AS a daughter church of Emmanuel EFC in Setapak Jaya, Hope EFC started in 1983 as an outreach with 10 volunteer church planters in Wangsa Maju, Setapak. In the subsequent years, the church would attract a number of down-and-out people from the low-income areas, which in turn would shape and define its ministry.
“From day one, we decided to minister to people with needs,” said Chairman Elder David Tan, adding that the group of volunteers decided to be close with the people they ministered to, and hence, they moved into the Wangsa Maju area.
With Emmanuel EFC’s leadership being an early influence, the founding members committed to investing in individuals and sought missions as a priority. As a result, the purchase of church premises was not a priority as “we were thinking of investing in people rather than buildings,” commented Elder Tan Ching Meng. The church, which presently operates from a rented shoplot – their third relocation – sent out a missionary, Pauline Mak, under the Overseas Missionary Fellowship in 2009.
As the congregation started to grow, people also left, including four of the original 10 volunteers. Today, the church consists mainly of families with a number of young adults and very few teens. A fulltime worker, Loh Siew Heng, manages the administration and visitations in the 40-strong congregation.
The church elders take turns to preach and invited speakers are featured regularly. In 2010, the church embarked on a family-integrated paradigm in its ministry. On top of the no-age-segregation approach, Hope EFC also explored a more family-based approach to men and women’s fellowships.
Realising the need for a pastor, Hope EFC appointed Pastor Barnabas Boon from 2008 to 2011. “The presence of a pastor played a key role in church growth,” said elder David Wang. Boon later left to continue his theological studies, and the position was left vacant.
In the midst of this, Hope EFC supported a thriving Myanmar ministry which was led by VL Rawna, a Myanmar pastor co-sponsored with EFCM to study in Seminari Theologi Malaysia. Rawna has since returned to Myanmar, but the ministry continues to thrive with the establishment of a refugee school.
In 2010, the first Myanmar worship service was held, led by Lawm Sanga who replaced Rawna. Sanga returned to Myanmar due to visa issues but the Myanmarese congregation still meet together with the English congregation once a month for communion service.
Throughout the decades of its existence, Hope EFC has stayed true to its conviction (of ministering to the marginalised), and its congregation has thus remained relatively small. “We do work hard at growing the numbers but it shouldn’t be the only thing,” explained Tan, who stressed that they were more concerned about the kindness and help they could render to the marginalised and needy. The motivation for their ministry has always been the outworking of Jesus’ expectation of his disciples, when Jesus asks “What have you done?”
“I would like to think that’s what defines us,” he concluded.
Building Bridges of Trust
WHEN Trey Fanai left his troubled and impoverished home in the northwest of Myanmar, his mind was focused on one thing – clinching asylum status abroad. As a teacher, Fanai managed a union-funded boarding school that taught science, mathematics and languages to children. “The school ran in direct competition with the government’s education system, and it wasn’t long before I was told to leave” he said.
Unemployed, Fanai, who is of Chin descent, was among millions of Myanmarese nationals swept into political turbulence since the country’s oppressive military regime gained power in 1962. This has led to armed conflicts, widespread poverty, pressing public health challenges and a dismal human rights record.
Tired of the situation in his country, the then 27-year-old Fanai embarked on a journey to escape the oppression. With his wife Kimi and some personal belongings, he set off for the capital Yangon in 2007, booked a passage to Kuala Lumpur and had never looked back.
“The Chin tribes would mostly go to Malaysia, and I chose Kuala Lumpur because the United Nations Commission for Human Rights (UNCHR) is based here,” explained the native of Sekan Kaley Myo, a town near the Indian border state of Manipur. “Before that, all I knew of Kuala Lumpur was the Petronas Twin Towers from photographs,” he smilingly recalled. Fanai harboured the hope that the move would take him one step closer to the coveted asylum status, either in the USA or any other country that would grant residence to him and his wife. He laid everything on the line to get a shot at a new life abroad.
As with most stateless refugees, Fanai and Kimi found that life in Kuala Lumpur was no walk in the park. The registration with the UNCHR was a lengthy – and tedious – process. The waiting could drag on indefinitely, often involving numerous interviews and taking years before result was forthcoming. As the uncertainty lingered, it left them increasingly vulnerable. Their lives were marked by the constant fear of being caught by the police, or being harassed and extorted by gangsters who preyed on their plight and helplessness. And whenever work was available, there was always the looming possibility that an unscrupulous employer would exploit them.
In the midst of this, the couple moved in with Kimi’s cousin, who stayed in a small flat in Wangsa Maju, among a small cluster of other Myanmarese refugees. Their abode was frequently visited by a Myanmarese pastor, VL Rawna, who was studying theology in Malaysia. The connection proved to be significant, as Rawna introduced them and the larger community of Myanmarese refugees to Hope EFC.
Before long, Myanmarese men, women and children were welcoming Hope EFC members into their midst – eating together, learning English, having reading classes, outings and basically sharing their lives. Soon, a learning and resource centre for Myanmarese children was established, with Fanai at the helm. This centre serves the greater Myanmarese community in the Wangsa Maju area.
In 2010, the first Myanmarese service began, with Rawna and Fanai in the leadership team. “I have learned a lot from the Hope (EFC) leaders in terms of biblical leadership, thoughtfulness and showing understanding,” Fanai recollected. He felt sad, however, at the deep tribal factions which he said exist among Christian Myanmarese refugees in Malaysia. Attributing it to the consequence of the ‘divide and conquer’ strategy of the Myanmarese government, Fanai said his mission in Malaysia is to build bridges across the different tribes.
“I fight against this division, I accept and help everyone in my (learning) centre, regardless of his tribe,” he said, and added, “that’s exactly what Hope EFC is doing.”
No Gap
According to its pastor, the Chinese congregation of Hope EFC is known by the ease of interaction among believers of all ages. “We are a family church that is relaxed and it is easy to feel at home here,” said former art lecturer Chong Kengsen as he described his congregation whose age ranges between 7 and 80 years. The absence of generational gap communication was not something that happened naturally. Chong said that it was deliberately inculcated. “This value (of intergenerational communication) is being lost in the Chinese community,” he said, adding that his congregation worked hard to preserve it.
The obvious benefit was that everyone, young and old, worship collectively and were taught the Scriptures in an expository manner.
An offshoot of the English congregation, the Chinese church “first started when a member in the English congregation brought her two daughters to the Sunday School,” said Chong, who together with his wife Ang Ang, was instrumental in establishing the church. Initially Chong began evangelistic Bible study in Mandarin. Chong, who did not read Chinese then, employed the use of the English-Chinese parallel Bible to teach. Soon, a Chinese cell group emerged, beginning with four persons. This grew to 14 within a year. “Not long after, there was a suggestion for a Chinese service,” Chong recalled, “and in 1996 we started the monthly Sunday Chinese service at 1.30pm.” This went on until a year later when one of our contacts embraced the faith in their midst.
“We were suddenly faced with a ‘new problem’… we needed a weekly service to meet the spiritual needs of this new believer,” Chong explained, adding that at the same time, some college and varsity students had joined them too.
Meanwhile, Ang Ang was kept busy visiting members of the congregation. At this time, Chong was impressed by ISA 66:1: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be?” “We felt we had to build a house that was inter-generational,” said Chong.
But there was a problem. There was a dearth of young people in the church. Undaunted, Chong, along with two female church members, signed themselves up with the Girls’ Brigade in order to be trained. At the Mid-Autumn festival that year, they organised a family-type gathering and invited many people. Among the attendees were four children, who later became the first members of the Rainbow Brigade.
Rainbow Brigade
A tailor-made holistic programme, the Rainbow Brigade was birthed out of necessity in 2003. “At that time, there was no co-ed Brigade,” said Chong, “so we customised one to meet our own needs.”
Today, more than 100 children, many from broken homes, have gone through the Rainbow Brigade ministry which has given them a wholesome, practical understanding of Scripture and also instilled values in life. And inadvertently, the participants of the Rainbow Brigade provide feasible succession prospects for the church.
“Because of the Brigade, we now have a long-term second-generation leadership in place,” beamed Chong, who also noticed a growing trend towards increased youth work in the future.
In the midst of this, Chong was involved among the Orang Asal in Perak. “It was in 1991 while visiting the Orang Asal community in Perak that I heard the call to be involved in this ministry. I was sitting in an old woman’s house when I heard a distinctive voice saying ‘work among them’ thrice, followed by ‘10 years’ thrice,” Chong recalled.
For a while, he taught art & craft at Pusat Methodist Senoi, which was housed at the former Kampar Methodist Boys’ School. “Later, I focused my energy on a particular village until 2006. In 2007, we planted a church in Kampung Piong, Perak,” he said. Be it teaching in the village or city, Chong has observed one thing in his years in ministry: “It is not how much you teach (that matters), rather it is your genuine concern for them. By this, they will recover their self-worth, which will in turn promote self-learning.”
毫无隔阂
按启望之家播道会中文部的牧师看来，其教会以大小老少的信徒都能打成一片而著称。这位前任美术讲师Chong Keng Sen在形容他那些年龄介于七岁到八十岁的会众时，这么说：“我们是一所大家都放松自在的家庭教会，很容易就有家的感觉。”
会众间没有出现沟通上的代沟问题，这并不是自然而然发生的事。Chong说这是苦心孤诣谆谆教导得来的结果。他说：“这份价值（两代之间的沟通）已经在华人团体中消失了。”他附加说，他的会众都努力地保存这份价值。
明显的好处就是，每个人，不管老少，都能一起敬拜神，一起在释经的方式下得到经文的教导。
Chong说，中文部是英文部的分支，“当英文部的一位会友带了她两个女儿来上主日学的时候才开始的。”Chong和他的妻子Ang Ang是创立中文部的先锋。起初，Chong以中文的布道式
查经开始，他不谙中文，只好采用中英双语并列的《圣经》本来教导。
很快的，就出现了为数四个人的中文细胞小组。在一年的时间内，小组成长到十四个人。Chong回忆说：“不久之后，就有人建议要开始中文崇拜聚会。在1996年，我们就开始了每个月一次，在下午一点半举行的中文崇拜聚会。”
这样的情况持续了一年，直到他们当中的一位访客接受了耶稣。
Chong解释说：“我们突然间面对着一道‘新的难题’。我们需要每周一次的聚会来满足这位新信徒的属灵需要。”他接着说，在同一个时期里，也有一些学院生和大学生加入了他们的聚会。
那时，Ang Ang忙着探访会友。这时候，Chong深受《以赛亚书》66：1感动，“天是我的座位；地是我的腳凳。你们要为我造何等的殿宇？哪里是我安息的地方呢？”Chong说：“我们觉得我们要为神建立一所没有代沟的家。”
不过，中文部面对着一个问题，教会内缺少年轻人。Chong和中文部的两位姐妹义无反顾地报名参加女童子军（GB）以接受训练。2003年的中秋节，他们举办了一场家庭式的聚会，邀请许多人出席。在出席者中有四位孩童，他们后来都成了彩虹少年军的首批成员。
彩虹少年军
一个为了迎合当时需要而特制、为了帮助少年人的全人成长的彩虹少年军，就在2003年诞生了。Chong说“那时候，没有男女混合的童子军，所以，我们就定制了一支少年军来供应中文部的需求。”
今天，有超过一百多位、很多都是来自家庭破碎的孩童，接受了彩虹少年军提供给他们全面的、实用的圣经知识，以及生命价值观的培育。而彩虹少年军的学员们也不经意地为教会提供了可行的承传展望。
“因为少年军，我们目前拥有了长期第二代的领导。”Chong说时，脸上洋溢着喜色，他也留意到未来将会有青少年事工的成长趋势。
期间，Chong参与了在霹雳州的原住民事工。他追述说：“在1991年，我拜访了霹雳州的原住民社区，听见了参与这事工的呼召。我坐在一位老妇人的房子内，听见一把独特的声音重复
三次说：“在他们当中工作吧”，接着又三次重复地说：“十年”。
有一阵子，Chong在坐落于前金宝卫理男校的士乃（Senoi）卫理中心教导美术和手工。他说：“后来，我集中我的精力在某个特别的村落，直到2006年。在2007年，我们在霹雳的辟安甘榜（Kampung Piong）开始了布道事工。”
无论是在乡村或城市教导，Chong多年来的事工让他观察出一件事，“（关键）不在于你教多少，而是在于你对他们真心的关怀。如此一来，他们就会恢复自我的价值，转而促进他们的
自我学习。
A COMMUNITY TRANSFORMED
Isolated deep in the rainforest thicket, Kampung Piong is at best inaccessible and at worst a battered, nearly abandoned village in the remote tropical hill jungles off Slim River, Perak.
Pummelled by vicious outbreaks of cholera in the 1940s – right after the Japanese Occupation of Malaya in World War II – the once bustling and important Orang Asal village had seen its families drastically reduced to three when Pastor Chong Kengsen first set foot on it in 2007.
To make things more complicated, a powerful shaman (bomoh or witch doctor) held sway over the hearts and minds of the fearful, remaining villagers. “I was told to reach out to this village,” recalled Chong, who was then in the midst of doing literacy work in the nearby village of Rasau.
By then, the sparsely-populated Kampung Piong had settled on a narrow strip of rocky, boulder-filled terrain without access to basic amenities such as water. Chong took some boys from the church’s Rainbow Brigade, camped in the village, broke the ice and got to know the shaman.
Their efforts were initially rejected as the shaman did not welcome the visitors. But Chong and his company persisted. Children literacy work was soon started and later, Chong introduced the Bible to the villagers.
He also took the shaman to visit other converted Orang Asal villages. By this time, the shaman had softened his stance and was open to the prospect of going to the city with Chong.
“The turning point came when I took him to KL (Kuala Lumpur) to visit agro-related markets to broaden his knowledge,” Chong said, adding the increased level of trust had opened the way for Kampung Piong’s development.
“The first task was to convince the villagers to move back to the spacious site where the cholera had broken out decades ago,” said Chong. The ghosts of the past had to be overcome before land clearing and cultivation work could begin.
By 2009, in partnership with a local farmer, the villagers of Kampung Piong had started planting passion fruit and lime with papaya orchards and an apiary on the pipeline. There were also ongoing education efforts with Malaysian Care running development programmes in the village. “Our aim is to empower the Orang Asal to be self-sustaining while maintaining their dignity,” explained Chong, who drew inspiration from Dennis Lane’s book, Keeping Body and Soul Together.
However, ministering to the Orang Asal has not been a bed of roses. “We should wait until the Orang Asal is ready to embrace development so that the work would be truly theirs. And to avoid being accused as neo-colonialists,” advised Chong.
Chong strongly believes that this ministry requires genuine love and much patience. “One can only open opportunities of ideas, not force them,” he said.
Chong shared the case of another village where he ministered to. It took eight years before the villagers asked for a training centre for teaching, seminars and skills training. That was a significant paradigm shift, he exclaimed.
With incremental growths in Kampung Piong going well, Chong dreams of the day when Kampung Piong will in turn reach other villages with holistic development and the gospel hand in hand.
Perhaps that dream is closer to reality than he envisioned, as the bomoh had embraced Christ and is now preaching in other villages.
转型的团体
辟安甘榜（KampungPiong）位于霹雳州仕林河偏远的热带山区森林，置身热带雨林灌木丛生处，仿如与世隔绝，不仅无外人来往，甚至如同一座被打得不成形状、近乎遭人唾弃的村庄。
1940年，就是在二战期间日本占领马来亚之后，因一场突发的霍乱肆虐，当地民情大受打击，使到曾经人潮熙攘的原住民村，在2007年Chong Kengsen抵达时，其家庭数目已经大幅度降至三户人家。
后来在邻近村子拉萨乌（Rasau）教导村民识字读书的Chong追忆说：“更糟糕的是，一名强势的萨满（巫师或巫医）乘势影响那些侥幸生存下来，充满着恐惧的村民的心思意念。”
当时，人口稀疏的辟安甘榜就座落在狭长的，满是石头、漂砾的地形上，没有办法得到便利的设施，如水供。Chong带了教会彩虹少年军的一些男孩，在村子内扎营，与村民打交道，并且认识了那名萨满。
因为那位萨满不欢迎访客，他们的努力在初期时被拒绝了。然而Chong和他的伙伴坚持到底。儿童的读书识字工作很快就开始了，再后来，Chong把《圣经》介绍给村民。他也带该名萨满去拜访其他归主的原住民村子。这时候，萨满的立场已经软化，打开了自己的心，跃跃一试，要和Chong前来城市。
“整件事的转捩点，就在我带他上来吉隆坡时，走访与农业有关的市场，扩大他的视野。” Chong附加说，村人对他们信任的增加，为辟安甘榜的发展打开了道路。
Chong说：“第一件任务就是说服村民搬回地大宽敞、却是几十年前曾经发生霍乱的地方。”在清理土地和开始耕种之前，村民需要先征服过去的鬼魅记忆。
在2009年，与当地的一户农夫合作下，辟安甘榜的村民已经开始种植百香果和酸柑，也开辟进行着木瓜园和养蜂场的培植。村中也有与马来西亚基督徒关怀协会一起联办的持续
教育课程。Chong解释说：“我们的目标是要装备原住民能够自力更生，同时保有他们的尊严。”他是从Dennis Lane的著作“兼顾身体和灵魂”（Keeping Body and Soul Together）得到启发。
然而，服侍原住民的工作也不是一帆风顺的。Chong的忠告是：“我们应该等到原住民预备好接纳发展了，将工程完全归属他们，免得我们被人指控为新殖民主义者。”
Chong强烈相信这份事工需要真心的爱和许多的忍耐。他说：“人只能给他们出点子，却无法强迫他们。”
Chong分享了另一个他服侍的村子的个案。他花了八年的时间，村人才要求建造一所供教导、讲座和技术训练使用的训练中心。他惊呼说，那真是一场重大的模式转移。
辟安甘榜的成长趋势日渐好转，Chong梦想有一天辟安甘榜能转而以全方位的发展和福音，双管齐下地转化其他的村子。
也许他的梦想远比他预见的还要快速成真呢，因为当地的巫师已经接受了基督，现在正在其他村子传着福音。
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