Page 15 - Malayan Story
P. 15
MALAYAN STORY
Baines asked me straight out why we were not wending C of E people into Malaya.” Percy reported.
“Canon Carpenter, who was in the chair also turned to me with the same question. Bishop Baines
went on to say that he had given a definite invitation some time previously to CIM Anglican workers
to come to Malaya, and he seemed concerned it had not been taken up.”
As Percy had never heard of this invitation, he was a little nonplussed to know how to answer the
Bishop, but he promised he would pass the word on to Headquarters at once.
All this was very exciting as a number of Anglican workers who had been working in the East
Sichuan diocese in China, had been looking for a field of work. Mr. George Williamson had written
to the Directorate on the subject and, after it was found to be impossible t go into Borneo, they had
turned their attention to Formosa, Central Thailand and Malaya as possibilities. Now this warm
invitation from Bishop Baines gave them an open door.
Percy wrote at once to Headquarters and to George to tell them what had been said at the Committee
meeting, and also assured George that, as Superintendent of the Malayan field, he would be happy to
welcome them there. He suggested that George should write to the Bishop through the Co-
ordinating Committee, thanking him for the invitation and taking him up on it. This he did, and
mentioned that already there were three ordained men and a number of lady workers ready to come
out, some of the latter being trained nurses who would be ready to do medical work if it seemed
suitable.
George stated that as Anglican workers, they would like to go to unworked villages contiguous to
existing Anglican work, and “would aim at engaging in an evangelistic, teaching and medical
ministry with a view to the establishment of indigenous churches. These would be recognised as
coming under the Anglican diocese and associated with that work. The Directorate of the CIM had
already suggested that the Anglican workers might look for a field in the northern part of Malaya
where little had been done and the work could grow. George Williamson himself had already had
many years of experience in the East Sichuan Anglican Field and would be the Superintendent of
that part of the work, leaving Percy to take charge of the work in the south and of the non Anglican
workers. Having two separate areas would make it easier from the point of view of Mission
administration.
In writing to Bishop Baines, George stated what the Bishop already knew, but which needed to be
recorded on paper, that Anglican workers coming out under the CIM, would carry out their normal
work as members of the CIM. They would be independent of the diocese financially, looking to the
Lord, as did all members of the CIM, for the supply of their every need, either through the medium
of the Mission or by whatever means the Lord pleased. The Williamsons planned to be in Malaya by
July and it was evident that other Anglican workers would quickly follow.
The attitude of the Anglican workers in the CIM could be summed up in George’s own words as he
wrote to some of those who hoped to work with him in the villages: “While we seek freedom for
work, using spiritual and practical methods laid down by our own Mission, yet we earnestly desire
happy co-operation with other Anglican workers of other societies who may be working in
contiguous areas, and above all we must be loyal to the Bishop in whose diocese we work, without
however causing complicated problems for our own Mission as a whole and the workers of other
groups with whom as a Mission we seek fellowship.”
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15
Baines asked me straight out why we were not wending C of E people into Malaya.” Percy reported.
“Canon Carpenter, who was in the chair also turned to me with the same question. Bishop Baines
went on to say that he had given a definite invitation some time previously to CIM Anglican workers
to come to Malaya, and he seemed concerned it had not been taken up.”
As Percy had never heard of this invitation, he was a little nonplussed to know how to answer the
Bishop, but he promised he would pass the word on to Headquarters at once.
All this was very exciting as a number of Anglican workers who had been working in the East
Sichuan diocese in China, had been looking for a field of work. Mr. George Williamson had written
to the Directorate on the subject and, after it was found to be impossible t go into Borneo, they had
turned their attention to Formosa, Central Thailand and Malaya as possibilities. Now this warm
invitation from Bishop Baines gave them an open door.
Percy wrote at once to Headquarters and to George to tell them what had been said at the Committee
meeting, and also assured George that, as Superintendent of the Malayan field, he would be happy to
welcome them there. He suggested that George should write to the Bishop through the Co-
ordinating Committee, thanking him for the invitation and taking him up on it. This he did, and
mentioned that already there were three ordained men and a number of lady workers ready to come
out, some of the latter being trained nurses who would be ready to do medical work if it seemed
suitable.
George stated that as Anglican workers, they would like to go to unworked villages contiguous to
existing Anglican work, and “would aim at engaging in an evangelistic, teaching and medical
ministry with a view to the establishment of indigenous churches. These would be recognised as
coming under the Anglican diocese and associated with that work. The Directorate of the CIM had
already suggested that the Anglican workers might look for a field in the northern part of Malaya
where little had been done and the work could grow. George Williamson himself had already had
many years of experience in the East Sichuan Anglican Field and would be the Superintendent of
that part of the work, leaving Percy to take charge of the work in the south and of the non Anglican
workers. Having two separate areas would make it easier from the point of view of Mission
administration.
In writing to Bishop Baines, George stated what the Bishop already knew, but which needed to be
recorded on paper, that Anglican workers coming out under the CIM, would carry out their normal
work as members of the CIM. They would be independent of the diocese financially, looking to the
Lord, as did all members of the CIM, for the supply of their every need, either through the medium
of the Mission or by whatever means the Lord pleased. The Williamsons planned to be in Malaya by
July and it was evident that other Anglican workers would quickly follow.
The attitude of the Anglican workers in the CIM could be summed up in George’s own words as he
wrote to some of those who hoped to work with him in the villages: “While we seek freedom for
work, using spiritual and practical methods laid down by our own Mission, yet we earnestly desire
happy co-operation with other Anglican workers of other societies who may be working in
contiguous areas, and above all we must be loyal to the Bishop in whose diocese we work, without
however causing complicated problems for our own Mission as a whole and the workers of other
groups with whom as a Mission we seek fellowship.”
Return to Table of Contents
15
