church in Jeju Island, South Korea, for the first-ever Lausanne East Asia Younger Leaders Gathering (EA YLG 2019). The theme of the gathering was ‘Essence of the Gospel’, and the goal was to inspire younger leaders to realign their lives with the gospel truth and to pursue the lost at all cost.
Another focus of the gathering that emerged was unity in diversity. Throughout the gathering, unity was established across and within diverse cultures, interests, and generations. Five languages (English, Mandarin, Korean, Japanese, and Mongolian) were used on stage or through translators. During the 21 workshops and 37 networks groups, younger leaders from multiple regions met in smaller groups of common interests such as church planting, arts, evangelism, and business as mission to share their visions and personal journeys. In addition, mentors at the gathering spent time connecting with and investing in the younger leaders.
The co-chair of the gathering, Jiyoung Yoo, said, ‘Even a non-believing hotel staff testified that he saw a difference in our group and wondered why this group was so kind, understanding, and happy. I told him that it is because of the love of God through Jesus Christ when we were still sinners.’