Breaking Every Yoke:

By UCA Assembly, Amelia Lavaki and Christian Conol

In May 2026, four young leaders from the Uniting Church in Australia travelled to Chiang Mai, Thailand, to take part in the Fifth Asian Ecumenical Youth Assembly (AEYA 2026) — a gathering of young Christians from across Asia united under the theme "Break Every Yoke" (Isaiah 58:6).

Hosted by the Christian Conference of Asia at Payap University, AEYA brought together voices from across the region to wrestle with questions of justice, migration, identity, and what it means for the Church to be one body in a fractured world. For Amelia Lavaki, Christian Conol, David Toogood and Sione Hehepoto the experience was both deeply personal and profoundly challenging — a reminder that faithfulness calls us beyond our own borders, and that solidarity with our neighbours near and far is not optional but Gospel.

We invite you to read their reflections below.

I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to attend the Fifth Asian Ecumenical Youth Assembly (AEYA 2026) in Chiang Mai, Thailand, representing the Uniting Church in Australia alongside other young leaders from across the region. It was a privilege to share in the wider story of the global Church and to witness the richness of our shared faith across cultures and contexts.

The theme of the Assembly, "Break Every Yoke" (Isaiah 58:6), invited us to reflect on what it means to live out our faith in action — loosening the bonds of injustice and walking alongside those who are most vulnerable.

Prior to attending, I took time to better understand the meaning of "ecumenical," which speaks to the unity of Christians across different denominations and traditions. Experiencing this in practice was deeply meaningful. Young people from across Asia gathered with diverse stories, languages, and cultural identities, yet were united in Christ and in a shared commitment to justice and faith.

One of the highlights of AEYA was the opportunity to participate in a plenary session as a panel moderator, focusing on the impact of migration on young people across Asia. This role was both a privilege and a responsibility. It involved holding space for complex and often difficult stories of displacement, separation, and the realities many face in seeking safety and opportunity. It reinforced the importance of listening with care and ensuring that these voices are heard.

This experience also prompted reflection on the role of the Church in Australia. While our context differs, we are called to respond with compassion and intention. Supporting migrants may involve creating spaces of belonging, offering practical care, listening to lived experiences, and advocating for dignity and justice. In doing so, we live out the Gospel in tangible ways.

The Assembly also provided moments of deep connection through worship and cultural expression. During the prayer gathering, we represented Australia while acknowledging and honouring our First Peoples, recognising the importance of this story within our national and faith context. Cultural night further reflected this sense of unity, as participants from the South Pacific — Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, Samoa, and Tonga — came together in a shared expression of identity and community.

Hearing the lived realities of others was both humbling and confronting. Many participants come from contexts where they are minorities as Christians and experience restrictions on freedom of expression and belief. Others face displacement, limited employment opportunities despite strong education, and ongoing gender inequality.

At the same time, their faith and commitment were deeply inspiring. Despite more limited economic contexts, their churches were vibrant and well-resourced spaces of worship. This demonstrated a strong commitment to offering their best to God and prioritising the life of the Church.

This led me to a simple but challenging realisation: we have no excuse. Even in small, practical moments, this became evident. On our first night, access to clean water was disrupted, and we relied on bottled water after a long day of travel. While a minor inconvenience, it was a reminder of the everyday realities many communities experience.

Returning to Australia, I have gained a renewed appreciation for clean air, safety, and the freedoms we often take for granted — the ability to worship, speak, and live without fear.

I also reflect with gratitude on the sacrifices of our parents and grandparents, who migrated here in the hope of a better future. Because of them, many of us begin from a place of opportunity. This invites an important question: how are we using what we have been given?

AEYA was more than a gathering; it was an invitation to transformation. I return encouraged, challenged, and committed to living out the call to "Break Every Yoke" within my own context.

If you had asked me three years ago about where I was in my faith journey, I guarantee that attending an ecumenical conference with young people in Chiang Mai talking about the yokes young people face across Asia would have been the furthest from whatever my answer would have been then. I joined the UCA approximately three years ago and have been incredibly blessed to have been offered so many opportunities to be of service to the Church.

In October last year, I was blessed with the opportunity to go to the UCA President's Conference in Tonga. I said yes and had an incredible and formative experience speaking to church leaders about the weaving of Christ's love into our personal and professional lives and our relationships with others. I was again blessed to have the opportunity to engage internationally through the Asian Ecumenical Youth Assembly organised by the Christian Conference of Asia at Payap University in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

The Asian Ecumenical Youth Assembly was one very real way of demonstrating the weaving of every experience, tradition, culture and colour in the journey to building one whole body of Christ. A Church united in and through Christ. The Assembly's theme was "Break Every Yoke" and young Christians from across Asia were challenged to not simply be inheritors of ecumenism, but become the movement's leaders now. We were challenged to embody God's liberating mission and resist the co-opting of faith for political ends. The Assembly highlighted the important role of young Christians as prophetic voices for peace, justice, doctrinal and social renewal, and Christian unity.

Being Filipino and Australian, I have personally lived the tension of being in two worlds. During the conference, sitting in that tension was a great asset. I was able to identify with and talk about the issues faced by young people in the Philippines and Australia. I was also able to speak to my personal experience of migration, its impact on myself, the family I migrated with, and the family and community I left behind. Other delegates shared that migration was not merely just physical movement but a reshaping of identity, faith, and family life. We were challenged to help the Church create safe and authentic spaces for belonging. We also spoke about the Church's role in helping migrants with the challenges of identity fragmentation, and the loss of anchors such as family and community.

It was an incredible experience to meet and connect with the leaders of the Church across Asia — people who were taking up ministries in conflict areas, Christian activists, student ministers and emerging church leaders. It was also incredibly humbling to speak to young people who are going through social and political upheaval in their home countries but have been unwavering in their faith. When I think about what I was going to bring home from the Assembly other than a renewed spirit of ecumenism, it was newfound solidarity with our co-workers in God's vineyard.

I am so grateful for this experience, which I would not have been able to attend without the support of the Church.