Steve Chong

Early life and education

Chong was born on November 30, 1978, in Sydney, Australia to Chinese-Malaysian parents. They converted from Buddhism to the Christianity at the 1979 Billy Graham Crusade.

He attended James Ruse Agricultural High School and obtained a Bachelor of Commerce from The University of Sydney. He then spent 7 years as a young minister at Kirkplace Presbyterian Church, Kogarah in Sydney's inner south, throughout which, he founded the RICE Movement. He was further trained and mentored by American ministers Mark Driscoll and Tim Keller (pastor).

RICE Movement

Founded in 2002 in Sydney, Australia, Chong formed the RICE Movement with the aim of sharing the gospel of Jesus. Initially starting out with only 6 youth groups and around 120 people, RICE grew to involve thousands of young people in what was known as Australia's largest Asian youth movement, with annual rallies (RICE Rally) held each year in August. As a stated nondenominational movement, RICE Rally has attracted thousands of youth, particularly from the Asian Australian demographic, though Chong says that he never set out to start an Asian-focused ministry. While he says many Asian young people suppress creativity and passion, "We love unlocking that."

In December 2022, it was announced that RICE’s new vision statement was a “catalytic movement that mobilises the next generation for kingdom mission.” The emphasis is on finding and empowering young people for evangelism, with the belief that the next generation of the church needs to be catalysed to share their faith and the conviction that some of the best evangelists are younger than we may think. It was also announced that Naomi Chong (Steve's wife) was appointed as Global Director. There is also focus on establishing the movement in Malaysia as the base for reaching Southeast Asia.

David Wraight, former International President of Youth for Christ (YFC) has been mentoring Steve and Naomi Chong through the changes to RICE.

RICE Catalyst

RICE Catalyst was a schools-based ministry that aims to relight the flame of Christian youth by running a conference in addition to the main RICE Rally called Catalyst Conference, which brings youth groups and Christian school groups together in order to 'train, encourage and challenge one another the fundamentals of Christian living.'

The main theme of Rally carries through to the main talk, with additional topical workshops, practicals and Q&A panel.

RICE Twelve

RICE Twelve was a study camp initiative, specifically for Year 12 students, to help them prepare as well as 'provide a Christ-honouring perspective to their work and priorities.'

Media In 2011, Chong appeared on Sunrise. When asked about what drove his passion to pursue youth ministry he said: "It's something I'm so passionate about, I feel like, young people particular these days, they're craving relationships, I mean you just see it. They're hunched over on their computers all night on Facebook. Why? Because they're craving relationships." In 2019, Steve Chong appeared on the SBS (Australian TV channel) show 'Christians Like Us'. The show was billed as “10 Australian Christians with vastly different beliefs live under one roof for a week to confront the controversial topics of their faith. They will grapple with what makes a good Christian, and the role religion plays in modern life.” When later describing the experience Chong said, "“Some of the conversations were really intense. And I think that’s to be expected: some of these issues are so personal for people, and go to the heart of people’s backgrounds and hurts they’ve experienced.”

Personal life

Chong is married to Naomi and together they have four children, two boys (Reuben and Jacob) and two girls (Caitlin and Alyssa).