When I think about the phrase fathers and mothers walking with sons and daughters, my heart is stirred deeply. For Ann and I, this isn’t just a concept or a ministry model. It’s the heartbeat of family and the foundation for a healthy Church. If the generations are going to thrive together, then the relationships between them must be whole, honouring, and filled with grace.
During my recent time in Asia, I saw this reality unfolding before my eyes. The main leader of the ministry we partner with in Vietnam was unable to join us in Singapore for a gathering of the Christian family from all over Southeast Asia. After some thoughtful prayer and discernment, he felt it was important to send his daughter, a Generation Z woman named Mary, to represent both him and their nation.
When she arrived in Singapore and stepped into the atmosphere of worship and intercession, something remarkable happened. The fears she carried — of being alone, of wondering if the world had forgotten the people of Vietnam — began to break off. Over the course of a few hours, she was noticeably filled with grace, life, and hope. The Father reminded her that she was not forgotten and that her voice carried the sound of a nation. Watching her come alive in that setting was a powerful picture of what happens when the next generation is trusted, released and blessed by those who have gone before them.
In Singapore itself, I witnessed something even broader. The entire gathering — close to nine hundred people — was led by the millennial generation. Young men and women from across Southeast and Northeast Asia carried the meetings with humility and honour. They led worship, intercession, and prophetic moments with great strength, yet continually deferring to the wisdom of trusted fathers and mothers present.
What moved me most was the respect they showed for their spiritual fathers and mothers. Before making any decision, they would pause to seek counsel, to ask questions, and to ensure they were walking in unity with the older generation. Their leading was not about ambition or replacing those before them. They understood that they were standing in the fullness of time — reaping a harvest that many generations their parents and grandparents had laboured and sown into for years. The honour between fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, was something holy to witness.
To complete my three-nation journey, I traveled to Malaysia, where I again saw the same spirit of family at work. A senior pastor and I drove eight hours round-trip to visit a young millennial pastor who had been facing false accusations — words spoken against him out of jealousy and misunderstanding. When we arrived, we simply spent time with him and his family, listening, praying, and encouraging them. By the end of the day, you could see the change in his countenance. The burden had lifted. The fathers had covered him with their love, and in that moment, the healing of family took place.
These snapshot moments across Vietnam, Singapore, and Malaysia reminded me that this is what the Father is doing in His Church. He is aligning the generations together — not in competition, but in partnership. Fathers and mothers are learning to walk with sons and daughters, and sons and daughters are learning to honour those who have gone before them.
As mutual honour and respect is released and lived out, the family of God becomes whole. The baton is not dropped between generations; instead, we carry it together in this race and run together in love. And as we continue to walk this way, the Kingdom will advance from strength to strength, from one generation to the next.
This remains our vision — to see spiritual mothers and fathers rise up, to nurture, equip, and walk with the next generation of believers. As we walk together as family, we carry the fullness of God’s heart to every home and nation