DANIEL HO … The years in NECF have also made me sharper and clearer in facing issues at the local church level…”
Different Phases, Different Faces
NECF Malaysia is in an enviable and blessed position today, thanks largely to the foundation laid by past employees who laboured long and hard in the early days to promote the ministry. The task of assembling Evangelicals was not easy considering the fragmented state of Evangelical churches scattered all over the country.
In an interview with Berita NECF, NECF founding general secretary Daniel Ho shares glimpses about his task then and some of the challenges during the early years.
Can you categorise the different stages of NECF’S growth?
The initial years were spent in laying the foundation, building the structure, trying to diversify and seeking how best NECF could represent and contribute to the churches.
Finance was one of the major challenges. In the early days, I sometimes had to press the panic button because there was no money to pay salaries. There were only two staff members – my secretary and myself. I told the council that the secretary must be paid. My wife was still holding a job, so we were able to manage.
Another problem was staff shortage. For example, we had to post out large quantities of the Berita (NECF) and I remember having to lug them to the post office and standing there for hours just to paste stamps.
There was also the need to raise up different commissions to spearhead different areas of ministries so that we could be more effective. The various commissions helped to diversify NECF’s ministry in a greater measure.
Another major challenge was to get the present building that NECF is in. That was my final task before leaving NECF. We scouted for the building, looked for the funds, set it in place and before I could move in, I left.
When (Ooi) Chin Aik took over (as acting general secretary for two years), he strengthened the foundation and I must say he did a good job. Then, Kim Kong (current secretary-general) came and there was an upsurge, a kind of exponential take-off. Because the foundation has been laid and the structure set in place, it was ready to explode. In fact, just before I left, we were rated among the top five fellowships in the world by WEF (World Evangelical Fellowship) in terms of effectiveness, contribution and visibility.
From being the general secretary, you are now sitting on the other end as pastor of a local church. How have your years in NECF helped you in your present ministry?
The vastness of contacts I made has been very valuable. The years in NECF have also made me sharper and clearer in facing issues at the local church level, for example in the area of evangelism and the use of Bahasa words, and our constitutional rights to practise our faith.
Dealing with the authorities while in NECF has given others and me the confidence on how to relate to them.
The next thing I learned is to be Kingdom minded. I see myself as not just building my own denominational church, but building a Kingdom church. We will work with any group, any church, and any denomination to advance God’s kingdom.
REV. GERAWAT MARAN
FORMER PRESIDENT OF SIB S ARAWAK
“In the late 1970s, our founding missionaries from the Borneo Evangelical Mission started leaving Sabah and Sarawak. There were many uncertainties and feelings of insecurity as we were then very dependent on them. Our acceptance into NECF in 1984 boosted the confidence of our national leadership. We suddenly felt we were not alone but were a part of a much bigger family, nationally and internationally.
This sense of belonging and identity gave us a new focus and hope in our mission and purpose. We have also learned to overcome our inferior mindset of an indigenous and rural Church as we realised we are equal partners in building God’s kingdom.
Through NECF, our people have had the opportunity of attending conferences at the national and international level and these have enriched us and again, given us more confidence to carry on the good work the missionaries had started. We have also been able to give back to the churches in the peninsula by seconding our workers to help out in the BM work.
But we would appreciate if NECF can come and visit the East Malaysian churches more often, and to conduct more leadership seminars here.” |
