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TMC Penang 125th Quasquicentennial Anniversary Celebration Commemorative Book

In 1997, a Bible Rally aptly themed “Your Word is a Lamp unto my feet” was held at the local
as well as at the Northern District level. In the same year, the Conference MYAF, for the first time,
organised their National Annual Camp in Penang and the local MYAF were the host.

During this period the need for better and well equipped facilities for the local church was
strongly felt. The idea was to put up a double storey building with a parsonage, hall, office and
meeting/ministry rooms. The LCEC approved the new building project on 21st January 1995 at a cost
of RM 1.7 million. A ‘Mega Christian Concert’ was held in 1995 in aid of the church building fund.
Another concert was held for the same reason in 1997. Many tears were shed when the old
parsonage and fellowship hall were demolished in February of 1998. A Building Committee was
formed under the visionary leadership of Mr Manasseh Manoharan who was the LCEC Chairman
from 1995 to 2000. He was a man who was very concerned for the wellbeing of the Pastors serving
here and he ensured that they had a comfortable and spacious parsonage. The newly built
Parsonage became one of the biggest in the country. The road to putting up this building was a
painstaking one but it was very rewarding for all the members. It was started during the tenure of Rev.
Victor Vethamani and completed during the tenure of Rev. Robert Selvakumar (January 1999 to
December 2001). The new building was named Wisma Shalom and dedicated by Bishop Dr Peter
Chio Sing Ching on 8th July 2000.

Rev. Robert Selvakumar (1999 – 2001) was a young pastor who served in Penang for a short
period of time. He was a dynamic preacher and a good Bible teacher.

Rev. Vincent C. Jayaraj (2002 – 2008) is a prayerfully passionate minister. He began to shape
an active prayer cum evangelistic agenda that become the heartbeat of his ministry. During this time,
there was a great revival of Small Group ministries i.e. cell groups, 4 team ministries, Street Ministry,
Alpha Course for individuals and couples, to name a few. Mr and Mrs. Michael Raja was entrusted to
revive the MYAF via the cell group ministry and after much prayer, encouragement and meetings the
MYAF group was re-established. In 2001, the Air Itam Outreach was started under the dedicated
leadership of Mrs. Pushpam Gurusamy. Outreach ministry at Batu Maung and Batu Feringghi were
established. The church library was up graded and renamed ‘Manna Square’. A Christmas
Evangelistic Concert “Touch of Love” was held at the MBS Penang with an overwhelming attendance
of 350 people. In 2006, a Christmas Open House was organized on 19th December at Bayan Baru
and about 600 people attended. The Prison Ministry and Migrant ministries among workers from
Myanmar and Nepal were formalised. On 5th February the same year the Outreach Point in Bayan
Baru was started. In 2007, Good Deed Teams were formed to assist and help in the area of
education, employment, social problems, finance, health and hospital expenses. The Street Ministry
to feed the poor in the city center was started in partnership with the Harvest Assembly.

Rev. Elanko Kannan (2000 – 2004) and Rev. Edwin Rajamoney (2003 – 2006) were also
actively involved in the ministries of TMC Penang and Bayan Baru Outreach Point. They were
furthering their studies at the Malaysian Bible Theological Seminary, Penang.

The church grew both spiritually, financially and as well as in numbers. This was further strengthened
by the able leadership of Mr Michael Raja who served as the LCEC Chairman and Finance Chairman
from 2000 to 2014. It should be noted that when Rev. Jayaraj took office, the church had an
outstanding debt of RM700,000 (First Local Conference, 2001, Finance Report) for the new building.
When he left, the outstanding debt for the Building had come down to RM50,000 (First Local
Conference 2009, Finance Report) which was eventually settled in 2009.

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