Inspired by the success of IBCM 2 in Rome 1996, some Malaysian leaders on their own, felt it was time to have an Asian conference focused specifically on world missions, and seeking to mobilize the younger ones into world missions. An initial consultation of leaders from 5 different Asian nations (Singapore, Philippines, India, Australia, Malaysia) was held in Malaysia in 2001, and this led to two attempts to hold an Asian wide mission conference, culminating with it being formally named and launched as Partners In The Harvest (PITH) in 2009.

The 1st PITH Conference was in Petaling Jaya Gospel Hall, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with the theme: “Count Me In! Partners in the Harvest”. About 250 delegates from 16 countries attended this conference.

The 2nd PITH Conference was held in the Philippines in 2013 with the theme “Pass It On” and was attended by 214 delegates.

The 3rd PITH Conference was held in Jogjakarta in 2016 with the theme “Ready Feet – Reaching the Unreached with the Good News” (Romans 10:14-15).

The 4th PITH Conference was due to be held in Port Jackson, Malaysia in June 2021, however, due to Covid-19 and the fact that IBCM8 will be held in Kuala Lumpur, in June 2023, a virtual conference was held on September 18, 2021. Over 700 participants registered to participate.

This year, the fifth PITH Conference drew 331 delegates 1 from 23 countries. The 2025 conference theme was “Mission of the Heart.” The basic premise is that Christians love God and  their  neighbour  (Christian  and non-Christian) from the heart as they engage in missions. Any other motive will fall short of the Greatest Commandment. As such, this year’s plenary topics moved away from purely missions to spiritual care:

●                           A Heart to God

●                           A Healthy Heart

●                           A Heart to Others

●                           A Shepherd’s Heart

●                           A Heart to Care

●                           A Heart to the World

Ben Mathew from the USA was one of the plenary speakers. With degrees in Counselling, Psychology, and Theology, Ben currently serves as a Professor of Clinical Counselling in the Graduate Counselling Programs (MA & PhD) at Columbia International University. The other plenary speaker was Godly Koshy Raju from India. Godly did his masters in Family Life Education from Bangalore. Currently, he and his wife are helping with a church plant in Pune.

In keeping with the theme, the electives focused on care as well:

●               How to Care for Others (Kheng Onn (Ron Low) and Ann Choo)

●               Creating a Church Culture of Care (David Smith and Sanja Zurovac)

●               Caring as Mission (Ben Mathew)

●               Youth Identity (Godly Koshy Raju)

The Youth Panel, led by Ann Choo,was a vibrant event that provided feedback as to what young adults are thinking about the assemblies in the region. They include:

●               Dreams for a stronger church, a Christ-centred community that has “believers on the go, churches that grow, and communities that glow”

●               Young adults that care, and contribute with their skills and talents

●               Intentional focus on relationship with God and good exposition of the Bible

●               Intentional discipleship – community-focused rather than just individual

●               A rejection of consumerist culture

●               Empowerment for youth and encouragement for their participation in assembly work

Following the PITH conference, PITH delegates Ronny Low and Mason Tan held a workshop on mental health at the Assembly Leadership Conference held in September, 2025. Ann Choo  and  her  committee  provided age-appropriate workshops on Communication, Navigating Difficult Relationships and Mentorship/Discipleship at the CBSM Youth Rally held in September, 2025.

With support from CBSM and the assemblies, the CBSM Youth Rally will prepare not only for the 2026 Youth Rally, but the NEXTGEN PITH Conference to be hosted by Malaysia in 2027.

NEXTGEN PITH 2018 was held in Pampanga in Luzon, Philippines on 26-29 December 2018. It arose out of the PITH 2016 conference in Jogjakarta. The PITH organizing committee endorsed the need for a youth mission conference to mobilize them towards discipleship, church-planting and cross-cultural mission. It targeted believers between 18-35 years old from Asia Pacific countries; 147 youths from 7 different nations and from close to 50 assemblies were able to reach out in unity to a total of 9 unreached peoples through 9 teams over two days. Delegates shared the Gospel with over 200 children & youth. Ann Choo has initiated discussions for NEXTGEN with representatives from various countries. The 6^th PITH Conference will be held in the Philippines in 2029.

PITH is never just about just learning new things. It is a gathering of God’s people across regions, connecting and forming friendships that can lead to partnerships in fulfilling the Great Commission. Malaysians comprised about 10% of the delegates at the PITH Conference. Yet many Malaysians had been working hard behind the scenes to make the conference a blessing to the nations. In the years running up to PITH 2029, may the Lord raise up many Malaysian brethren to play strategic roles both in Malaysia and the region.