and Christians who made it an island of faith and hope.
Men who won't remain silent
" … THE purpose
of our visit to Bangka was to search out a group of Chinese workers
at a mining settlement on the isolated west coast not accessible
to sailing craft. We heard news of Christ being preached among
them and had had a letter from their leader … urging us to
visit them as soon as possible….
Mr Miauw (pastor of the Ulu Methodist
Church in Palembang) … was our guide to the small village
of Tempilang, which we approached early one afternoon. We waited
for several hours in the rustic two-room house of Mr Foe Pit-Djoeng,
the leader of the group, while the workers finished their work
in the tin pits and returned to their homes to prepare for the
afternoon service.
Pastor Miauw praying
with a new Christian family getting ready to burn their ancient
family alter as they take up their new faith. - Methodist
Church Archives picture.
We
heard the story of how Mr Foe found his remarkable faith. Just
before the Japanese war, an aged Chinese gentleman, who had received
education and baptism in a Methodist Church in Singapore, returned
to Bangka and told of his joyous new faith to two young men in
a tin town in the north of the island. The youths scoffed at the
old man until, before their eyes, he was healed of an affliction
that had been his for years.
The young men believed and through prayer were filled with a zeal
to let others know of God's Grace. They began house meetings under
the watchful eyes of their Japanese captors during the war. The
church, which has grown through their efforts, is now a strong
congregation in the town of Belinju, not related to any denomination
but serving in an especially remarkable way.
One of those young men, Mr Ng Oen Djoe, has seen both of his children
grow up to become servants of the Lord, one a pastor and the other
a pastor's wife in the Methodist Church in South Sumatra.
Hearing of the faith of the Christian group in Belinju, Mr Foe
sought them out from his home in Tempilang. He had for months
been suffering from a nervous disease that could apparently not
be cured successfully through medical means. He had spent all
of his savings with doctors on the island.
He came to Belinju in search of a powerful dukun or local practitioner
in the ancient Indonesian and Chinese magic. Instead, friends
said to him, "Why don't you go up to the little church? There
is a physician there who is stronger than all the dukuns in the
district." During his first service of worship, Mr Foe was
cured and has been praising and giving thanks to the Lord ever
since.
Upon his return to Tempilang, Mr Foe could not keep quiet and,
following the pattern of new Christians since the beginning of
the era, he told of his faith to others. One after another of
the Chinese clerks in the tiny settlement heard and believed and
brought their wives to hear. The children were gathered into a
class and through Mr Foe the Gospel story was recounted again
and again.
Mr Miauw visited them and encouraged the work and now we were
here to meet and to organise a new worshipping community …
During the service a tall Chinese man, a descendant of the sturdy
Hakka stock of South China who have made their homes in Bangka
for several centuries, came up to the crude altar. He witnessed
to the group concerning his recent miraculous healing. He had
suffered for six months past a most violent form of nervous shaking
that had left him unable to work, to sit, to sleep, or to eat
properly. He had tried everything in his attempt to calm the disease,
and had come to church after hearing of the blessings that had
come to others.
He said that after he had been in church three times and had prayed
earnestly, his shakings ceased altogether and he stood before
us sturdy and strong. There was no violent emotion, no wild outcries
that have sometimes been associated with faith-healing. He had
believed, he had prayed and his faith had made him well. He invited
us all to his home following the service, for he planned to bury
all of the idols and religious symbols in his home as a sign of
his adherence to a new faith.
Quite apparently the Holy Spirit has moved mightily among the
Chinese on Bangka … Looking back ...we couldn't help but
wonder where next the Gospel would be preached by this new convert.
He will not remain silent." - MM, October 1962, page 4 (slightly
edited).
Earnest Lau, the Associate Editor of Methodist Message, is
also the Archivist of The Methodist Church in Singapore.
QUOTE:
MIGHTY SPIRIT
'Quite apparently the Holy Spirit has moved mightily among
the Chinese on Bangka … '