Thanks, Dharmalingam, for letting us know.

We and the Order owe a great debt to Bishop Yap Kim Hao. At a time when the Methodist church in Malaysia-Singapore was transitioning  from foreign missionary pastors to indigenous pastors and the long-time missionaries were mostly lost as to their futures (although the time had come for them to relinquish their authority), he welcomed Kjell back and sponsored our visas to work within the church in Malaysia Singapore. This, in a Muslim country which had recently given another Christian 'missionary' 24 hours to leave the country, accused of proselytizing Muslims.    And we being Presbyterians, not Methodists.  He took a great risk - he was trusting Kjell (and this crazy Ecumenical Institute) who was dearly beloved in Malaysia and thoroughly trustworthy.  In 1968 the KL house was the toehold in Asia - one of the group of four first international houses.   From that toehold we were able to set up the first ITI in 1969 bringing participants from 16 countries in Asia.  

May his leadership within the church, meeting today's new challenges, be continued by his successors everywhere.  

Zoe Barley




-----Original Message-----
From: Dharmalingam Vinasithamby via OE
Sent: Nov 16, 2017 1:56 AM
To: Order Ecumenical Community , Colleague Dialogue
Cc: Dharmalingam Vinasithamby
Subject: [Oe List ...] Death of Yap Kim Hao

Dear Colleagues,

Yap Kim Hao, the man who provided the Ecumenical Institute the umbrella for its activities in Malaysia in the 60s and 70s , died at the age of 88 in Singapore this morning. He became the first Asian bishop of the Methodist church in Malaysia and Singapore in 1968.Those of us who worked in Malaysia and Singapore in those years will know how important his support was to us. Thanks to him, we were able to use Rev Kjell Knutsen’s residence as the KL Religious House. He was a progressive thinker in a denomination stuck in the two-storey universe. He spent the last few decades of his retirement in Singapore where he worked with various groups such as the Inter Religious Organisation and those fighting for gay rights.

Dharmalingam              

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.” –President Dwight D. Eisenhower