Bangkok, Thailand – Twenty-four young people from the Eurasia Region joined more than 200 other developing Nazarene leaders from all six regions for the Third Wave conference in Bangkok, 3-8 January.

Nazarene Youth International (NYI) leaders designed the event to help young people “gain a wider understanding of God’s Church and mission in this world, that they would connect with other young leaders from the region and around the world, [and] that they would develop meaningful relationships,” said Sabine Wielk, NYI coordinator for the Eurasia Region. “All of that was met and exceeded.”

This year’s gathering is the third in the Third Wave series, which launched in Quito, Ecuador, in 2004. Third Wave is held every few years in a different world region. The most recent event was in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2007.

Third Wave is a mix of worship services, outreach projects in the host city, workshops and training activities, and time planned for building relationships with other Nazarenes.

Although Third Wave has ended, those who were carefully selected to attend are continuing to process what they observed and experienced through homework assignments and further study. And there is a lot of global interaction through social media – varying from funny pictures to prayer requests shared and visits being planned.

If this Third Wave is like previous ones, many of the attending young leaders will continue in committed ministry in the Eurasia Region and their leadership will influence the shape of the Church in coming years, Wielk said. Many of the participants have also been mentored through the Eurasia Region’s Leadership Development Initiative (LDI).

Padam Subba, a leader in compassionate ministries in Nepal, said he learned through Third Wave that Christ must be the center of everything believers do.

“If anything binds the world… together then it is only the love of Christ,” he wrote in an email. “There is no other language as clear as Christlike service…. Christ must be the center of all our efforts to practice Kingdom of God right now and here on earth. This was the model I found in Thailand to exchange hearts to hearts and minds to minds.”

The conference created two teams for sharing that love through service projects in several communities, Wielk said. The teams were made up of the young people, as well as attending field strategy coordinators, the global NYI staff and even Dr. Eugenio Duarte, the general superintendent in jurisdiction over Asia-Pacific. One group cleaned up neighborhoods that were still filled with trash from the floods that hit Thailand in early November. Another group cleaned up a community park, poured concrete, painted and did other needed renovations.

“We had the local street cleaners help us and they asked, ‘Why are you doing this?’” she said.

In the evening of the same day, the participants partnered with the two Nazarene churches and one church plant in Bangkok to host international fairs in their neighborhoods, with the objective to be an appropriate outreach event with entertainment and cultural presentations. The events drew many local people, giving the local churches an opportunity to interact with their neighbors.

“It’s important for Eurasian young people to participate in a global event like Third Wave because it widens their perspective of the denomination,” said Dolphy Biswas, NYI coordinator for the India Field.

“This helps our young people to know that they belong to a bigger body of the church, and their problems and difficulties are not the only thing that makes the world, “ she wrote in an email. “I know the seeds of leadership and commitment have been planted in their [Indian participants’] hearts.”

As in past events, Third Wave concluded with a foot-washing service. The young people came together by region and formed a circle in which their regional leaders washed their feet and prayed over them individually.

“It’s been very, very special every time,” Wielk said. “If you meet people years later, that’s still what they talk about. It’s a very holy moment.”