The first Transforum in Asia took place in 2014. Since that inaugural event, Asia has seen 270 of their students come through the schools. They began with the Business Leadership School which now has four years under its belt and a total of 206 BLS graduates. Strategic Life Training was subsequently launched in 2015, boasting their first group of nine students graduating from SLT this year.

At the June 2017 Transforum in Singapore, Director Dorcas Li, who established the affiliate schools in Asia and continues to be a driving force, emphasized, “These numbers are encouraging, however, they do not fully reflect the deep life changes that the BLS and SLT schools have brought to our Asian community.”

David and Natalie Holmyard of Australia who are  part of the Asia Pacific leadership team, agreed that they were once again impressed with the genuine hunger for truth and transformation in the attendees. “It was fantastic to see so many alumni supporting the new students and graduates with this year reaching another milestone as the first group of students graduated from SLT. It is evident that all the students and alumni have captured the heart of the Kingdom message with transparency and a desire for personal transformation and not just ‘head knowledge.’”

Transforum attendee and 2015 Hong Kong BLS graduate, Miranda Woo, shared her appreciation of the sincerity that also came from the speakers: “The 2017 Asia Transforum was a spiritually filled event. The plenary speakers’ sharing of their hearts was particularly moving. Their willingness to share their own life struggles made it real. So real that they motivated me to seek God for the same transformation.”

This year’s theme was, ἐκκλησία: How Should We Then Live? (ἐκκλησία is the Greek spelling of ekklésia which refers to the body of Christ). In response to this query, each of the speakers focused their talk around specific cases. Bruce Billington, International Relational Director of the schools, taught in the opening address that the root Greek word “yoke” is a verb that means “to join.” He explains, “We are called to come and be yoked into the same relationship with God that Jesus experiences. The ultimate reward of the yoke is sonship and inheritance in the Kingdom of God.” Another “perk” in this regard was shared by 2017 Singapore BLS graduate, Heng Lee Ng: “From a personal front, it is awesome to be able to journey and graduate together with my wife. As a participant, I am really glad to see the community growing, strengthening, and spurring each other forward.”

In Keynote Session Two, Ken Negvesky, US Director of Facilitation, spoke on II Corinthians 12:9-10, “But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” We should live embracing our weaknesses that God designed to perfect (complete, fill in) His ways and His strength in us. 2017 BLS Graduate, Flora Wu, affirmed, “Throughout this year’s Transforum, the teaching of the power of weakness and love expressed through forgiveness were powerful and inspired me to have deep thought.” Flora and her husband, Wai Tak Wu, who were part of the initial group of BLS students from Asia who graduated from the US school, have gone on to serve as anchor BLS Facilitators for Hong Kong. Their Hong Kong fellowship also holds the distinction of being the first to host the Peacockes in ministry in Asia.

Keynote Session Three by Senior Facilitator, Dr. Gerald Chester, gave a wonderful analysis of the Ten Commandments and a clarion call to the ἐκκλησία to live holistically aligned with the will and ways of God in every area of life. The specific cases of business applications were truly motivating and equipping.

Bruce Billington gave Keynote Session Four, working from Luke 12:16-21 and posing the question, “What is your barn? Is your barn a storage facility for wealth that belongs to you, or is it a storehouse for wealth that has come from God?” We are commissioned and empowered to bring God’s Kingdom into the world. We do this through prayer, loving the hurt and damaged, speaking out against immoral laws, fighting for the rights of the oppressed, and attempting to demonstrate how God meant all of this to work.

In Keynote Session Five, Dr. Gerald Chester taught how love can be expressed through forgiveness. He gave a multifaceted presentation of the challenges and possibilities God opens when we practice having a forgiving heart. Hong Kong BLS student, Alice Fung, reflected, “In this year’s Transforum, I was impressed by the teaching of love expressed through forgiveness. It is really challenging to live out ‘willingness to serve the purpose of God in the offender.’”

David Holmyard, GoStrategic Board member, and his wife, Natalie, are very active on the international team. Excellent facilitators, they led several workshops in both BLS and SLT. In his workshop, Discipleship: Spiritual Reproduction, David spoke on training fruit with seed in it. “We must train/disciple others IN SUCH A WAY that they not only get the content, but they receive the ability to reproduce it IN SUCH A WAY in others who will also be able to reproduce it IN SUCH A WAY in yet others.” The Kingdom of God has a life flow through its citizens.

2016 Singapore BLS graduate, Kirsten Yip, commented on the Facilitators Track, “I am thankful and relieved to learn that as a facilitator you don’t need to know all the answers; you only need to be empowered by Holy Spirit.” And, of course, we appreciate that as an acquired skill!2015 Singapore BLS graduate, Kennedy Njarackal, recalled of his experience this year, “This Transforum was like a deeper penetration of the truths that I have been wrestling with as part of my transformation journey. The speakers challenged us to a new level of living in Christ by dying to self.” The resulting sharing of the participants were encouraging and deeply touching.

As we look to the future of the Business Leadership School and Strategic Life Training abroad, Dorcas Li shares her vision for growth, saying, “Our hope in Asia is to be able to convert these life-changing curricula into as many Asian languages as possible so that more in Asia can also experience the same life transformation.”

Of their first Asia Transforum, the Negveskys summed up their experience with appreciation and enthusiasm, reporting, “It was electric! The hunger in the 100 participants was so encouraging. Faith and I interacted with students and graduates of BLS and SLT. They are so desirous to apply the principles of the courses and to go to the next level of transformation and maturity. It is change agents like these dear saints who are going to affect the 12 nations represented at the conference and who will disciple those nations in the ways of the Lord for generations to come by their influence being serious and passionate about the Lord and His Kingdom.”