The True Jesus Church in Sabah 沙巴真耶穌教會
From a magazine to 15,800 believers. 從一本雜誌到15800個信徒
by Sabah General Assembly 沙巴總會
After the True Jesus Church’s establishment in China in 1917, the gospel spread to Taiwan, Singapore, and subsequently
to Sabah, which was then known as North Borneo. Although Sabah is now part of Malaysia, it has its own General
Assembly due to historical developments and geographical reasons. In this article, we will present the history of the True
Jesus Church in Sabah and give an overview of its current status.
1917年真耶穌教會在中國成立之後，福音傳到台灣，新加坡，並且接著就傳到沙巴，而這個地方也叫作北婆羅州。
雖然現在沙巴是馬來西亞的一部份，因為歷史發展和地理環境的原故，設有自已的總會。
在本篇文章裡，我們會呈現沙巴真耶穌教會的歷史，並且對於其目前的現況給予大約的介紹。
BRIEF HISTORY 簡史
1920s
In 1927, two True Jesus Church
deacons from West Malaysia visited
Singapore; one of them, Deacon
(Dn.) John Vun, sent a copy of the
Holy Spirit Monthly magazine to
Sabah (formerly known as North
Borneo, a British colony). The
magazine came into the possession
of a pious believer from the Seventh
Day Adventist church. His name was
Lee Siak Lin who became the first
seed of the True Jesus Church in
Sabah.
1920年代
1927年，有二位從西馬來西亞的真耶穌教會執事，來訪問新加坡；
其中之一，溫約翰執事，送了一本聖靈月刊到沙巴(以前叫作北婆羅州，是英國的殖民地)。
這本月刊送到了一位虔誠的信徒手中，他是來自基督復臨安息日會。
他的名字是李錫齡，是沙巴真耶穌教會的第一個種子。
Filled with zeal after reading the
Holy Spirit Monthly, Lee Siak Lin
boarded a ship to Singapore to look
for Dn. Vun to study the truth. Once
he understood, he accepted the truth
and was baptized. He then invited Dn.
Vun to preach the gospel in Sabah.
Dn. Vun obliged and together with a
few co-workers, they sailed to Sabah.
While in Sabah, they witnessed the
amazing work of the Holy Spirit.
Miracles and signs abounded. A
person crushed to death by a big tree
was revived after prayers. Every night
believers went to a mountain to pray
and hold services. Many received the
Holy Spirit.
讀了聖靈月刊之後，他充滿了熱心，李鍚齡先生坐船到新加坡找溫執事來學習真理。
在他明白真理之後，他就接受真道，並且也接受洗禮成為信徒。
然後他就邀請溫執事到沙巴來傳福音。
溫執事感到有責任這麼作，就和幾位同工，一起坐船到沙巴。
在沙巴的時候，他們見証了聖靈奇妙的工作。
有許多的神蹟和奇事。
有一個人被大樹壓到，並且快要死了，在禱告之後，就重新復活過來。
每天晚上都有信徒跑到山上去禱告和聚會。
並且有許多人都得到了聖靈。
Through the power of the Holy
Spirit, many believed in the Lord
in those early days; the number
of believers soon exceeded five
hundred. The gospel spread rapidly
to the Chinese community. By 1930,
eight churches and prayer houses
had been established.
透過聖靈的能力，在早先這個時期裡，有許多人信主；
信徒的人數很快的就超過了500人。
福音迅速地被傳開到華人的社區。
在1930年的時候，有8個教會，並且有許多祈禱所已經成立。
1930s 1930年代
In 1934, a Chinese businessman by
the name of Chin Chin Chan (Dn.
John Chin) from Tuaran, on the West
coast of Sabah, took his twelve-year old
son to Fuzhou, China, to learn
Chinese. There, he came to believe in
the Lord and was baptized in the True
Jesus Church in Dagen, Fuzhou.
1934年，有一位中國的生意人，他是斗亞蘭的陳約翰執事，住沙巴的西岸，帶著12歲的兒子到中國福州，學中文。
在那裡，他來信主，並且在福州大根的真耶穌教會受洗。
In 1935, he returned to Sabah
and immediately put up a True Jesus
Church signboard above his shop.
He started preaching the gospel and
held services at his shop every night.
Around thirty-five people attended
services at that time.
1935年，他回到沙巴，立刻就把真耶穌教會的招牌放在他的店門上。
他開始傳福音，每天晚上在他的店裡，舉行聚會。
在那個時候，大約有35個人參加聚會。
During that period, Dn. Chin
contracted severe tuberculosis.
He prayed and vowed that if God
healed him, he would become a fulltime
evangelist. Miraculously, he
was cured. Dn. Chin kept his word
and traveled extensively to preach
the gospel. His son, Dn. Samuel
Chin, one of our early workers, also
became an evangelist.
在那個時期，陳執事感染了嚴重的肺結核。
他禱告神，並且許願，若是神醫治了他，他就要成為全職的傳道人。
很神奇地，他就被治好了。
陳執事遵守他的諾言，到處旅行來傳福音。
他的兒子，陳撒母耳執事，是我們的早期工人之一，也成為一個傳道人。
Dn. Samuel Chin’s wife was from the
Dusun tribe, the largest indigenous
tribe in Sabah. Through her contacts,
the gospel was preached to her
relatives in the Dusun dominated
areas. In 1936, the first indigenous
church was established. Through the
working of the Holy Spirit, the gospel
was subsequently preached to other
indigenous tribes, such as the Murut
tribe, in the interior regions of Sabah.
陳撒母耳執事的夫人是來自杜順族的，是沙巴最大的原住民族群。
透過她的親朋友好，福音就被傳到掌管當地的杜順族，她的親戚。
1936年，第一個原住民教會就成立了。
透過聖靈的工作，福音接下來就傳到其他的原住民族群，例如在沙巴內陸的毛律族。
1940s–1950s 1940至1950年代
During the Second World War,
between 1942 and 1945, the church
ceased to hold services; believers had
to flee from the Japanese soldiers and
went into hiding. Yet, by God’s grace,
the believers continued to gather and
hold family services.
第二次世界大戰期間，在1942到1945年之間，教會停止聚會；
信徒要逃離日本兵，跑去躲起來。
然而因為神的恩典，許多信徒繼續聚集，並且舉行家庭聚會。
Position of Sabah in South-East Asia
東南亞沙巴的位置
True Jesus Church Kota Kinabalu
沙巴亞庇真耶穌教會
1960s–1970s 1960至1970年代
In the 1960s and 1970s, the church
in Sabah experienced rapid growth.
From 1964 to 1965, the General
Assembly of Taiwan sent Dn. John
Yang and Dn. Lin Feng Lai to Sabah
to assist in the holy work. These two
early workers helped to establish
the foundation of the pastoral and
evangelistic work in Sabah; their main
contribution being the cultivation
of religious education teachers. If
we look back at the history of the
church in Sabah, we can see that
God has especially blessed the local
religious education work. Many
of our current ordained ministers,
both preachers and deacons, were
religious education teachers trained
by Dn. John Yang in the 1960s and
1970s.
在1960年代到1970年代的時候，沙巴教會經歷了迅速的成長。
從1964年到1965年之間，台灣總會派楊約翰執事和林奉來執事來沙巴協助聖工。
二位早期的工人，幫助沙巴建立牧養和福音工作的基礎；
他們主要的貢獻就是培養很多宗教教育的老師。
若是我們回頭檢視沙巴教會的歷史，我們可以看到，神特別祝福地方教會的宗教教育工作。
許多我們現在被按立的負責人，不論是傳道或是執事，都是被楊約翰執事，在1960年和1970年代的時候，所訓練的宗教教育老師。
Administration and Facilities 行政和設施
In 1927, when the true church was
first established in Sabah, it was
under the administration of the
General Assembly (GA) of mainland
China and was known as the “North
Borneo Branch” with its liaison center
in Sandakan.
1927年，當真教會在沙巴一開始成立的時候，它的組織編制，是屬於大陸總會行政編制之下，也被視為"北婆羅洲分會"，並且在山打根有設立聯絡中心。
In 1945, after the Second World
War, the state capital of North
Borneo was relocated from Sandakan
to Jesselton (now Kota Kinabalu)
by the government. Various church
denominations were advised to reregister
with the authorities.
1945年，二次大戰之後，政府把北婆羅洲的首都，從山打根遷到亞庇(現在叫哥打京那巴魯)。
各種教派都被通告要到政府那裡註冊。
In 1952, our church also reregistered
as the “Branch Board
of the True Jesus Church” under
the administration of the General
Assembly of Mainland China, with its
office at Jesselton.
1952年，我們的教會也以"真耶穌教會分會"的名義來註冊，是隸屬在大陸總會行政體系之下，並且在亞鹿設立辨公室。
In 1975 Sabah officially established
its own General Assembly.
1975年，沙巴正式成立自已的總會。
In 1981, the Kota Kinabalu
church constructed a five-storey
administrative building. As Sabah GA
was without a proper office at the
time, it shared an office with the Kota
Kinabalu church.
1981年，哥打京那巴魯教會
In 2009, the Sabah GA constructed
its own five-storey administrative
building, with facilities such as a
theological seminary, conference hall,
library, hostel, and multipurpose hall.
2009年，沙巴總會建造自已五層樓的行政大樓，有許多設施，如神學院，會議大廳，圖書館，招待所和多功能用途大廳
CURRENT SITUATION 目前的情形
The Churches 教會數量圓餅圖
Churches, Prayer Houses, Pleaces of Worship in Sabah 沙巴教會，祈禱所，聚會所
77 Churches 教會
29 Player Houses 祈禱所
52 Places of Worship 聚會所
Membership and Workers 信徒和工人統計表
Total membership 15801 全部信徒 15801
Elders 10 長老 10
Preacher 24 傳道 24
Deacons 148 執事 148
Theological students 3 神學生 3
Full-time GA staff 5 總會全職職員 5
The Three Pastoral Zones 三個牧養地區
In order to facilitate pastoral and
evangelistic work, the Sabah churches
are divided into three pastoral zones:
West Coast Zone, East Coast Zone,
and Interior Zone.
為了幫助巡牧和福音的事工，沙巴教會被分為三個牧養的區域：
西岸區，東岸區，內陸區。
The West Coast Zone consists of
four sub-zones, Beaufort in the southwest,
Kudat in the most northern part
of Sabah, Tuaran in the north-west,
and Kota Kinabalu, the state capital.
Although the last three sub-zones
do not occupy large geographical
areas, they have the highest number
of believers and churches, and their
congregations comprise members of
Chinese origin and from indigenous
tribes. Most of our churches in Sabah
are situated in the West Coast Zone,
and eleven preachers are assigned to
take care of this zone.
西岸區由四個小區組合，西南的保弗，沙巴最北的古達，西北的斗亞蘭，和首都哥打京那巴魯。
雖然最後三個小區，地理上並不是佔有大片地區，他們有最高的教會數和信徒人數，
而會眾是由華人和原住民的信徒所組成。
我們大部份沙巴的教會，是座落在西岸的地區，有11位傳道人被分派來照顧這個地區。
The East Coast Zone is located in
the eastern region of Sabah. There are
fewer churches there. The churches
are very far from one another, but
they have large congregations.
Hence, there are a number of large
church buildings in the East Coast
Zone. This zone is divided into three
sub-zones: Sandakan, Lahad Datu,
and Tawau.
東岸區是座落在沙巴的東部地區。
那裡有幾間教會。
每間教會都互相間隔很遠，但是他們都有很多信徒。
因此，東岸區的教會，有幾間大間的會堂。
這個區域分成三個小區：山打根，拿篤和斗湖。
The Interior Zone is divided
into five sub-zones: Bingkor,
Tenom, Kemabong, Nabawan, and
Pensiangan. Bingkor and Tenom
are the only two areas with Chinese
brethren in the Interior Zone.
Pensiangan is located in a very
remote region of Sabah, near the
border of Indonesia.
內陸區分成五個小區：Bingkor，丹南，哥馬邦，納巴灣，秉祥安。
Bingkor和丹南是內陸區裡其中二個有華人的弟兄姐妹的地區。
秉祥安座落在沙巴非常偏遠的地區，接近和印尼的邊界。
Beyond the shores of Sabah, the
GA also cares for the churches in
the neighboring Malaysian state
of Sarawak as well as a small island
called Labuan, which is under the
management of Malaysia’s Federal
Territory.
除了沙巴沿岸各區之外，沙巴總會也照顧馬來西亞鄰近的另一洲，沙撈越的所有教會，並且也包含一個叫作納閩島的小島，
這座小島也是在馬來西亞聯邦管理之下的領土。
Sarawak is the largest state
in Malaysia, with a population
of 2,470,000. Over 75% of the
population are Christians, and there
are many Chinese who speak the
Minnan and Fuzhou dialects. Yet
we have only two prayer houses
in this state. Hence, it is our vision
to mobilize more manpower to
pioneer the gospel in the state of
Sarawak and to save more souls for
the Lord.
沙撈越是馬來西亞的最大州，人口有247萬人，超過75%的人口是基督徒，有許多的華人說閩南話和福州方言。
然而，我們在這個州裡面，只有二個祈禱所。
因此，我們願景就是可以動員更多的人力，來沙撈越州開拓福音的工作，並且為主拯救更多的靈魂。
沙巴地圖
小頁 markvmax@hotmail.com
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