Discovering Our Roots (Part One)

Defining the Evangelical Free Church in Malaysia

By Khen Lim

PART ONE - THE MALAYSIAN CONNECTION 

Introduction

Image source: russellefc.org

Methodist. Lutheran. Baptist. Anglican. Presbyterian. We’ve heard of them before. Episcopalian. That’s American and chances are some of the better informed locals in Malaysia would have heard of them as well. Southern Baptist. Even that as well. But Evangelical Free Church? If you’re not a keen church guy, your reply would more likely be, “Evangelical what?” And if I were to use its shortened form, EFC, you could think it’s a football club.

Many of us at Hosanna EFC have tried explaining who we are and often, we get blank stares. Very few ever know. Some give up trying to understand because the history isn’t that simple. Or straightforward. Some might think we’re a cult along the lines of the Seventh Adventist or LDS or JW.

Part of the challenge in explaining what EFC is about is the word ‘Free.’ Even if that word is an important integral element of the denomination, that word nonetheless derails people for the impression is so divergent from the normal implications of something gratis. Those lesser informed might assume that we’re a church where you’re ‘free’ to do what you want. But that’s not true.

But here we are. Hosanna Evangelical Free Church, the only church of this denomination located north of Kuala Lumpur but somewhere in the Klang Valley is the Evangelical Free Church of Malaysia – or EFCM – our central body, unlike any other in Protestant Christendom.

But who are we? Why the difference? How do we fit within the Body of Christ?

For that, we’ll have to start with Singapore. The year is 1958.

A note beforehand: Factual information contained in this article and subsequent parts are culled from different sources on the Internet including some articles featured in the EFC Malaysia website. They aren’t necessarily verified by EFC Malaysia, which means that some parts may be open to dispute. The research done to make this article and its other parts possible is the work of only the writer. There has been no external help given.

Church planting in Singapore

1. Woodlands EFC

FACT FILE
Estd	Size	Medium	Location	URL
1961	Less than 2,000*	English only	Woodlands, Singapore	http://main.wefc.org.sg

* actual figure not available

Image source: streetdirectory.com

The starting point was in Singapore. Two teachers, Henry Khoo and his sister Margaret had gathered a bunch of students as part of their mission to help others reach and find Christ. They did this by forming a committee that would parent such a group. Their meeting place was the siblings’ humble home at 85 King’s Road, which eventually inspired the group to adopt the endearing name of “The King’s Youth Group.”

As he was studying at the then-Singapore Theological Seminary (now called Singapore Bible College), Henry was able to enlist the help of some of his college mates to help make the Friday meetings a regular fixture from September 1958 onwards. Eventually the schedule changed to twice weekly until the decision merge them into Sunday morning ‘services.’ The ensuing dramatic attendances necessitated the search for larger premises to accommodate the sudden growth.

The next two years laid witness to a continuing growth trend, eventually reaching the point where the committee felt that the ad hoc group could now become a ‘proper church’ but first, they decided to examine what options were available for them to be affiliated with an established denomination.

Ironically, in the latter part of 1960, EFC America had just despatched a missionary by the name of Rev R.F. (Fred) McMurray and, almost as if divinely appointed, he formally met up with the fledgling group. A viable opportunity arose where striking benefits were apparent to both parties where one was looking to plant churches in this region of the world while the other was keen to found an affiliation that they could flourish under. Having considered what EFC could offer including the denomination ‘distinctives,’ the King’s Youth Group decided to commit on January 1 1961 thus becoming the first in South-East Asia to do so.

Having tied down the affiliation, the new Singaporean church was now looking for a new home. For the six interim months, the group were holding half-hour worship services during Sundays that were preceded by Sunday School for the young ones while the search continued unabatedly. Eventually they found reason to be greatly encouraged with the Bukit Timah area.

There, while handing out tracts around the Kilburn Estate (now Yarwood Avenue), some church members stumbled across an unkempt house that turned out to be exactly what they were looking for. On May 6 1962, Rev McMurray signed a lease for the building and with 120 people gathered together, they dedicated their triumphant search to God and upon moving in, the King’s Youth Group gave way officially to the birth of the Bukit Timah Evangelical Free Church.

The Sawatzky family in the early Sixties (Image source: efcmalaysia.org)

In the meantime, EFC America had despatched its second missionary, Rev Dr Ben Sawatzky, who arrived with his family. Teaming together with Rev McMurray, they embarked on a bolder search to expand beyond the island. To do that, they went north, crossing the Causeway into a newly confederated Malaysia. Time was at a premium for the two – while they both helped run Bukit Timah EFC, what spare hours they had were dedicated to evangelising door to door in the little Malaccan town of Bukit Bahru.

Even as all these were slowly unfolding, Bukit Timah EFC undertook several important moves. Firstly their inaugural Board was elected to office comprising a pair of Elders, one Deacon and a Deaconess. Secondly their first Constitution came into being, crafted by Rev Dr Sawatzky, thus paving the way for Singapore’s Registry of Societies to recognise the church.

Four years after its establishment, in September 1964, Bukit Timah Evangelical Free Church became fully incorporated in Singapore. With that, it also became EFC America’s first success mission planting in this stick of the woods. Quite remarkably and within a surprisingly short frame of time, they again outgrew their premises and another relocation was in order. Following the securing of a partial building loan from the EFC Revolving Fund, the next big thing was the January 4 1970 official opening.

1994 marked a quarter of a century for the region’s first EFC church and again, yet another move was earmarked. Once more, the then-present King Albert Park location had run its course. Two years later, the church tendered successfully for a tract of land in the new Woodlands area and construction began in earnest for a new church premises from the ground up.

Although the expected completion was around April 1997, the new church building was ready a month earlier and with that, a dedication service was conducted with the building named ‘The Rock.’ And upon the Rock, the name Bukit Timah EFC was laid to rest. In its place, a new name to reflect a new location serving a different community was born – Woodlands Evangelical Free Church.

Enlarging the American Vision

By then, the American mission had grown to at least five that we know of. In addition to Rev McMurray and Sawatzky, there were now also Rev Richard Colson, Rev Al Tunberg and Rev Loyd Childs. Of the five, the last two are specifically relevant to the founding of Hosanna Evangelical Free Church in Ipoh but that was still to come later.

Rev Dr Sawatzky who served in various mission leadership roles for 24 years had, according to EFC America, spent the years between 1999 and 2011 as its Executive Director of its International Mission (now called ReachGlobal). Prior to that, in 1983, he was the Orientation Director of EFCA’s Overseas Ministry Board. Today Ben and his wife, Muriell attend Trinity EFC in Lakeville. In his book, ‘A Church Planting Strategy for World Class Cities,’ he describes the core of EFC’s strategy in light of how they have successfully implemented it in Malaysia:

“A team of missionaries (and eventually nationals) representing a constellation of complementary gifts, skills, training and experience, working together to achieve a common objective, the equipping of a plurality of locally based church planting teams, which in turn will plant local churches. This strategy, as developed by our missions, calls for a team of trainers equipping teams of church planters with the view to “planting” and “watering” local churches.”

 

Examples of Asian Beacon currently in circulation (Image source: asianbeacon.org)

As we will learn later in this first of the multi-part series, Rev Dr Sawatzky had helped to found the Malayan Beacon, which eventually gave way to what we now know it as ‘Asian Beacon.’ That was almost thirty years earlier. Having sold their interests outright to a private Christian group, EFCA’s work was now a little more transparent and ‘Asian Beacon’s history proved to be a rocky road to the success it is presently enjoying.

Today it is one of the foremost Christian faith magazines in Malaysia with a very compelling Internet offering. The local Star newspaper reported in September 2008, saying, “The Christian magazine is still in publication and has taken the bold step to increase its circulation from 3,000 copies last year to 10,000 this year.”

According to an article on its website called, ‘A Brief History of Asian Beacon,’ Rev Dr Sawatzky, founded its predecessor in 1969, becoming the first editor of the in-house publication of the EFC. Two years later, Morrie Palmer, also from EFCA, took over the reins. In 1978, now under local editorial leadership, Asian Beacon had a circulation of 7,000 to 8,000 copies per issue but over the next two decades, the numbers plummeted through leadership changes and ministry struggles.

It took another three decades to rein in the decline and raise the print circulation to 10,000 copies. Boosted by an agreement with MPH retail outlets and major public bookstores to sell the magazine, fortunes improved. And soon, with the dominance of the pervasive digital age, Asian Beacon launched its Internet platform, beginning with Facebook in 2010 and later went full stead with its web presence. With better funding today, print circulation has not only shot past the heady 20,000 readership mark but the print magazine is today also freely available.

Of course by then, the EFC connection with the magazine is history but not without leaving an indelible imprint behind. Despite its humble underpinnings, Asian Beacon has gone leaps and bounds in reaching households. According to the online article:

“We have distributed our magazines at numerous events and conferences and worked with many churches and organisations such as the Bible Society of Malaysia, Alpha Malaysia, FGBMF Malaysia, EFCM, TCF, Girls’ Brigade Malaysia, NACC, Pastors’ Fellowship nationwide, Inter-Church Sports Carnival and more. Asian Beacon has also been distributed to clinics, hair salons, campuses, National Service camps, prisons and Christian retreat centres. Thousands of copies of Asian Beacon have even been on OM’s ship, Logos Hope.” (emphasis added)

Malaysia’s first planting

It was now two years following the successful Singapore experiment. No doubt the outcome was encouraging and the growth potential was evident. As we know, the emboldened American missionaries had now gone into Malaysia, beginning with Malacca.

2. Malacca EFC

FACT FILE
Estd	Size	Medium	Location	URL
1963	± 50	English only	Jln Taming Sari, Malacca	N/A

Image source: efcmalaysia.org

Having chalked up its first success story in Singapore, 1963 set the stage for the first Malaysian effort. Rev Dr Sawatzky and Henry Khoo from Singapore made several exploratory trips to Malacca, scouting for opportunities and as it turned out, there was an early Youth for Christ (YFC) ministry effort going on at that time.

While it was gaining ground, there was no home to site new converts. Together with its YFC director – a schoolteacher by trade – Rev Dr Sawatzky and Rev McMurray took to handing out tracts and performed the hard slog of preaching door to door. Both efforts were not just draining but they demanded enormous painstaking patience and dogged determination.

By October of the same year with converts continuing to stream in, the American missionaries decided to rent an old government building to serve as a meeting place. From thereon, it was then in November 17 1963 that Malaysia recorded its first EFC church in the state of Malacca. A year later, Rev Jim Phalen and wife, Fran, arrived from America to serve at Malacca EFC for the following three years, holding services at a rented storefront featuring a fruit garden at the rear.

3. Petaling Jaya EFC

FACT FILE
Estd	Size	Medium	Location	URL
1965	± 600	English only	Petaling Jaya, Selangor	www.pjefc.org

Image source: pjefc.org

Petaling Jaya EFC followed suit two years later in 1965 and again, Revs Sawatzky and McMurray spearheaded the efforts. However EFCA’s vision of further church planting throughout the country had now hit a snag. With Malaysia’s new immigration policy coming into effect the following year, foreign missionaries were only allowed to stay for up to ten years thus seriously denting any idea that EFCA could dot the whole national landscape – including East Malaysia – with as many churches as they had desired.

To work around this new limitation, the Americans resorted to the development of local lay leadership that at once helped PJEFC to tiptoe around the problem and still flourish.

Operating from the double-storeyed house that served as the Sawatzky family’s residence, the strategy was to be as close to the opportunities that Petaling Jaya’s Section 14 offered. With a local university campus within their neighbourhood, these opportunities were real and they laid the foundation for a growing congregation to be established including key people who played important voluntary roles in its inception. Chief amongst these was collecting funds that helped to pay for a house that served as the mainstay for its initial existence.

What followed from thereon were a series of relocations as the congregation gradually grew. Eventually PJEFC finally planted its roots at its current site, in Section 13 of Petaling Jaya, to become Malaysia’s largest EFC chapter till today despite the enforced departure of the American mission. Along the way in 1979, a branch congregation of forty members emerged from PJEFC simply called, ‘EFC Gospel Centre,’ which eventually became an independent self-sustaining and successful chapter in its own right.

By then PJEFC had grown to 650 members, necessitating another relocation to a three-in-a-row shop lot in the Taman Megah neighbourhood of Petaling Jaya that is, before their ultimate move to their current permanent premises called the Heritage Centre in October 2002.

4. Emmanuel EFC

FACT FILE
Estd	Size	Medium	Location	URL
1970	± 250	English only	Wangsa Maju, Kuala Lumpur	www.emmanuel-efc.org

The Tunbergs and Ps David Low of Emmanuel EFC (Image source: efcmalaysia.org)

In its original guise, the Emmanuel Christian Centre (ECC) was established as an independent church by OMF (Overseas Missionary Fellowship) missionaries, Rev and Mrs Kenneth Price, whose efforts drew in many young couples and singles. The ECC had initially operated from a shophouse in the Jalan Haji Hussein area of Kuala Lumpur.

It joined the Malaysian EFC circuit in 1970, about five years after PJEFC was founded to become Emmanuel EFC. In the years that followed, there were several relocations before they settled at the present location in the Wangsa Maju suburb of Kuala Lumpur.

5. Faith EFC

FACT FILE
Estd	Size	Medium	Location	URL
1975	± 60	English only	OUG Garden, Kuala Lumpur	http://faithefc.blogspot.com

Image source: efcmalaysia.org

With time running out for the American missionaries, Faith EFC was formed in 1975, utilising a revolutionary approach to church planting by Rev Dr Sawatzky. Called ‘Team Approach to Multiple Church Planting,’ this approach required the missionary to work behind the scenes so that the local lay leadership could assume the helm albeit with the necessary training and development in order that, eventually, these leaders could be handed frontline ministries to preach. This approach would inevitably lead to further new churches to be planted as quickly as possible. Faith EFC was simply the first of this successful approach.

Behind the success story behind Faith EFC was EFCA’s initiative for lay training called, Leadership Assistance Program’ or LAP in short. And as it turned out predictably, it became an indispensable and integral cog in the successful multiple church planting exercise in Malaysia within such a short space of time.

The American missionaries who made LAP such a sterling success included not only Rev Dr Sawatzky but also Revs Loyd Childs and Allen Tunberg. Together they saw with their own eyes the remarkable EFC offshoots that sprung up thereafter.

6. EFC Gospel Centre

FACT FILE
Estd	Size	Medium	Location	URL
1979	± 270	English and Chinese	Subang Jaya, Selangor	N/A

EFC Gospel Centre was an offshoot from the growing days of PJEFC. At that time, the latter was beginning to take firm root ministering to students and youthful careerists at their Section 14 premises. This was 1967 and PJEFC had about 30 members but as they began to gradually grow in numbers, relocations became unavoidable until which time in 1979 when forty of its members decided to plant another EFC church in the SS1 suburb of Petaling Jaya. They decided to call it EFC Gospel Centre.

Meanwhile as PJEFC set their sights on a larger three-shop-lot location, EFC Gospel Centre planted themselves in Kuala Lumpur in the suburb of Subang Jaya, not too far from the Sime Medical Centre (formerly called Subang Jaya Medical Centre or SJMC), which was once next to the Sheraton Hotel.

There isn’t a lot of accessible historical documentation on EFC Gospel Centre, which makes it difficult to put anything into writing. However from what we know today, it is a fairly successful EFC chapter. Congregation size hovers around 270 members split into two language services – one in English and the other in Chinese – and housed in a three-storeyed building with a spacious and competently-designed sanctuary.

7. Grace EFC

FACT FILE
Estd	Size	Medium	Location	URL
1979	± 45	English only	Subang Jaya, Selangor	http://graceefcsj.blogspot.com

Image source: efcmalaysia.org

Anchored down by strong and healthy family ties; that was how Grace EFC came into being four years after Faith EFC, in 1979. Today, just one family – and a rather large one at that – occupies almost half of the congregation size but it isn’t just size. This family invariably became the engine room for the church to sustain its myriad activities.

However they are also feeling the strain of losing their youthfulness. As opportunities for further education beckons, promising school leavers among Grace EFC’s congregation would leave to pursue their future, which can either be local, interstate or abroad. Whether or not they return is a dicey issue for the church but also one that has spurred them into action. Efforts are now in place to attract newer congregants particularly those from a nearby school.

8. Seremban EFC

FACT FILE
Estd	Size	Medium	Location	URL
1981	± 130	English & Chinese	Taman Bukit Emas, Seremban	N/A

Two years following, in 1981, Seremban EFC was founded and with that, the first EFC chapter planted south of the Klang Valley since Malacca EFC eighteen years ago. Unfortunately we have little to no details to record here. Despite writing to them to request for information, there has not been a reply.

We are, however, aware that Seremban EFC has an unusual focus on a form of outdoor exercise as a form of outreach ministry. Called ‘Praise Dance,’ this has allegedly become a growing trend among several churches in this little township just south of Kuala Lumpur.

Seremban EFC is today essentially the handiwork of a pastor who began as a humble coffeeshop owner but one whose Christian values were proudly on display and put into practice. For instance, in her time running the business, we hear that she refused to sell cigarettes and alcohol. She did this until she decided to act on her pastoral calling.

We are led to believe that today, the Praise Dance program is Seremban EFC’s key feature activity and one that they are particularly successful with as a medium to conduct their ministry, prayer and witnessing.

9. Cheras EFC

FACT FILE
Estd	Size	Medium	Location	URL
1981	± 90	English only	Taman Bukit Anggerik, Kuala Lumpur	http://yaflame.blogspot.com http://cherascherasefc.blogspot.com

Image source: efcmalaysia.org

The Eighties was a busy decade for the American missionaries. As the clock ticked on, there was a sense of urgency to do as much as possible within an increasingly shorter period of time remaining. And in that decade, all but one of the six EFC chapters had their hand in their formation.

In the same year that Seremban EFC was founded (1981), so was Cheras EFC in a humble shop lot in Taman Bukit Angerrik neighbourhood of the suburb of Cheras in Kuala Lumpur. Instrumental in their early set up were Rev Loyd Childs and his wife, Helen, as well as Rev Allen and Darlene Tunberg. The two couples worked hard in implementing the LAP approach to diligently develop lay leadership early on in the church.

As the church began to grow beyond what the shoplot could accommodate, a more permanent location was sought within the same suburb with financial help coming from the EFCM Revolving Fund.

We have the impression that in recent years, Cheras EFC has been actively involved in the Youth Aflame movement judging from what we can see in the latter’s blog.

10. Hosanna EFC

FACT FILE
Estd	Size	Medium	Location	URL
1982	± 18	English only	Ipoh Garden East, Ipoh	http://hosannaefcluxmundi.blogspot.com

Image source: efcmalaysia.org

In the following year of 1982, the same two American missionary families made their way north from Kuala Lumpur, stopping in Ipoh where they cast their attention at the possibility of the first EFC chapter in Malaysia to be north of the country’s capital.

Originally called Ipoh EFC, it was Rev Childs and his family who toiled hard to make things happen here, bunking up in a rather spartan upstairs shop lot in the suburb of Ipoh Garden East. From there, they worked tirelessly to help the nascent church to take shape. Thankfully Ipoh EFC at that time was within quick walking distance to the Childs family, making it possible for them to reach out to the surrounding areas.

 

(left photo) Rev Loyd Childs conducting Sunday service during the early days of Ipoh EFC

(right photo) Rev Allen Tunberg, his wife Darlene and their two daughters

It was only a little later in the development stage that the Tunberg family arrived to help. Together, Ipoh EFC staged community movie nights at another rented upstairs shop lot to encourage the neighbourhood to participate. These were essentially evangelical events to introduce Christ into the lives of unbelievers. Tracts were also believed to be handed out as well through these early days.

Ipoh EFC’s early years were tragic. Following the departure of Revs Childs and Tunberg in compliance with the country’s immigration ruling on missionaries, the church became divided. The first pastor had wanted to take Ipoh EFC along the charismatic road but some worshippers were against it and in the end, the painful split resulted in the pastor taking a large clutch of members along with him to form a church of their own, leaving a small handful behind who became leader-less.

In the years that followed, attendance numbers were low. Those who stuck on with Ipoh EFC were essentially those core members who did not leave. There was even a point in time when the church closed its doors for several months, only to reopen because someone took the initiative to do so. Some of us believe – though without evidence – that when the church rediscovered itself and resume services again, there could have been a proposal to change its name to Hosanna EFC, as a possible sign of its turning point. It must be said that with early records now lost, it is difficult to know when and how the change had truly come about. Today, one founding member remains of the dozen or so that helped to start off Ipoh EFC.

While there have been several relocations since its founding, all of them were within the same walking perimeter and in all of them. Hosanna EFC has been renting premises although in the past decade or so, the sanctuary has come to the ground floor, which has made it more convenient for the elderly to attend services.

Attendance numbers remain very small at Hosanna EFC although we are witnessing incoming new visitors who look like promising permanent members in the near future.

11. Hope EFC

FACT FILE
Estd	Size	Medium	Location	URL
1983	± 100	English and Chinese	Wangsa Maju, Kuala Lumpur	http://hopeefc.wordpress.com http://hopeefcjournal.blogspot.com

Hope EFC's team to Myanmar (Image source: rawnaspilgrimage.blogspot.com)

From a 1983 outreach project belonging to Emmanuel EFC, Hope EFC was successfully established. Located in the Kuala Lumpur suburb of Setapak Jaya, ten volunteer church planters sought to lay down the early markers for its foundation and with that, the following years bore witness to the new church taking shape as members from low-income areas began to stream in. This in turn fuelled Hope EFC’s early ministry direction. Greatly encouraged by such early successes, a move was made to relocate the church to Wangsa Maju in order to be closer to their members.

It was evident that early influences came from Emmanuel EFC. The mother church’s leadership had helped Hope EFC to invest early in individuals who would help to give shape to mission work as its signature identity. And the transformation was remarkable – Hope EFC’s agenda moved clearly from being a physical based sense of belonging to one that identifies and encourages commitment in people; all of which helps us to understand the reason behind the church operating from a rented shop lot premises.

Volunteers from Hope EFC in Myanmar (Image source: christianitymalaysia.com)

Hope EFC’s visible and unique mission-based credentials led them to work closely with the OMF (Overseas Missionary Fellowship) in 2009, embarking on a project to plant churches in Myanmar. It only took a year for the efforts to materialise when Hope EFC witnessed Myanmar’s first worship service amongst a predominantly Burmese congregation.

The church’s commitment to Myanmar not only continues today but has also resulted in numerous students arriving at the Malaysia Bible Seminary (MBS) for their theology studies. Of these, some have graduated and returned commence teaching and growing their ministries quite successfully.

12. Klang EFC

FACT FILE
Estd	Size	Medium	Location	URL
1983	± 20	English and Chinese	Taman Klang Jaya, Klang	N/A

Image source: efcmalaysia.org

Klang EFC was also established in the same year of 1983 as Hope EFC and in it, a simple but inspiring story behind its birth. On witnessing a young and newly-married couple and their courageous love for Christ, it was all the motivation needed to drive Rev Childs to rouse up a lay leadership team and start planting a new church in the town of Klang, just outside Kuala Lumpur.

It was this catalyst that spurred the formation of a core team that would then meet weekly with Rev Childs and his wife, Helen. Through these meetings, the American couple worked tirelessly to train them for ministry work and how to conduct worship services. Steadily attendances grew for Klang EFC and once they met the required thirty in number, plans were set in motion to look for a rented shop lot to move to from the then-current house.

Things were beginning to look up but Klang EFC was suddenly robbed of Rev Child’s guidance when time ran out and his family had to return home. Based on the immigration policy in force at that time, foreign missionaries were given only ten years before they have to leave. Without American guidance through someone as invaluable as Rev Childs, Klang EFC felt it had to hobble through with one less wheel. As one founding member puts it, the loss of Rev Childs “contributed to the church’s weakness over the years.”

Image source: efcmalaysia.org

In the years following his departure, Klang EFC found itself pastor-less and the struggle was imminent especially for a fledgling church. In that respect, they were similar to Hosanna EFC who were markedly impacted by a tragic split in their early years and summarily, lost someone at the pastoral helm to drive it forward. Lay leaders at Klang EFC were experiencing coping difficulties as they tried desperately to balance their secular work commitments and family needs with church obligations.

But a faithful God never gives up on us. Just as He has done so numerously for other EFC churches in Malaysia, Klang EFC would witness someone He brought into their midst who would helped to revive and then drive them forward.

13. Malacca Life EFC

FACT FILE
Estd	Size	Medium	Location	URL
1984	± 40	Chinese only	Jalan Air Leleh, Malacca	N/A

Image source: efcmalaysia.org

Counting from 1984, it was twenty-one years ago that Malaysia’s first EFC chapter was established in Malacca. Since then, it has flourished steadily. And in those twenty-one years, ten more EFC churches had taken root; some miraculously easily while a few others had birth pangs and teething issues to deal with. All in all, eventually, they survived the test of time to live yet another glorious day for the Lord.

But 1984 had a different story to tell. While Hope EFC was the result of an outreach by Emmanuel EFC, Malacca EFC helped spawn Malacca Life EFC. However there are some important differences of which the most notable is that Malacca Life EFC is the first to conduct their services and operations in Chinese. 

Birthed by a calling to reach out to the Chinese-speaking communities, Malacca EFC’s own pastor, acting in faith, ventured into unknown territory. With many praying for clarity of purpose and direction for him, the decision was finally made for him to make the decisive move. His first decision was to rent a shop lot in the Taman Peringgit Jaya suburb of Malacca town. There, he began with fifteen members.

As it always is with works of faith in Christ, things either went unpredictable or they simply became very difficult. For the Chinese-speaking pastor, the difficulties were striking and humbling. When funds plunged dangerously low, it seemed the time had come for the pastor to personally make ends meet. To do that, he contemplated pawning his watch, a gift from his wife, and use the funds to pay for outstanding rent and sundries.

But the church members stopped him from doing that. Their refusal to bow to pressure was an encouraging sign from God but it got even better. Slowly the donations came out of nowhere. There were no official pleas for help from the church. No one put out notices. No one got on the bullhorn. They just materialised out of thin air.

And because the shop lot had no chairs, members had to sit on the cement floor for everything they had to do including their worship services. But then new chairs arrived because each member pledged to buy one chair to make it all happen. Next, there was a bad need for the electrical wiring to be done anew and properly and again, someone pitched in and made that possible.

But even so, things were still tight and the church continued to function on a knife’s edge. To underline how desperate the situation had become by then, even milk and rice were rare staples at the pastor’s own home. Bare necessities for fundamental subsistence were considered luxurious by then but still, the church refused to accede to pressure. They simply trudged on in good faith.

A short few years later in 1988, Malacca Life EFC had grown. Living dangerously obviously didn’t stop that from happening and the church found their then-present shop lot bursting at its seams, necessitating a move elsewhere. They landed on the ground-floor shop lot in the suburb of Taman Delima Raya first before they eventually set up at the present 3½-storeyed shop lot near to a local secondary school. Facing the main road leading to the Arked (arcade) Air Leleh, this is, today, the permanent home of Malacca Life EFC and in itself, a story of divine deliverance and miracles.

Before this move, the church was actually contend to stay at the ground-floor shop lot. Unfortunately on the expiration of their lease, the landlord had no plans to extend it, which was another way of saying that the church must now take leave. At that point, it was either another rental move or a decision to purchase outright. Someone rooted in reality would think that rental is practical and realistic. Given that there was only MYR 10,000 in the bank, it would appear obvious. But somehow the pastor thought otherwise.

With hope renewed and inspired by all that had happened to the church so far, an emboldened pastor took to faith to walk the road for God to deliver. A concert to draw in funds was held in 2004 where a renowned choir from Singapore was their highlight feature.

All told, the concert attracted MYR 126,000 but that was not all. A radio announcement about the concert attracted donors from around the state – and possibly elsewhere around the nation – to help. A stranger came into their midst to offer a low-interest loan, which the church accepted, but at some point later, the loan was cancelled and the funding was fully given to the church free of any encumbrances.

Today Malacca Life EFC has about fifty members. Their next challenge, now that they have a permanent home, is to fight and stay relevant in their chosen community. To do that, they must draw some attention to themselves but obviously in a good way. It certainly won’t be easy but with a track record for incredible miracles, there is nothing to stop them from achieving their goals.

14. PJEFC Chinese

FACT FILE
Estd	Size	Medium	Location	URL
1992	N/A	Chinese only	Petaling Jaya, Selangor	N/A

Image source: efcmalaysia.org

From 1984 till the end of the decade, there were no more new EFC chapters. The impact of the departure of all the American missionaries had surely been felt. And now the momentum was lost. In the meantime, churches like Klang EFC were struggling to keep their chins above water.

However something was happening at PJEFC. A year before Malacca Life EFC, in 1983, was conceived, seven senior citizen members from Malaysia’s largest EFC church decided to form a home cell that they could conduct using Chinese instead with a longer-term vision to perhaps plant a separate church themselves. In view of this, it is fair to say that they were even ahead of Malacca Life EFC.

Unfortunately for all the valiant efforts, the wheels fell apart hardly two years later (1985). We don’t know the reason why but we have read of inspiring personal evangelism that helped to grow PJEFC’s Chinese-speaking congregation to sixty in membership. There was only one challenge in that – they were mostly of elderly age. That in itself was not the problem but ‘continuity’ would have been, meaning that bringing in youth would be on their essential agenda.

In 1989, a renewal was at hand. During PJEFC’s Easter Sunday service, it was decided that their sermons would go bilingual. While the key delivery would remain in English, there would be live interpretation in the Cantonese dialect. Greatly encouraged by that, this bilingual arrangement went on for three straight years via voluntary in-house translators.

With this going on, the original movement was rekindled. The translators themselves saw an opportunity to spin this off into a separate service. This invariably led to the setting up of casual Chinese tea fellowships on Saturday afternoons. Once these proved popular, the next obvious step was a full Sunday morning worship service, which finally appeared three years later in 1992. And before long, a Chinese-speaking pastor with Taiwan theological credentials found his way to PJEFC in answer to numerous prayers thus establishing the foundation of PJEFC Chinese as a separate operation.

For the next eight years, PJEFC Chinese grew steadily but still, the congregation had remained elderly and therefore, ‘continuity’ remained a challenge. When the demographics are this way inclined, church growth will be stymied. While conversions were not a problem, finding younger hands on deck soon became PJEFC Chinese’s high priority concern. As suspected, this was the church’s only resort to developing in the right way. But the problem was how – how would they attract the young in sufficient numbers to overturn the current demographic? Other than steadfast praying, there was nothing else they could do.

By the turn of the millennium, things began to miraculously change. It seemed that for whatever reason, larger swathes of Chinese-speaking youths including middle-aged adults made their way to PJEFC Chinese. This mini-exodus resulted in a growth to a 120-strong membership that helped to flesh out a host of diverse ministries.

This turn of events had proven to be a fruitful one for PJEFC Chinese. It draws an interesting parallel with the New Testament’s Second Temple Period when the Israelites were pressured from all sides to adopt Greco culture including the use of the Greek language. Much to the displeasure of the Pharisees in particular, the preference was to remain with the traditional Aramaic but the universality of the Greek language was simply too difficult to overcome.

Despite all of these, God used the pervasive Greek language to deliver His Word to the whole world, resulting in the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John by the end of the first century AD as well as the Pauline letters. A lesson can be learned here – even as we see little value in the language or we lament the passing of one that we prefer, God has a way of reaching the world in any way He wishes.

PJEFC Chinese’s experience is reflective of the national swing away from English, thus forcing the Chinese community to reinvent itself around its native tongue and dialects. Over the last many years, that was exactly what happened. The Chinese have amplified their choice of Mandarin throughout society including many of the country’s churches in the peninsular including East Malaysia.

So while the Chinese have begun to widely speak Mandarin everywhere throughout the country, it has often been done at the expense of English. In other words, language competency in English has dropped alarmingly, spelling the need for extracurricular coaching classes to meet personal, academic and professional needs.

From the perspective of the churches in our land, those that rely on the English medium have been gradually plateauing. The levelling off means English-language churches in general are not growing but instead might well be beginning to recede. But here lies the interesting twist – just as God used Greek to break through to the whole world, He knew something that the people didn’t and that was, with Chinese, churches could go further when it looks like English has run its course.

The experience of PJEFC Chinese proved that even while the significance of the English language had been politically subdued, God worked around it and used Mandarin to do what we couldn’t anymore (with English). If there ever is a barometric sign from all of these, it is that PJEFC Chinese reflects a serious change of tide for churches new and old. The vernacular shift has also spelled a significant opportunity for EFC to tap.

15. Kepong EFC

FACT FILE
Estd	Size	Medium	Location	URL
2001	± 70	English and Chinese	Kepong Industrial Park, Kepong	www.kepongefc.org

Image source: efcmalaysia.org

By 2001, it would have been seven years since the birth of Malacca Life EFC and on this year’s Easter Sunday, Kepong EFC was formed. And like the former, Chinese services are available. The key difference, however, is that this is a bilingual church, a new breed of EFC chapters in Malaysia and hopefully, one that would take off favourably in light of the decline of the English language in this country.

Without the American missionary presence, it seemed PJEFC had been picking up the slack. Following on from the success of PJEFC Chinese, five families from a common cell group in Bandar Sri Damansara decided to set new frontiers by doing the heavy lifting. They slogged and planned and eventually rented a shophouse in a nearby light industrial area called Kepong Industrial Park.

Kepong EFC began with only English services but in less than two years, they were able to go fully bilingual, courtesy of the arrival of a Chinese-speaking pastor from, ironically, PJEFC Chinese.

16. Bukit Jelutong EFC

FACT FILE
Estd	Size	Medium	Location	URL
2009	± 30	English only	Bukit Jelutong, Shah Alam	N/A

Image source: efcmalaysia.org

Eight long years separated the formation of Kepong EFC to this one in Bukit Jelutong in the state capital of Shah Alam. Unlike the Seventies and the Eighties when EFC churches were mushrooming, these were thinning days.

Bukit Jelutong EFC’s founding in 2009 sets off another tale of soul searching and diligent praying and of course, divine intervention. While the Kepong effort was seeded by PJEFC, Bukit Jelutong’s early years – comprising twelve pioneering members – were mentored by EFC Gospel Centre who, with the help of their pastor and wife who had returned from years of working in India – put into place the necessary church-like fixtures.

Starting from 2008, these fixtures included programs like the Vacation Bible School (VBS) and Discovery Club in addition to Sunday School classes held during the weekends. All of these were successfully aimed at young families within the nearby captive neighbourhood. Of these, the Discovery Club program proved especially popular with the local community.

Greatly encouraged by the outcome and spurred by EFC Gospel Centre, the group stepped up to the plate and took the bold steps of putting the necessary touches that would inevitably set them up as a church in its own right. In the following year of 2009, this came to fruition and Bukit Jelutong EFC (BJEFC) proudly conducted its first official Sunday Service.

Today BJEFC has a 30-strong congregation and it continues to be the only solitary English-speaking Protestant church in the area. Operating at no costs from a business premises owned by a generous church member, BJEFC has set a bold target of growing another church, once they themselves reach a congregation size of 100 members. With the expansion from one to over twenty suburbs in Bukit Jelutong, this ambition suddenly doesn’t look unachievable at all.

17. New Creation Life EFC

FACT FILE
Estd	Size	Medium	Location	URL
2012	± 20	English only	Subang Jaya, Selangor	N/A

Image source: efcmalaysia.org

The newest EFC chapter in Malaysia began in 2009 with a dozen members. Three years later, it became New Creation Life EFC, the seventeenth and latest member of the national collective. Like all other EFC churches, the history makes for compelling reading.

During the early years, New Creation Life was just a loose and informal group. Vision to transform it into a full-fledged church was probably a distant twinkling of an eye. In those years, a small group was meeting up at another church every Saturday evening. During these meetings, prayers were offered to the sick, the broken-hearted, the oppressed and any needy unbeliever who may walk into their midst.

These meetings were often significant as many who came and were prayed upon had received healing and they in turn were convicted to stay with and supported the group. From this, a nucleus was formed that would grow over time. In time, the years between 2011 and 2013 saw the group go from informal Saturday evening meetings to Friday cell group meetings with food served.

It was becoming increasingly evident that New Creation Life would be founded on the conviction of healing miracles and from these, a strong spiritual family sprung to life, learning together to trust the promptings of the Holy Spirit as well as to actively respond to the sense of urgency to pray and preach to strangers.

Image source: efcmalaysia.org

Today, NCLEFC works off the first-floor shop lot in the USJ21 neighbourhood in the suburb of Subang Jaya. Across the road from them is a stillborn high-rise apartment project, which the church sees through a half-full glass of optimism. Summarily constant and persistent prayers by church members have seen the project miraculously resume.

The benefits are two-fold. An abandoned building project often attracts unsavoury squatters as well as gangsters looking to set up ganglands. For the construction to resume, none of these would take place. Furthermore resumption brings about promises of occupancy, which means people coming in to live and with this, plenty of hope to save souls and bring in the numbers.

From a chance meeting with Dr Chan Ah Kee of EFC Gospel Centre, the opportunity was seized with both hands to bring to fruition an EFC church full of promise, hope and optimism, and this renewed sense of future continues unabated today.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

An early family picture of the Tunbergs (Image source: efcmalaysia.org)

By the end of the old century, American influence in the growth of EFC in Malaysia had evidently lessened and traces of it were not so easy to find anymore. Even as the American touch had created the cornerstone for EFC to develop to what it is today in Malaysia, the directness or the personal dynamic is now missing. And perhaps this might not necessarily be a bad thing. In terms of the bigger picture, this might, after all, be how EFC should become in Malaysia.

Consider this fact – EFCs like Klang, Malacca Life, PJEFC Chinese and Kepong were all local efforts. Three of these even conduct services in Chinese with one (Kepong EFC) offering bilingual. Of these, Klang EFC benefitted partly from Rev Childs’ input and guidance but that was short-lived since he had to return him thus cutting short his intentions to help fully develop the church.

But one thing was abundantly clear. Despite not having any substantial American input in the direct sense, the impact of Rev Dr Sawatzky’s LAP (Leadership Assistance Program) could never be underestimated. Launched as early as 1975, Faith EFC was the first recipient but others subsequently were beneficiaries including our Hosanna EFC.

The LAP would have been even more far reaching had it not been curtailed by federal immigration policies. In this sense, government interference meant expansion beyond Klang Valley had stopped northwards in Ipoh and southwards in Malacca. Very important strategic locations including Penang up north, southernmost Johore Bahru, Kuantan in the East Coast as well as Kuching and Kota Kinabalu across in East Malaysia all missed out, not to mention various other important townships elsewhere through the country.

Considering that growth had slowed dramatically in recent decades lay proof to the immediate impetus and undoubted effectiveness of direct American involvement. This is not to belittle the efforts of EFC Malaysia; we only use this opportunity to emphasise the remarkable efforts put forth by EFC America via the missionaries who dedicated an inordinate degree of their personal life and passion to help build up the EFC cause in this country. All of these missionaries have since returned home to America and we would have been immensely poorer if not for the work they have so tirelessly put in. In more ways than one, this multi-part article is a dedication to all of them.

EFC Malaysia

FACT FILE
Estd	Size	Medium	URL
1961	± 1,790 in 16 local chapters	English, Chinese or combination	www.efcmalaysia.org

Image source: pjefc.org

Around the time when Rev McMurray was working with the group in Singapore that called themselves the King’s Youth Group, the federation of Malaysia was just around the corner. Those days, we knew it as Malaya but interestingly, the ‘National Board’ was already quietly set up – certainly before the American missionaries turned their attention towards Malacca – and with that, the nascent EFC of Malaya was registered with the Singaporean government.

With the Federation of Malaysia looming, that registration was extended to Malaysia. In that same year of 1961, the Americans took to the print media, establishing in-house publishing of what was then called the Malayan Evangelical Beacon, which in fact was the forerunner to today’s Asian Beacon. This publication was eventually taken over by the National Board.

Two years later, in 1963, as Malacca EFC was born, so was the Berean Bible Correspondence School set up by the National Board. The School offered one course in English but this would soon change later. In the meantime, the Federation of Malaysia became official, absorbing the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, including Singapore. With that, the official name of the National Board was also correspondingly changed in 1967 to the EFC of Malaysia/Singapore.  

In 1969, the Berean Bible Correspondence School went from one to three courses and then relocated from Singapore to Malacca where Ms Sumie Yokouchi, an EFC missionary from Japan, would take charge of. A year earlier, the short-lived Malayan Evangelical Beacon published its final issue before it was eventually replaced by the Asian Beacon, a move initiated by Rev Dr Sawatzky the following year.

The federation suffered once relations between Malaysia and Singapore soured. In turn the National Board could not exist in its then-current form and in 1974, it was split into two entities – the EFC of Malaysia and then also, the EFC of Singapore. Eight years earlier in 1966, revised immigration policy had already forced EFC America’s hand, compelling it to change the way they would operate, which then resulted in a new initiative put into practice in 1975, called the Leadership Assistance Program (LAP). This was quickly put into motion by Rev Dr Sawatzky and his team.

In the year that LAP was introduced, EFC Malaysia was forced into deregistration. It took another three years for the national body to regain registration with the name unchanged.

Image source: waysidechapel.org

The American-inspired roots of the Sixties laid the ground for the love of labour to continue now that we’re well into the new millennium. But things are not the same these days. In the era of EFC Malaysia, the challenge of planting churches is different and certainly more complex. Running a church in a shop lot might not be as straightforward anymore let alone mounting a cross at the top of the building. Furthermore local laws now don’t appear to make it possible to even call it a church.

With all of these happening around us, it is easy to lose sight of what the big picture is. It is even easier to be discouraged and simply give up. But when we feel that way, it would be handy to know that we can look back at the tireless effort that the American missionaries put up to make it all possible just a few decades ago. Without then, we simply wouldn’t have any EFC churches to attend.

Image source: idakoos.com

For all the hard work laying down the foundation in the Sixties, EFC Malaysia should have what it takes to move forward. Above all else, we have inherited the spiritual heritage of our American missionary forefathers who have left with us the legacy to go plant churches. It is this EFC legacy that have actually inspired us to fruition in Myanmar in recent years courtesy of Hope EFC’s efforts.

However EFC history doesn’t just stop at America. In fact the origins of the Evangelical Free Church are hardly American as we shall see in the next part of our ‘Discovering Our Roots’ history series.

- Continued Part Two -