From associate Asia editor Isabel Ong: I don’t know when I first heard the prophecy that Singapore was called to be an Antioch of Asia—a launchpad for training and sending missionaries out into the region to preach the gospel. Or when I heard that it was Billy Graham who reportedly said this.

What I do know is that this pronouncement has taken on an almost legendary status in my home country, where it’s often cited in sermons and articles (even by non-Singaporeans!) about missions. Many believers take it as fact.

This prophetic saying came to mind while I was reading Lausanne’s State of the Great Commission report, which said that Singapore is the most religiously diverse nation in the world and that Christians in Asia have an advantage when it comes to cross-cultural evangelism. I was curious to find out in my reporting if this was true in Singapore’s multicultural, multireligious society.

My conversations with leaders revealed complex views on this Antioch “prophecy.” But the missions call appears more urgent than ever, as missionary-sending activity in the country slows down. “Our passport gives us access to so many parts of the world, more than most countries,” one leader said. “If we are not participating in God’s mission, then we will not be found to be a faithful steward of all that God has blessed us with.”