ABOUT US
The Founding of Melaka Gospel Chapel church in melaka, malacca church
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:19-20 KJV)
melaka Gospel Chapel, church in melaka, melaka church, malacca church
The story of the founding of Melaka Gospel Chapel has to be told, particularly so when on 13 February 2016 we celebrate our 50th anniversary. This intention is that we will continue to set our hope in God and not to forget to walk by faith and conviction to uphold and act on the commandment of Jesus Christ in sharing the Gospel to those we come in contact with.
The Root of Melaka Gospel Chapel
In 1934 the Malacca Brethren assembly work was first
established when the late Mr & Mrs Tan Gim Ann held
their first Breaking of Bread with a few other believers in
their home. After WW2, in 1948 this group of brethren
erected a timber meeting place on the state land with
Temporary Occupation Licence (TOL) provided by the
British government. The gospel outreach building was
named Malacca Gospel Hall (MGH). God gave the increase
of believers through weekly Gospel meetings, Open Air
gospel outreach and special gospel campaigns. Believers
grew in the knowledge and love for Jesus Christ. There was
an overall enthusiasm to reach out to their non-Christian
parents and friends in homes, work places and schools.
Thank God for the spiritual nurture that we received from our
first missionary Mr & Mrs Frank A.V. Regler from England. He
established an effective Sunday School and youth ministry
and also greatly encouraged older young teenagers and
men in the assembly in pulpit ministry and outreach work,
reaching the unreached. I remember as a piano accordionist
travelling weekly with Mr & Mrs Regler to share the gospel to
juvenile criminals in Henry Gurney School at Telok Mas and
also at the Open-air Meeting on the padang (open ground)
opposite the present Melaka Public Bank at Riverside Road.
Short messages were given in both Chinese and in English,
interspersed with the singing of hymns and choruses.
Since the 50’s the Malacca brethren assembly had
always welcomed and prayed for the activities and
fellowshipped with the Lord’s servants in organisations
such as the Overseas Missionary Fellowship (OMF),
Far East Broadcasting Corporation (FEBC) and Asia
Evangelistic Fellowship (AEF—the first indigenous and
interdenominational faith mission started by the late Dr G D
James, a Singapore Brethren missionary), Scripture Union
and Youth For Christ, Varsity Christian Fellowship (VCF)
and Fellowship of Evangelical Students (FES). One of the
highlights was chartering a bus with non-Christian friends to
attend the first Billy Graham Crusade held in the Merdeka
Stadium, Kuala Lumpur.
1957 the Reglers left Malacca on furlough after faithfully
serving the assembly for a decade. In the absence of a full-
time worker, short-term and itinerant Brethren missionaries
from the British Isles, Australia, New Zealand, and Bible teachers and elders of inter-state Brethren assemblies came
to minister to us.
1960s – Bethany
1970s – Gospel Chapel Malacca
1970s – Renovation
2012 – The church before the latest transformation
The Rise of a Second Brethren Assembly Work in Malacca
In 1965, the Oversight of Malacca Gospel Hall (MGH) had a change of perspective and strong conviction not to participate or associate any more with para-church organisations, inter-denominational and denominational churches. In response to that, a few of us, after much self- examination and agonising prayers, felt it was expedient to maintain order and unity in the assembly by not challenging the stand of the Oversight. So as not to relinquish our active involvement in secondary and tertiary student ministry and in partnership with inter-denominational organisations, a few of us heeded God’s calling to quietly withdraw ourselves from worshipping at Malacca Gospel Hall. In that year, standing before God, responsible and accountable only to Him, the families of the late Tan Gim Ann, Dr Michael and Molly Oh, Molly and Richard Teo Boon Siew and the late Mr & Mrs Koch, and Mary Chang left MGH. This initial exodus was later followed by Tan Beng Tee, Paul Tan, Daisy Tan, Teo Boon Cheng, and the late Thomas Leong.
In Bethany, Limbongan, the home of the late Mr & Mrs Tan
Gim Ann, we gathered for weekly Breaking of Bread, Sunday
School, prayer and youth meetings. Who would have
expected that Bethany would be again the birth place of the
second Brethren Assembly work in Malacca!
On 12 February 1966, a letter with several signatories was
sent to the Brethren assemblies in Singapore and Malaysia
to inform them that those who met at Bethany in Limbongan could no longer continue to worship in Malacca Gospel
Hall. This was followed by an explanatory letter to the Elders
of MGH to clarify for the establishment a new Brethren
Assembly known as Malacca Gospel Chapel. At that time
we had no idea what the sovereign Lord had in store for us.
In the 1970s the level of devotion and enthusiasm for
evangelical witness and outreach saw numbers increasing.
MGC was abundantly blessed with an influx of high school
students. We witnessed lives changed for Christ. At that
period of time there was also an exodus of the families of Dr
Michael Oh, Richard Teo, Paul Tan and Teo Boon Cheng to
Australia. However, God in His sovereignty filled the gaps of
leadership with the late Tan Eng Heng, Betty Tan, Richard
Chen & Yoke May, Victor & Patricia Wong, Josephine
Wong, Gan Chui Peng, Stanley & Lucy Lim to support the
remaining elder, the late Tan Beng Tee.
Over the last five decades, the MGC building has undergone
several changes. As a congregation, the spirit, vision and
mission of the pioneers has remained strong in their hearts.
Praise God, under the present oversight, MGC faithfully
continues to serve God earnestly and fervently to meet
the needs of His people and the unsaved for His glory and
praise.
“And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and
fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”
(Acts 2:42)
2016 – Melaka Gospel Chapel
2019 – Melaka Gospel Chapel
