Extracted from Our Story, His Glory (2016)
PJEFC was started in 1966 by the Evangelical Free Church of America. Rev. Eric McMurray, who came as a missionary, together with Dr and Mrs Clive Beng and a few others met informally at No. 38, Jalan 12/15 in Petaling Jaya — the home of Dr and Mrs Beng.
When my wife and I came back from abroad and joined PJEFC, the church was worshipping at a rented house at 5, Jalan 14/32. At that time, we had three families from the EFC Mission working in Malaysia: Morris and Judy Palmer working on the Asian Beacon magazine, Ben and Muriel Sawatsky, and Allen and Darlene Tunberg. We had a very warm and close fellowship with them and they were always available to help us conduct special services, such as Christmas and Easter, weddings, baptisms and baby dedications.
The running of the church was left very much to a group of us young University of Malaya graduates in our 20s and early 30s. Dr Beng was always there for us to call upon when we needed advice.
Our First Property
By 1972, the congregational had grown to close to 100 and the rented house soon became inadequate and we moved to Luther House. During this time, the church ladies were actively holding jumble sales and food bazaars to raise money for the church’s building fund. We had bought a piece of land at 18, Jalan 14/47 with a loan from the EFC Mission.
The zest and our ladies’ efforts soon raised enough funds for us to build our own church building in 1975. A year later, we moved, for the third time, to our own building and we were able to engage our first local pastor, Rev. Loh Soon Choy.
As our church was a house church, we adopted an unwritten strategy to plant a new church when the congregation approached 150 to 200.
So in 1977, an outreach centre called the Gospel Centre was established in SS1, Kampong Tunku in Petaling Jaya and four capable leaders — Dr Wong Lock Jam, Micky Kua, Dr Chan Kok Eng and Gong Wooi Sing — were commissioned and sent by the church to develop the centre.
Packing Again
No sooner had we thought that our “wanderings” were over than we encountered opposition from our only neighbour, a retired permanent secretary of the Land and Mines Department.
On several occasions, we were harassed by visits from the police during our Sunday Service. I was summoned on at least two occasions to appear before the PJ Town Board for questioning. Our efforts in befriending our neighbour were repulsed and after some serious prayer sessions, the church decided to move out and sell the building.
A friendly Christian in the building industry bought our building in cash and kind — he gave us his house in SS 1 in part exchange. With the cash as downpayment, we purchased a three-storey shop lot at 8, Jalan SS24/13, Taman Megah in Petaling Jaya, which was under construction.
We vacated the building at 18, Jalan 14/47 in 1980 and shared the building in SS1 with our daughter church, Gospel Centre, for six months. This double-storey corner building in SS1 was subsequently given to the Gospel Centre as a love gift.
The move to Taman Megah took place in 1981. After 15 years of wandering, our church finally found some rest. At the end of 1981, my family and I bade farewell to PJEFC and to Malaysia as I took on a foreign assignment with my company.
Our Present Place
PJEFC eventually moved to the present building — the Heritage Centre — in 2002 after 36 years of “wandering”, not quite 40 like the Israelites. All in all, PJEFC has moved six times, the Heritage Centre being our seventh place of worship.
We have now been settled in our “Promised Land” for over 10 years and the Lord has increased our numbers from 15 in 1966 to 600. Many of the early worshippers have migrated to the four corners of the world, some serving as pastors. Several of our children are also working as full-time missionaries.
As we celebrate Jubilee Year and look back on the last five decades of PJEFC, we thank God for His faithfulness. He has surely blessed us richly individually and collectively as a church. All this is to His Glory!
Paul Lim is a former Chairman of PJEFC and also served as a treasurer of the church in its earlier years.
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