Majority World mission leaders issue Singapore Statement on self-reliance

Mission leaders from Asia, Africa, and Latin America gathered in Singapore from October 5-7 for the COALA 4.0 conference to address the future of global evangelism. Hosted by the Singapore Centre for Global Missions, the event brought together 76 participants from 25 countries alongside local leaders to discuss sustainability, missionary training, and South-South collaboration.

The resulting Singapore Statement advocates for a shift toward locally led and resourced mission movements. It acknowledges the historical contributions of Western organizations while cautioning that continued reliance on foreign funding and training models can perpetuate unequal power dynamics. The document encourages Majority World churches to pursue financial independence through local church support, bi-vocational ministry, and business-based models.

To foster greater autonomy, the network plans to transition from global gatherings to regional meetings in 2027. The conference also facilitated the signing of four memorandums of understanding between mission bodies and established four new focus groups to implement the principles of horizontal accountability and mutual resourcing among Majority World movements.