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MALAYAN STORY
nice pool there made it ideal for baptisms. The three women missionaries erected a tent in which the women
could change, and Pastor Lien waded out into the pool to conduct the actual baptisms. He was followed by
Mr. Yap who had been the first convert in the village, and then, one by one the other nine baptismal
candidates followed. Pastor Lien asked them a question or two about their faith and then baptised them in
the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. There were three married couples among the ten, so that
meant that in Sungei Way there were now three fully Christian homes where, a year before, the name of
Jesus was not even known.
We then all drove back to the missionaries’ home where we had a communion service using the bread and
wine (Chinese tea!) that had been prepared on the table. We gathered around, a group of Christians, with
our Lord in the midst, to remember His death “till He comes”. It was a memorable time, holy and precious.
In the faces of the ten who had just been baptised you could see that it had a special meaning.
Eighteen months later I was again privileged to attend the first baptismal service at Serdang. In spite of
heavy rains for some days previously the 13th day of December 1954 turned out to be a beautiful day. We
all gathered at the home of the two missionaries, Irene Neville and Ursula Kholer in Serdang village.
From there we drove out to the Agricultural Experimental Station where an old tin mining pool had been
made available to us for the service. It was a beautiful setting. The still waters of the pool reflected the blue
skies above as we approached it. On three sides were shrubs and grasses and on the fourth side a lovely
stretch of green grass right down to the waters edge. Three coconut palms formed a natural triangle close
to the water and acted as poles to hang an oil sheet to create a changing room for the women to change.
Other coconut palms gave shade from the hot sun for the onlookers.
Eleven people had been accepted for baptism and Mr. Yap Oon Than walked slowly out in to the water
until it was almost to his waist and then turned to face the shore, his face shining with the joy of the Lord.
A number of Indian labourers came to watch and to add to the beauty of the whole scene, two Indian
Christian women in beautiful saris were watching too. As the Chinese women were baptised and came up
out of the water, these two sari clad women came forward with beaming faces and shook them by the
hand. It was a lovely picture of the unity there is in Christ Jesus.
By 2 January 1955, it was felt that some of the leaders were ready to be appointed as deacons. Four men
who had been baptised in June the previous year in Sungei Way were to be set aside as deacons. They
were Mr. Yap, Mr. Yang, Mr. Liu and Mr. Yang’s son. There was a good attendance at the service and
Percy preached on the responsibilities of deacons, what kind of men they must be and what their work
involved. We then celebrated communion together, after which Percy and the four men stood at the front
while Percy prayed for them and dedicated them to the Lord. At the end, in typical Chinese style, the
whole congregation bowed to them three times to signify their acceptance of their leadership.
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71
nice pool there made it ideal for baptisms. The three women missionaries erected a tent in which the women
could change, and Pastor Lien waded out into the pool to conduct the actual baptisms. He was followed by
Mr. Yap who had been the first convert in the village, and then, one by one the other nine baptismal
candidates followed. Pastor Lien asked them a question or two about their faith and then baptised them in
the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. There were three married couples among the ten, so that
meant that in Sungei Way there were now three fully Christian homes where, a year before, the name of
Jesus was not even known.
We then all drove back to the missionaries’ home where we had a communion service using the bread and
wine (Chinese tea!) that had been prepared on the table. We gathered around, a group of Christians, with
our Lord in the midst, to remember His death “till He comes”. It was a memorable time, holy and precious.
In the faces of the ten who had just been baptised you could see that it had a special meaning.
Eighteen months later I was again privileged to attend the first baptismal service at Serdang. In spite of
heavy rains for some days previously the 13th day of December 1954 turned out to be a beautiful day. We
all gathered at the home of the two missionaries, Irene Neville and Ursula Kholer in Serdang village.
From there we drove out to the Agricultural Experimental Station where an old tin mining pool had been
made available to us for the service. It was a beautiful setting. The still waters of the pool reflected the blue
skies above as we approached it. On three sides were shrubs and grasses and on the fourth side a lovely
stretch of green grass right down to the waters edge. Three coconut palms formed a natural triangle close
to the water and acted as poles to hang an oil sheet to create a changing room for the women to change.
Other coconut palms gave shade from the hot sun for the onlookers.
Eleven people had been accepted for baptism and Mr. Yap Oon Than walked slowly out in to the water
until it was almost to his waist and then turned to face the shore, his face shining with the joy of the Lord.
A number of Indian labourers came to watch and to add to the beauty of the whole scene, two Indian
Christian women in beautiful saris were watching too. As the Chinese women were baptised and came up
out of the water, these two sari clad women came forward with beaming faces and shook them by the
hand. It was a lovely picture of the unity there is in Christ Jesus.
By 2 January 1955, it was felt that some of the leaders were ready to be appointed as deacons. Four men
who had been baptised in June the previous year in Sungei Way were to be set aside as deacons. They
were Mr. Yap, Mr. Yang, Mr. Liu and Mr. Yang’s son. There was a good attendance at the service and
Percy preached on the responsibilities of deacons, what kind of men they must be and what their work
involved. We then celebrated communion together, after which Percy and the four men stood at the front
while Percy prayed for them and dedicated them to the Lord. At the end, in typical Chinese style, the
whole congregation bowed to them three times to signify their acceptance of their leadership.
Return to Table of Contents
71
