Christian Basel church in Malaysia - Basel Christian Church in Malaysia (BCCM)

The Basel Christian Church of Malaysia
BCCM
 

In 1878 British Chartered Company bought the area  which is today Sabah for 35,000 gold dollar from Sultan of Brunei.

British Chartered Company representatives wanted to pull to profit from this piece of fertile land as fast as possible, thus began a decades continuous inflow of landless Chinese farmers to  North Borneo beginning 1880.

During the recruitment of these settlers the Chartered company turn to Basel Missioner Lechler as an intermediaries in China. Large number Basel mission Christians families began immigration from China. The first Chinese settlers arrived at Kudat Town , the capital at that time of North Borneo where they worked in coconut plantations.

Later immigrants distributed themselves along the coasts of North Borneo, where they created independent Basel communities

BCCM was the first partner church of the Basel mission in Eastern Asia, which practiced the ideals of the “three-self movement” (self administration, self-financially supporting, self preaching).

The origin of BCCM started in Kwangtung, China amoung the Hakka poor peasants.  In 1847 missionaries of the Basel Mission started evangelistic work among the Hakkas people in Hong Kong then to Kwangtung in South China.

For political and economic reasons many Hakkas migrated to North Borneo at that time under indirect British North Borneo Administration in the 1850s.

The first Christian Hakka 'Pioneer' reached Kudat in 1882 and others were to follow and to settle at different places in North Borneo.

They set up a loose association of “Basel congregations.” In 1907, at the request of the colonial regime, the Basel Mission established direct relations with them, intending to establish an independent church in North Borneo.

The realization of the project was prevented by World War I. In 1925 the church became independent. After the formation of Malaysia (1963), the church adopted its present name.

After the WWII, owners of plantations began to gain prosperity and forming commercial companies in the main towns.  At this time the church began to have finance to develop education which is in great need of  their Children.

Malaysia gained independent in 1963. The church change their names to Basel Christian Church of Malaysia (BCCM)

The wooden old church was where my parents had their marriage ceremony in 1951/1952.

Basel Church is different from the Church I went in Simanggang Town - The Methodist Church. The new Methodist Church I went in 1963-1964 have Christian spirit while this Basel Church in Jesselton was more like a Hakka Association with Hakka Tradition.

The Basel Primary School has long shifted to Likas area 10 km away and the old wooden school building is no more exist today.

I studied in Basel Primary School in Jesselton in 1964.  This school believed to be also attended by many of the Wong family members. In the early days Hakka was used as the teaching language in al Basel School in Sabah. By the time I studied there the language media had already changed to Mandarin Language.

I was in Jesselton 1964-1966. Grandma Phang Lien Yin was a 'Jong Lau' (Elderly) of the Church, one of her main responsibilities as an Church Elderly was to count the contribution collected during the service.  Every Sunday she would bring the 4 grandchildren to church without fail. While she attended the Church Services in the wooden old church , me and other children (including Fook Foong) would attend the Sunday School which occupied the school classroom.

The pastor during my time was Rev. Ku Shuk Hee.  I was in Primary 5 in Basel Primary School. Each week we had a "Bible Lesson".  What I learn during the Bible Lessons was 'The Lord's Prayer'.  Every one of us must by heart 'The Lord's Prayer'  (in Mandarin language).  Our year end examination on "Bible Lesson" was also the  'The Lord's Prayer' when each of the student in turn would stand in front Rev. Ku Shuk Hee and say out loud the 'The Lord's Prayer'  (without looking at the prayer book).

I passed my Bible examination. I could by heart 'The Lord's Prayer' with not mistake. After all,  we were given one whole year, every school week a lesson, just to learn this one and only prayer 'The Lord's Prayer'.

After 40 years today I still remember 50% of the this prayer in Chinese "Our Father in heaven etc ..........................................................Amen"

In 1974 the church began evangelistic work among the indigenous people of the area (Bumiputra). The number of indigenous believers quickly increased, and today Malay-speaking Christians outnumber Chinese-speaking members.

The BCCM is the leading member of an association of different Sabah churches, which run the Theological Seminary of Sabah (Seminari Theologi Sabah) in Kota Kinabatu.

Though the structure of the BCCM is genuinely Ref (autonomy of congregations, elected lay president, strong lay participation in decision-making bodies, periodical election of headpastor, who is called bishop), the church is a full member of the LWF. This is because the Basel Mission combined Luth and Ref traditions from the very beginning; it also chose to have close relations with the Tsung Tsin Mission in Hong Kong (TTM).

Past Pastoral workers