Alpha teams from Holy Trinity Brompton, London, have recently returned from Asia where a host of events were held.

More than 1,200 church leaders from 21 countries across the Asia Pacific region attended an Alpha conference in Singapore last week. Speakers included Nicky Gumbel, Jamie Haith and Paul Cowley.

Alpha pioneer, Nicky Gumbel, said, 'I think it's one of the most significant trips we've done.

'There are around 3.5 billion people living in that part of the world, but only 500 million are Christian, so there are 3 billion people to reach.'

As well as the Alpha conference, events were also held by Worship Central, Youth Alpha, and St Paul's Theological Centre.

The Worship Central team began in Manila, where around 3,000 worship leaders attended two evening celebrations.

The team then travelled to Singapore, where around 12,000 young people attended two Worship Central events in one of Singapore's largest indoor arenas.

The city's Max Pavilion Singapore Expo was packed with young worshippers. Worship was led by Tim Hughes and his band from Holy Trinity Brompton, London, and the Australian group Planet Shakers.

A Worship Central day was also held with many countries being represented, including Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand.

Tim Hughes said, 'Everywhere we go there is such a need for training for
worship leaders.'

A Youth Alpha Conference is set to be held in Singapore later this week.

Matt Costley, head of Youth Alpha, said, 'There are around 1.5 billion young people in Asia and there is a great hunger for Youth Alpha.'

Matt also gave news of a prestigious school in Hong Kong that is now running Youth Alpha as part of the school curriculum.

Rev Dr Graham Tomlin, Principal of St Paul's Theological Centre, also led a number of meetings for those interested in theological training in Asia.

Graham said, 'The thing that struck me was the huge hunger for good theological training in that part of the world.'