“If Jesus hung out with sinners, how come all of my friends are Christian?”
At Arise Malaysia, a missions conference held from 30 April to 2 May, a punchy panel discussion dissected the Great Commission, what it means to live missionally, and where to start.
Featuring Heidy Quah of Refuge for the Refugees, Pedro Salgueiro of YWAM, and J, a missionary serving in Central Asia, more than 600 young believers from 80 churches listened intently to stories from the field and the joy of living surrendered lives.
Moderated by Pastor Andy Yeoh of Generations Church and Qarlene Rishiqa, the three panelists shared how they first stepped out, what missions looks like for them, and their diverse cross-cultural experiences.
“We have to be careful not to just be humanitarian, but to be missional. We cannot forget the Gospel and the centrality of it,” said Pedro, a former professional footballer from Brazil.
“We’re sold a life and we buy it without question, but once we step out and see what’s out there, it’s impossible to go back to the ‘normal’ of the world,” he continued.
Bigger than the four walls of church
The Great Commission was given to every believer and reflects the heart of Jesus for the world, but at times, Christians limit God’s heart to the confines of church.
J said Jesus called Himself a Friend of sinners. “If Jesus hung out with sinners, how come all of my friends are Christian?” she asked. “That’s a question we need to ask ourselves. If we say we love Jesus, how come we’re not talking about Him to those who don’t know Him yet?”
J accepted Christ at 17 years old through the service and testimony of missionaries who came to her homeland of Indonesia.
“Someone laid down their life so I would have access to the Gospel, and now it’s my turn,” she continued. “The Gospel is worth any road, and the Gospel is worth any cost.”
Sharing God’s love to kopitiam staff and security guards
For Heidy, it was the realisation that there was a God who loves her that invited her to a missional life, working with diaspora communities in Malaysia.
She founded Refuge for the Refugees, an NGO working with refugees and asylum-seekers in Malaysia when she was 16 years old.
When she first started, she believed she would be stepping in and out of their communities, but found God’s unchanging grace and love there instead.
“In a cup of tea offered to me, a shared meal, an intentional choice to sit down and have an uninterrupted conversation with me about their lives, I experienced His grace and that has kept me going,” she said.
Heidy also echoed J’s caution to not make service at church the end-point of serving God.
“In many countries, people don’t have the privilege of even going to church. How can we as believers live out our faith in the kopitiams we eat at, the security guards we pass by, the stores we shop at,” she challenged.
“If missions is God’s heart, what’s my role?”
All of us are called to missions, but what that looks like differs from person to person.
“God’s heart is for missions; that is His heartbeat,” J said. “Missions is for you and me; Jesus died and rose again for you and me. So, the question to ask is not, “Is missions for me?” Rather it should be, “If missions is Your heart, what’s my role?”
Some are called to cross-cultural missions, others may be called to live missionally where they are or be in a season of figuring out their lifelong purpose.
Pedro shared that a first step is to go — take a week for a missions trip or a few months for a missions school. It is important, he reiterated, to experience what is out there and see God’s heart at work.
“As you take the small steps, His plans for you will unfold and there will be more clarity,” he encouraged. “You won’t lose out. Just do it, just go.”
“One of the most effective ways to live missionally is to be grounded in the communities around us. We need context to be effective,” Heidy added.
How to start? Pray.
Our first call as a child of God is to live out the Gospel, to extend the hope we’ve experienced through knowing Christ to those looking for hope.
Pedro said that the Word of God and experience go hand in hand, encouraging young believers to not let their ‘lack of knowledge’ of God’s Word prevent them from sharing about Jesus.
“Study the Word of God, but don’t let the lack of it hold you back. Instead, let it propel you to know more about Him and in surrender, share with others,” he said.
J said more important than a theological degree is sound doctrine fueled by knowing Jesus personally, studying His Word faithfully, and loving others as He does.
“In my context, where there is limited access to the Gospel, I get questions about the Bible that I don’t even know the answer too. So I invite the person to discover together with me, turning it into an invitation,” she added.
“Missions is not touch and go, it’s relational. One of the most powerful things we can do is to love others into the knowledge of who God sees them as — to know their worth, their identity to Christ and not the demands of the world,” Heidy said fervently.
In her closing remarks, J encouraged the youths to be discerning and not miss out what God is doing in the communities around them.
“I have no power, it is the God I serve who has all the power. So to discern direction and answers, I pray. If He does not move, I do not move. The same Spirit who leads me lives in you, so the best way to discern: pray,” she said.
Read about all that happened at Arise Malaysia here. Arise Asia 2026, themed FOR THE JOY, will be held in Manila, the Philippines in July. Learn more here.
All photos provided by Arise Malaysia.
