The Borneo Evangelical Mission was a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

Christian

missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

society that worked among the people of

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. It was founded in October 1928 by three Australian missionaries, Hudson Southwell (

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

), Frank Davidson ( Anglican) and Carey Tolley (

Church of the Brethren The Church of the Brethren is an Anabaptist Christian denomination in the Schwarzenau Brethren (german: link=no, Schwarzenauer Neutäufer "Schwarzenau New Baptists") tradition that was organized in 1708 by Alexander Mack in Schwarzenau, Germ ...

). In 1975 the BEM merged with Overseas Missionary Fellowship (formerly the

China Inland Mission OMF International (formerly Overseas Missionary Fellowship and before 1964 the China Inland Mission) is an international and interdenominational Evangelical Christianity, Christian missionary society with an international centre in Singapore. It ...

History

The Borneo Evangelical Mission (BEM) was pioneered by Hudson Southwell together with two fellow missionaries Frank Davidson and Carey Tolley of Australia. They boarded an old cargo steamer from Melbourne in early October 1928 bound for Singapore. Travelling with them was Alexander Henderson, a pioneer of the Southeast Asian timber trade who had offered to help establish a base on the island of Borneo. Henderson left the team the following year. On 12 November 1928, Southwell and Henderson landed in Kuching, Borneo. The

Rajah ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested fr ...

, Charles Vyner Brooke, gave permission to establish a mission in

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...

and recommended starting in the

Limbang Limbang is a border town and the capital of Limbang District in the Limbang Division of northern Sarawak, East Malaysia, on the island of Borneo. This district area is 3,978.10 square kilometres, and population (year 2020 census) was 56,900. ...

area to the north-east. Davidson and Tolley were to join them later. Sarawak, together with

Sabah Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory o ...

and the Federation of Malayan States came together and formed

in 1963. With the increasing use of the Malaysian national language, Borneo Evangelical Mission (BEM) soon became

Sidang Injil Borneo The Borneo Evangelical Church or SIB ( ms, Sidang Injil Borneo) is an evangelical Christian denomination in Malaysia. The church was organised in 1959 from the work of the Borneo Evangelical Mission with help from the Christian and Missionary ...

(SIB). Today, SIB churches may be found in Sarawak, Sabah and

Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia ( ms, Semenanjung Malaysia; Jawi: سمننجڠ مليسيا), or the States of Malaya ( ms, Negeri-negeri Tanah Melayu; Jawi: نڬري-نڬري تانه ملايو), also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, ...

Bibliography

* Bray, Jenny, ''Longhouse of faith'', Borneo Evangelical Mission, 1971. * Bray, Jenny, ''Longhouse of fear'', Borneo Evangelical Mission. * Cole, R Alan. ''Emerging pattern. CIM work in the Diocese of Singapore and Malaya, London'', China Inland Mission / Overseas Missionary Fellowship, 1961, 48pp. * Day, Phyllis. ''Sold twice. the story of a girl in West Malaysia''. Original story by Norah Rowe; illustrations by Nancy Harding, OMF, London, 1968, 31pp. Paper. True story of the conversion of a girl sold as an infant and later bought back by her mother. * Hunt, Gillian. ''All the pieces fit'', OMF, Singapore, 1987, pp. 28–157. * Lees, Shirley. ''Drunk before dawn'', OMF, 1979. Story of the Borneo Evangelical Mission now part of the Overseas Missionary Fellowship. * Lees, Shirley P. ''Jungle Fire'', Oliphants, 1964, 94pp. Spread of Christianity among Borneo tribal groups in the 1950s. * Lees, Shirley and Bill. ''Is it sacrifice?'' OMF/IVP/STL, 1987, 192pp. Experiences with the Tagal people in Sabah and other work of the BEM/OMF in East Malaysia. * Nightingale, Ken. ''One way through the jungle'', OMF/BEM, 1970. * Newton, Brian William. ''A new dawn over Sarawak: the church and its mission in Sarawak, East Malaysia'', MA thesis, Fuller Theological Seminary, 1988, 198pp. * Peterson, Robert. ''Roaring Lion. Spiritism in Borneo challenged by the power of Christ'', Overseas Missionary Fellowship, 1968, 1970. * Rusha, Gladys. ''Truth to tell in Borneo'', 1969, Oliphants. * Southwell, C Hudson, ''Uncharted Waters'', 1999, Astana Publishing.

References

{{Protestant missions to Southeast Asia Christian organizations established in 1928 Christian missionary societies