Page 56 - Malayan Story
P. 56
MALAYAN STORY
CHAPTER 17 LITERATURE WORK AND THE CHRISTIAN BOOK ROOM
All missionaries do not have the same gifts, and it was part of Percy’s work as a Superintendent to
discover what those gifts were and to put them in a position where they could use them to the full.
Harold and Lucinda Wik worked for their first term of service preaching the Gospel in a village
where there were no Christians and no church. Though they carried out their work faithfully they
never felt quite satisfied as they really would have preferred to distribute Christian literature. So
when they returned to the Field after their first Home Assignment, they were placed in a village
where Lucinda would be able to work among the women and children and Harold would be free to
distribute Christian literature. He became the agent for the Chinese Christian Magazine which the
Mission produced monthly. It was called Dengta and Harold became responsible for introducing it
to Chinese people, collecting the fees when they ordered it and distributing it as he received it from
Singapore. He became a familiar figure as he moved around the villages of South Malaya and
Dengta Magazine became popular in many homes.
From his village base, Harold Wik started colportage work. He began itinerating widely,
distributing tracts through shopping areas and selling literature in up to 150 towns and villages in
Johore State.
Before Percy and I left Malaya, Harold had collected upwards of $M10,000 from the sale of Dengta
Magazine and $M900,000 from the sale of scripture, largely from the sale of Gospels at the cost of
two for 10 cents.
Ken and Vera Price left the Christian Witness Press in Hong Kong and went to Singapore in late
1953. Roland Butler wrote to Percy to say that Ken felt that Kuala Lumpur might be a better centre
for his work than Singapore. He thought there would be better scope for selling Christian literature
without competing with other Christian groups.
Percy replied, telling them of a group of four men belonging to the Venning Road Brethren
Assembly who had been running a Christian bookshop for several months. They used part of an
existing bookshop, but unfortunately none of them were free to give full time to the shop.
Consequently they had recently closed it down. They had approached the CIM proposing that we
loan them two of our workers to get it going again. Percy wrote that he understood that their aim
was to run it as an evangelical, undenominational store. It was finally agreed that the Prices would
be loaned to the book shop for an initial period of twelve months. As proprietors the Venning Road
people would retain ownership of the business and decide all matters of policy. Shop
accommodation would be supplied by the proprietors and there would be freedom to purchase and
sell Christian Witness Press literature. It was agreed that Ken Price as Manager would employ an
Asian Christian to be trained as the future Manager. It was also hope that they would become agents
for the Bible Society.
So began the Evangel Book Centre. From the first, God’s blessing was on it and it became well
known to Christians all over the Federation and was a means of salvation to many. For workers
coming in from the villages a visit to the EBC was a must. The Book Centre later purchased a small
56
CHAPTER 17 LITERATURE WORK AND THE CHRISTIAN BOOK ROOM
All missionaries do not have the same gifts, and it was part of Percy’s work as a Superintendent to
discover what those gifts were and to put them in a position where they could use them to the full.
Harold and Lucinda Wik worked for their first term of service preaching the Gospel in a village
where there were no Christians and no church. Though they carried out their work faithfully they
never felt quite satisfied as they really would have preferred to distribute Christian literature. So
when they returned to the Field after their first Home Assignment, they were placed in a village
where Lucinda would be able to work among the women and children and Harold would be free to
distribute Christian literature. He became the agent for the Chinese Christian Magazine which the
Mission produced monthly. It was called Dengta and Harold became responsible for introducing it
to Chinese people, collecting the fees when they ordered it and distributing it as he received it from
Singapore. He became a familiar figure as he moved around the villages of South Malaya and
Dengta Magazine became popular in many homes.
From his village base, Harold Wik started colportage work. He began itinerating widely,
distributing tracts through shopping areas and selling literature in up to 150 towns and villages in
Johore State.
Before Percy and I left Malaya, Harold had collected upwards of $M10,000 from the sale of Dengta
Magazine and $M900,000 from the sale of scripture, largely from the sale of Gospels at the cost of
two for 10 cents.
Ken and Vera Price left the Christian Witness Press in Hong Kong and went to Singapore in late
1953. Roland Butler wrote to Percy to say that Ken felt that Kuala Lumpur might be a better centre
for his work than Singapore. He thought there would be better scope for selling Christian literature
without competing with other Christian groups.
Percy replied, telling them of a group of four men belonging to the Venning Road Brethren
Assembly who had been running a Christian bookshop for several months. They used part of an
existing bookshop, but unfortunately none of them were free to give full time to the shop.
Consequently they had recently closed it down. They had approached the CIM proposing that we
loan them two of our workers to get it going again. Percy wrote that he understood that their aim
was to run it as an evangelical, undenominational store. It was finally agreed that the Prices would
be loaned to the book shop for an initial period of twelve months. As proprietors the Venning Road
people would retain ownership of the business and decide all matters of policy. Shop
accommodation would be supplied by the proprietors and there would be freedom to purchase and
sell Christian Witness Press literature. It was agreed that Ken Price as Manager would employ an
Asian Christian to be trained as the future Manager. It was also hope that they would become agents
for the Bible Society.
So began the Evangel Book Centre. From the first, God’s blessing was on it and it became well
known to Christians all over the Federation and was a means of salvation to many. For workers
coming in from the villages a visit to the EBC was a must. The Book Centre later purchased a small
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