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Story of PIASAU Baptist Church

Early 

Years

  • Pre-1973: Early evangelistic work by Pastor Bob Evans in Miri

  • September 1973: Pastor Charles Thurman & Kathie Braugton (missionaries from the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board) reached Miri. Based at No.36 Piasau Garden

  • 26 May 1974: 1st Baptismal Service for 16 new believers

  • 14 February 1976: Miri Baptist Church (MBC) formally organized, with 25 charter members

  • 26 July 1976: the Braughtons left Sarawak. Church shifted meeting place to No.271, Piasau Garden. The State Government then granted Lot 821, Piasau Garden for the church building. Church building program initiated

  • 17 April 1977: Kenneth Ong, Christie Goh and Adeh ak. Tikok ordained as deacons by FMB missionaries from Kuching

  • 8 January 1978: James Khoo Tiang Veng installed as first Malaysian pastor by Pastor Charles Morris. Called by the church in November 1977

  • 1978-79: years of growth and activities, including new believers, new members, T.E.E (Theological Education by Extension) courses and outreach programs

  • October 1978: New church building start construction. Financed by grants from FMB, Malaysia-Singapore Baptist Mission, building pledges and gifts from local members. Completed in early October 1979

  • 6 January 1980: New building dedicated. Pastor James Khoo was ordained

  • 27 August 1982: Sarawak Government officially approved the registration of Sarawak Baptist Church (SBC). Miri Baptist Church officially known as Piasau Baptist Branch (PBC) of SBC

  • October 1986: Calvary Baptist Branch registered in Bintulu, through outreach work by Pastor James Khoo and Jasbir Singh in 1982

  • 1992: Ministry work in Limbang halted. Later re-started by Emmanuel Baptist Branch

  • Iban ministry at the Lutong and Pujut Corner squatter areas. Work eventually resulted in Lutong Baptist Branch and Pujut Baptist Branch.

  • 30 October 1993: Pastor Khoo and family left for Kota Kinabalu, after nearly 16 years of pastoring PBC

Formative

Years

  • 1993 - 2003: PBC was without a pastor, except for one year, 1999

  • July 1996: Lutong Baptist Chapel officially became Lutong Baptist Branch. Later, Pujut Baptist Branch was registered in March 2001

  • November 1998: Taman Tunku Chapel (Iban) work started, led by Mary Thambie ak. Kalu as Church Missionary, who served until 6 October 2002.  In 1999, 8 new Iban believers from Taman Tunku were baptized

  • 1 January 1999 - 28 February 2000: Pastor Yee Ting Kong pastored PBC

  • 28 February 1999: Mandarin/Hokkien Ministry, started in 1979, was re-launched at Pujut 7 Shoplot. Service later shifted to PBC main building

  • 15 April 2001: First baptismal service of 6 new believers of Mandarin Ministry

  • 1 July 2003: Lim Thien Leong began his tenure as “Kingdom Service Worker” and continued to serve as pastor to-date

Maturing

Years

New

Direction

  • Through increased prayer meetings, the Holy Spirit imparts fresh spiritual visions, encouragement and admonitions for the church

  • 2006: Trinity Baptist Chapel was started by 4 core families. Officially registered as Trinity Baptist Branch in 2009

  • 2006: First Cell Leaders Retreat, where leaders re-cast a new vision for PBC to begin the transformation journey to become a Cell Church

  • 2007: the Curtin Ministry launched to minister to the Curtin University students, with the vision to establish a University Baptist Church

  • 21 June 2008: the vision to build a new sanctuary was birthed in a Day of Prayer. This building project, called "Rebuilding the Lord's House" commenced with conceptual design in 2009. Building Fund launched in October, 2010

  • 2011: Launched "FaithWorks" to work out our vision of reaching our community through community service. Started the “Reading Bus” program, which evolved to our present “e-Kids” program

  • 3 March 2012: Taman Tunku Baptist Chapel, with 39 members, released to Lutong Baptist Church

  • 18 May 2015: Construction of new sanctuary began. Completed in November 2016

  • 1 Jan 2017: Pr. Wallace Ong Chin Uei appointed as pastor of Mandarin congregation

  • 5 Mar 2017: First service in the new sanctuary

  • 26 May 2018: Official Opening of new sanctuary with “Celebrating God’s Goodness” Service and Carnival

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