Diakonia 2026 Volume 1
Editor’s Note
Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Church has always been standing at a fascinating intersection. To the left, is the institution—the necessary internal structures of our faith: the teachings, the buildings, and the fellowship of believers. To the right, the mission field—the vast, hurting, and skeptical world outside the Church that God so loves.
We as individuals and as local assemblies may be content to live in the middle, huddled behind a “fortress mentality.” We have built beautiful sanctuaries, developed robust programs, and perfected the art of talking to ourselves. But a fortress, while safe, can also become a prison. It keeps the world out even as it keeps us in.
Diakonia 2026 is dedicated to the theme The Church Beyond the Walls. Throughout this year, we will explore what it truly means to be ambassadors, farmers, and soldiers of Christ outside the confines of our respective assemblies.
We hope to hear from those who have dared to venture out to fulfil the Great Commission—workplace evangelists, community pioneers, and everyday believers taking Jesus into the marketplace. We will also celebrate the tent makers: faithful men and women who, like Paul, support themselves through secular work while building the Kingdom in their respective areas of service. Whatever our station in life, the call is clear: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19), for “we are ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20). As Peter urges us, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (1 Peter 3:15). We must trade our fortress mentality for a frontline faith. The Church is not a building that we go to regularly. Nor is it merely a community we have become comfortable with. It should also be a group of people that are scattered and sent.
This theme resonates deeply with me, not just as the Editor of Diakonia 2026, but in the grit of my daily life. Like many of you, my days are a mosaic of responsibilities. As an elder in my local assembly, the health of the assembly and the intricacies of its internal dynamics are a constant challenge. In the STEM outreach ministry, now in its fourth year, has grown beyond my most optimistic expectations from the time it was started, keeps me and others on our feet. And of course, there is also family, where the needs have multiplied—with an aging previous generation requiring care and the next generation needing support. These roles keep me tethered to the comfort of what lies within the “walls,” even as they push me out into the world, far beyond my cherished comfort zones.
As you read the pages ahead, I pray you are challenged to look at your own “walls.” Are they protective, or are they restrictive? How can you, beyond the walls —in your workplace, your neighbourhood, your family, and your struggles—be the presence of Christ to those you are associated with?
Remember the words of Isaiah, a prophecy for such a time as this: “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left” (Isaiah 54:2-3).
Brother and sister in Christ, may I invite you to step outside, in faith, together.
On the Move in His Service,
Khong Yoon Loong
Editor in Chief
(ylkhong1@gmail.com)