History
SIB Sabah and SIB Sarawak were founded by the Borneo Evangelical Mission (BEM) which itself had been established in Australia in 1928. Its pioneer missionaries came to Sarawak in late 1928 to evangelise the tribes of the heart of Borneo which until then had been unreached by the Christian faith. Aware that they would face competition in the cities, the BEM concentrated on interior rural areas and settled near the fringes of the Murut (Lun Bawang) area. In 1937, the work was extended to Sabah (then known as British North Borneo). From the start there were restrictions imposed by government officers, opposition by pagan tribal leaders, and problems of health and needs faced by the missionaries. From the small beginnings of several individual conversions, God brought about a people movement whereby whole tribes turned to Him. Miracles took place as God delivered many tribal people from the bondage of fear and oppression of paganism. The gospel began to spread from one tribe to another, village to village, downstream and upstream.
Sarawak's border areas were exposed to influences from American missionaries in Kalimantan (then known as Dutch Borneo), and most of the Lun Bawangs became Christian through interaction with their kinfolk, indigenous converts on the other side of the international boundary.
The first missionaries to visit the Kelabit Highlands in the Sarawak interior arrived in 1939, but the internment of Europeans during World War II opened the door to indigenous leadership. When missionaries returned to the highlands in 1947 they found that the Murut church had survived and that most Kelabit people had accepted Christianity through the activities of indigenous converts, including a pastor from Timor, Guru Paul also known as Nimang Tepun. Strongly committed to developing indigenous leadership, in 1948 the BEM established a bible school in the Sarawak town of Lawas for training teachers and deacons and translating the Bible into the Bornean languages was made a priority.
By 1958 an important symbolic step was made when it was decided to change the name of the mission to the Malay "Sidang Injil Borneo" (Borneo Evangelical Assembly). With the emphasis on training married couples to extend mission work and Kelabit out-migration to the oil-fields of Miri and elsewhere in search of employment and education, the SIB church spread through Sarawak. Although there was a strong Chinese component in the urban areas, most SIB members were tribal peoples (comprising the Kelabits, Berawans, Lun Bawangs, Kayans, Bisayas, Ibans and Kenyahs in Sarawak as well as Lundayehs of Sipitang, Muruts of Tenom and Beaufort and also Dusuns of Kota Belud as well as Ranau in Sabah). Local leadership played an important role in the conversion process; in later years, for example, Amin Gomboting, a native Dusun who hailed from Ranau, a forest ranger who was stationed in various places in Sabah, established a SIB church wherever he went for he was an active pastor cum elder of this church.
BEM had always been a mission with a strong emphasis of building an indigenous church. In 1950, a 15-year policy had been adopted to work toward a church in Borneo which would be sufficiently grounded and instructed to be able to take over the responsibility of Christian witness and evangelism. Translation of the Bible into the native languages a priority in this work. A biennial conference was carried out to elect local leaders for the Combined Executive Council of Sabah and Sarawak. This consisted of the Chairman, the Deputy Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, and representatives from the districts and from BEM. In line with the emphasis of the 'Twin Primary Tasks'[clarification needed] of BEM, SIB seeks to be significantly involved in evangelism and to build up churches through Bible teaching and leadership training. The SIB presently has five Bible schools in Sarawak, including the Malaysian Evangelical College (formerly Miri Bible College) and one Bible school in Sabah. BEM, which merged with the Overseas Missionary Fellowship (OMF) in 1974, continues to provide advice and indirect assistance, particularly in areas where the local leadership is unprepared. (See Drunk before Dawn by Shirley Lees, OMF, 1979.)
SIB Sabah was formed as a separate body from SIB Sarawak in 1976 in response to political circumstances.
In the early 1970s, renewal and revival continued and the gospel of Christ continued to spread among the interior people. Many young people went to towns from rural Christian backgrounds either for study or in search of jobs and this migration opened opportunities to SIB to build new churches in town areas.
Supported by teaching institutions and ongoing church-planting, SIB membership, reckoned at around 1000 in 1962, rose to 75,000 in 1993, and some interior churches can now accommodate as many as 3000 worshippers. The SIB is also well established in urban centres notably Lawas, Limbang, Miri, Kuching, Sandakan, Tawau, Labuan and Kota Kinabalu where many native villagers have migrated in search of work.
In the early 1990s, Pastor Richard Samporoh and late wife, Pastor Stemmah Sariau, started a SIB Ministry in their house after noting the increasing number of Sabah & Sarawak migrating to Peninsula Malaysia either for study or seeking employment. However, for many years, the majority of the member were the natives from Borneo who pursue higher education in local and private universities in Klang Valley. In 1993, the student ministry began to receive more students from Borneo which led to the formation of the first SIB (BM) church in the Peninsula known as SIB Damansara Utama (the church has been renamed to SIB Petaling Jaya in 1997). The following year SIB Kepong (English) began their first service. Over the years, the church began to plant new churches in various locations in Klang Valley and OA. During these years, the planted SIB churches are supervised mainly under the SIB Sabah umbrella before separated and become independent in the administration in the year 2005 and later known as SIB Semenanjung.
The church's leadership was handed over to a married couple, Dr. Chew Weng Chee, an obstetrician-gynecologist from Tung Shin Hospital, and Lew Lee Choo, another doctor who studied in the UK. The English congregation grew from 15 people in 1994 to around 130 in 1998. In 2006, SIBKL rented out three floors in a downtown building called Bangunan Yin (look up the spiritual concept of Yin Yang), and currently, three worship services are held each Sunday to serve over 1500 people. There are now 31 congregations in West Malaysia (29 Malaysian-speaking, 1 Chinese and 1 English), including missions among Christian Orang Asli in Jerantut.
In 2011 there are 600 churches with 150 000 memberships and 450 pastors in Sarawak. In 2014 there are more than 500 churches with 150 0000 memberships in Sabah. In 2021 there more than 800 churches in Sarawak.
SIB is also now expanding to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, and the southern Philippines, where local churches are tapping its experience in working with tribal peoples.
Structure and organisation
The SIB is a registered church.[4] The SIB has been registered with the governments of Sabah and Sarawak. Its Constitution was officially recognised by its governing body in 1961.
The SIB is a multiracial church. Over 15 local groups are represented. Services are held in Malay, English, Chinese and district languages including Iban, Bidayuh, Kadazan/Dusun, Kayan, Kelabit, Kenyah, Lun Bawang, Penan, Punan, Tagal, Orang Asli, and several others. It is an urban and rural church that was originally developed mainly in the interior places of Sabah and Sarawak. In recent years churches have been established in the main towns, e.g., Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Miri, and Sibu as well as several other centres.
The SIB is a growing church. Formerly limited to certain parts of the two states, SIB members and churches are now distributed throughout Sabah, Sarawak, and West Malaysia. SIB is large: The SIB consists of 221 churches in Sabah with a membership of 34,260 and 219 churches in Sarawak with a membership of 59,674. Each church has its own elected leaders. There are only 76 full-time pastors in Sabah but in Sarawak there are 185 pastors. (Statistics are as of 1982.)
The SIB have been independent from its inception as an organisation in 1959. It financially supports its own pastors and workers. It also trains its own workers through its own training program. There are 6 Bible schools associated with the SIB in Sarawak and Sabah.
