This is my story - 33

33 - Dr. Grady Wilson Campaign in Kuala Lumpur

In every country The Salvation Army is at work, it is a member of the national council of churches. We work together with members of other churches for the sake of God’s Kingdom.

On 9th January 1948 the Malayan Christian Council was inaugurated under the leadership of Bishop John Leonard Wilson of the Anglican Church. Bishop Hobart B Amstutz of the Methodist church was the Acting General Secretary. The Salvation Army was one of the founding members of the Malayan Christian Council of Churches (or MCC) which covered the churches of Malaya and Singapore.

When the nation of Malaysia was formed in 1963, comprising Singapore, British North Borneo (now Sabah), Sarawak and Malaya, the Council retained its original name. In 1967 the name was changed to Council of Churches of Malaysia and Singapore – CCMS. Later, the Council in recognition that Singapore and Malaysia were now two separate independent countries voted for the separation into two national councils - the current Council of Churches of Malaysia and the National Council of Churches of Singapore.

Many other churches, like the Anglicans, Methodists and Baptists followed suit and separated into different entities. Even para-churches and organizations split. But the Army chose to remain as the Singapore/Malaysia Command. (Later we added on Myanmar). I sometimes wonder what the Army would be like today if we had split into two separate commands - the Singapore Command and Malaysia Command.

As Corps Officer I attended the Council meetings. When we were in Penang, I served for a term as the Chairman of the Penang CCMS. When we were appointed to pioneer the work of the Army in Kuala Lumpur, I represented the Army at the Selangor Council and met up with a number of my old friends from other churches. During our second year in Kuala Lumpur I was elected as the chairman of the Selangor Council of CCMS.

The church leaders in Kuala Lumpur came up with the idea of inviting Dr. Billy Graham to Kuala Lumpur. The Billy Graham Association only considers an invitation if the majority of churches in an area are in favour of having an evangelistic campaign. The National Council has to be involved. So a group of ministers and lay people comprising members as well as non-members of the CCMS, met and formed a “Billy Graham Campaign committee” Dr. Billy Graham could not come so the association suggested Dr. Grady Wilson as the evangelist. Thus the “Dr. Grady Wilson Campaign” Committee was formed and I was elected the vice-chairman.

This put the Army on the map for I went everywhere in my uniform. It involved visits to other churches to conduct prayer meetings and seminars related to the Campaign. In fact the following year my wife was invited to be the main speaker at the Cathedral for the World Day of Prayer. My only regret, we did not have sufficient members to take part in the choir and counselling.

The day came and big crowds filled the national stadium. Thousands responded to the appeal to make decisions for Christ. Not many were referred to the Army as many of the people were not aware we are a church. Most of those who made decisions opted to join the churches that brought them to the meetings.

The Army being so new and the Corps still very small, we just did not have the manpower to form a good and effective team to support the campaign and do the follow-up work. My wife and I practically had to work on our own. We had no transport provided, not even a bicycle and much time was spent in waiting for buses to do our visitation.

I must admit my disappointment that after all our hard work, we did not reap the harvest we had anticipated. The handful that came to the Army did not stay long as they could not agree with the Army’s stand on the sacraments. It is our belief that salvation and continual spiritual growth do not depend on rituals, but on our obedience to the Lord and His Word and the Divine grace.

Well, everything we do, we do it for God’s glory. I personally learned a lot from the pastors and ministers of other denominations. No amount of learning is ever wasted. As an officer it has always been my policy in keeping with Army rules and regulations, to be friendly and co-operate with the members of other churches, but my work for the Army must take priority. I have always kept my leaders informed of happenings.

So after the euphoria of the big campaign we were back to our Corps work – visiting the folk in their homes, sharing the word and caring for those placed under our care. Nothing can take the place of pastoral visitation. Yes, my wife and I belonged to the Shepherds Session of Cadets. We were and in retirement still are shepherds of God’s flock. We thank God for calling us to this wonderful ministry. My wife and I have no regrets we answered the call on the same night in 1949 at Youth Councils in Singapore.

Let me end this chapter with a lighter note. On the last evening of the Grady Wilson Campaign, the Evangelist said, “My dear friends, it has been a wonderful week. Thank you very much. Now I will not say Good bye to you.”

The Chinese interpreter translated “I will not say ‘zaijian’ to you.” (‘zaijian’ means literally ‘meet again.’

Dr. Grady Wilson: “However, I want to say, “We’ll meet again.” The interpreter was stumped! The audience burst into laughter.