Around ten years ago, funding was provided for a partnership between the LCANZ’s children, youth and family ministry department, Grow Ministries, and LCA International Mission to develop a young adults leadership program. The result was Grow Leadership, with cohorts completing the program in 2017 and 2019. Participants came from Australia, New Zealand, Cambodia, Indonesia and […]

Around ten years ago, funding was provided for a partnership between the LCANZ’s children, youth and family ministry department, Grow Ministries, and LCA International Mission to develop a young adults leadership program.

The result was Grow Leadership, with cohorts completing the program in 2017 and 2019. Participants came from Australia, New Zealand, Cambodia, Indonesia and Myanmar, gathering together to explore leadership, ministry and their place in God’s mission.

Then the world shut down for a while. International borders closed, we spent so much time indoors that a walk around the block began to qualify as both recreation and travel. And millions of people found themselves asking Google, “Are birds getting louder?” Now, I’m pretty sure the birds were exactly as loud as they’d always been. There was simply less noise competing with them.

Like countless ministries around the world, Grow Leadership was paused during the COVID-19 years. Then, as conversations began about the future of the program, it became clear that many young adults were looking for something deeper than occasional events and social gatherings. They were seeking opportunities to be invested in, to ask questions, wrestle with faith, discover their gifts, build meaningful relationships and explore what following Jesus looks like in everyday life. In response, Grow Leadership was reshaped and renamed Cultivate.

Rather than focusing primarily on leadership development, Cultivate became a year-long discipleship journey incorporating mentoring, online learning, spiritual practices, theological reflection, intercultural friendships and ministry experiences in both Australia and the context of one of LCA International Mission’s partner churches overseas.

Although the 2024 Cultivate cohort attracted only a small number of applicants, I assumed that was largely because the program had only recently been restarted and reshaped from its previous Grow Leadership format. Having seen the impact of previous programs, including one participant discerning a call to pastoral ministry and later being ordained within the LCANZ, I was therefore excited when applications opened for Cultivate 2026.

Emails were sent. Announcements were made. Flyers were shared. Pastors, districts and ministry leaders were contacted. Conversations were held with people who knew people who might know a young adult who could be interested.

Then the applications started rolling in. Actually, that’s not quite true. The application rolled in. Singular. One young adult from Australia applied.

Shortly afterwards, I met online with my Indonesian co-facilitator, Rev Tofler. Part of his role was recruiting four participants from Indonesia. “How many applicants have you got?” I asked. “Two,” he replied. Between Australia and Indonesia combined, we’d somehow managed to recruit for a program with roughly the same participant-to-facilitator ratio as private tutoring.

Given the investment involved in running in-person gatherings, the numbers raised some understandable questions about the viability of the program. After reviewing the situation, Rev Mark Schultz and I agreed that there were not enough participants to justify the costs of flights, accommodation and venue bookings of meeting physically together. Instead, we decided to begin with regular online gatherings and see what God would do.

I organised the first online session and arrived carrying all my expectations, all my careful plans, and an unhealthy amount of disappointment. I had spent weeks focused on who hadn’t applied. The plans we’d imagined were no longer possible. The numbers simply weren’t what we had hoped for.

Then the session began and two of our three participants appeared on the screen. I sent Rev Tofler a message asking him to contact the third. A few moments later he replied: “Her internet connection isn’t very strong so she’s not going to turn her camera on.” At this point, I’d already spent weeks being annoyed by the people who hadn’t applied. Now, I was also feeling annoyed with one who had.

Participants had completed some pre-reading exploring the grand story of Scripture and the ways God’s story intersects with our own lives.

One participant reflected on Psalm 81: “The whole passage talks about how God’s love is so big and pure for us. He always gives the best of Himself. He loves us completely but His people don’t love Him back. I cried when I read this. I realised that sometimes I’m like Israel. I’m not faithful and I go away from Him, but He’s still faithful and still gives His best to me.”

Another participant shared: “Sometimes I feel insecure about many things. Sometimes I feel that I’m not one of the chosen ones. But after reading, I realised that Israel was not a great nation or even a powerful one, yet they were chosen by God. I’m not a theologian, but I realised that the evidence of God’s love for me is really there.”

The Australian participant reflected on the opening chapters of Genesis: “I’ve heard people say they think Eve was only made as a second thought. But when I reread Genesis, I realised God didn’t stop at Adam. He continued His creation with Eve. His creation is so intentional, so creative and so beautiful, but He still wanted to create us.”

As the session concluded and the participants logged off, Rev Tofler and I stayed online to debrief. “And here we were worried about how many people applied,” he said, “but God seemed more interested in who did apply. From what I heard tonight, the Holy Spirit is already using God’s Word to deepen their faith.”

I realised in that moment, that while I was listening to the noise of disappointment, the song of God’s faithfulness continues. The song that he is God and we are his beloved. That our sins are forgiven because of his self-giving love. That his mercy is stronger than our failures, his grace is stronger than our resentment, and his unrelenting love is stronger than our fear.

I’d become so focused on those who hadn’t applied, while God was already nurturing faith in the people who had. Three young adults who were learning that even when we’re unfaithful, God’s love remains faithful, generous and steadfast; that God doesn’t love us because we’re powerful, but because He’s gracious; and that the creation of women and men was never an afterthought, but a deliberate action that reveals our value and God’s care for His creation.

In a world that often values bigger numbers, greater visibility and immediate results, it can be easy to overlook quieter signs of God’s work. Yet throughout Scripture, God consistently works through individuals, small groups and seemingly insignificant beginnings.

Cultivate’s 2026 cohort may be smaller than originally envisioned, but participants are growing in faith, building intercultural friendships and engaging thoughtfully with what it means to follow Jesus in their own contexts. And for LCA International Mission, that remains at the heart of the program’s purpose.

Sometimes God works through large movements and packed conference halls. Sometimes he works through two faces on a Zoom screen, one participant with a weak internet connection, and three young adults willing to spend time reflecting on his Word together. And sometimes that’s enough to remind us that even when our plans change, God is still at work.

Many of our partner churches are working in new territory for the kingdom of God; therefore, spiritual attack is their everyday reality. As a member of a congregation, school, or family, or a couple or individual, you are invited to commit to praying for our partners in mission. For regular prayer point updates, go to www.lca.org.au/international-mission/act-now/pray