“Being in a church is a commitment next to marriage”: 90-year-old founding member of Bethany Evangelical Free Church shares his 65-year journey with the church

Dr Tan Kai Kiat has been with Bethany Evangelical Free Church for longer than he has been married to his wife Liu Kim.

He started the church with his friends in 1961 when he was just a 25-year-old medical student. In the years that followed, through his medical practice, three sons and two grandchildren, Dr Tan has remained steadfastly in the church, using his gifts to be pioneer, pianist, painter and Pastor there.

This January 28, Bethany EFC, the first Evangelical Free Church in Singapore, celebrates its 65^th anniversary.

“We had a lot of ups and downs. Whatever happens, I am committed to this church. I will stay,” said Dr Tan.

Soldiering on for Christ

When Dr Tan accepted an invitation of a course mate in medical school to form a fellowship, he never expected that it would lead them to found a church. All the group of six wanted was to pray together and do outreach.

In July 1958, they started their weekly meetings, calling themselves Soldiers of Christ.  The kampungs (villages) around Opera Estate where one of them lived was where they began door-to-door evangelism.

“We would go out and distribute tracts. They were all open in those days and people came to Christ from this.”

It was on one of their walks that they noticed a plot of land that was being built up by the Evangelical Free Church of America to hold meetings for their work in Singapore. The young men approached the missionary couple living there – Rev Arthur Linquist and his wife Annie – to collaborate with them.  

One of the earliest photos of the property that houses Bethany EFC. All photos courtesy of Bethany Evangelical Free Church unless otherwise stated.

That bold request resulted in more than just help in reaching the residents. When a new missionary came to take over the work from the Linquists in 1960, Soldiers of Christ found themselves a mentor.

Rev Richard Frederick McMurray, fondly known as Rev Eric, helped turn the little fellowship into a Sunday School. Soon, worship services and prayer meetings were added.

The birth of Bethany EFC

As the band of brothers grew to some 20 worshippers, Rev Murray encouraged them to buy over the house at 133 Fidelio Street that they had been using. The seed of a church began germinating then.

In a book commemorating the 50^th anniversary of EFC Singapore. Dr Tan recalled: “I was still a medical student, but there were some attending our services who were willing to support us financially.

“There was a constant worry that we would not be able to raise enough to buy the property but we still had to go on. I think our faith, knowing that God would provide for us, kept us going … and He did.”

The house was bought for a then princely sum of S$20,000 to be paid back over a decade, interest-free. That worked out to raising S$200 every month.

Rev McMurray helped draw up a constitution so that Bethany EFC could officially come under EFC of Malaya on January 28, 1961.

Dr Tan (first from right) with the committee members of the Evangelical Free Church of Malaya in 1961.

“Every step was in place. I felt very strongly that it was God’s way of showing us to take this step.

“We chose the name ‘Bethany’ because Bethany was a place that Jesus often spent His time. We wanted our church to be a place where Jesus would be as well.” 

All in for the church and for people

From imagination to inception, Dr Tan had a deep love for and devotion to the church. Despite the rigours of pursuing a medical degree, he would join the church two to three times a week at outdoor Gospel meetings.

Taking advantage of the fact that permits were not needed to hold public meetings, they shared the Good News to crowds with nothing more than banners and flip charts under the glow of hurricane lamps.

“One of the areas was where Siglap Centre is right now. It used to be a wet market and behind that was an empty land.

“We had open-air meetings there to reach out to more people. Some people don’t like to come to church, but if they are around, they will listen to the message.

“It didn’t add to our numbers, but we knew the Gospel had gone out,” Dr Tan told Salt&Light.

His passion for the lost was not limited to locals.

“Ever since I became a Christian in my teens, God had put a desire in my heart to be a missionary. That desire was quite strong in me in those days.”

He read autobiographies of missionaries and even made a special trip to visit an English woman missionary ministering in Malaysia during his teen years.

“She spoke perfect Hokkien, working among the villages in Malaysia.

“I had that desire to know what being a missionary involved, to learn the language, be with them. Seeing her reinforced my desire that this is what I wanted to do.”

Desire for missions surrendered

During the second half of his housemanship period, a new hospital in Hong Kong was looking for doctors. Dr Tan got the opportunity he had always wanted. In 1964, his church sent him to Hong Kong to do medical missions and Dr Tan became, possibly, the first Singaporean missionary ever.

He learnt Cantonese and, for 18 months, as he his treated patients, he shared the Gospel “whenever the opportunity arose”.

Dr Tan in Hong Kong doing medical missions.

“I consider my time in Hong Kong as a highlight in my own life. My faith was strengthened.”

But knowing his church needed him, he came home. Instead of setting up his own clinic or taking up a specialty, he opted to work for the government.

“As a doctor, I could earn a lot of money. But that was not my main motive.

“All my time working with the government, I would choose postings with no night duties, no Sunday duties, and regular hours instead because I wanted to spend most of my time for God in church.”

Outreach abroad was not an option for Dr Tan, but he could still use his medical skills to open doors to the Gospel. Together with another founding member who was a doctor, they started weekly evening clinics in the church in 1967, charging a nominal fee.

Dr Tan (left) at the opening ceremony of the Pulau Tekong Clinic, an off-shoot of the evening clinics run by Bethany EFC.

“People who came were mostly from the kampungs or people who knew us and their families.”

While waiting to see the doctor, patients got to hear the Gospel message. Thus began Bethany EFC’s first community service effort which closed only 15 years later in 1982.

No matter the size

Through the church’s history, whenever they could not find a Pastor, Dr Tan was more than happy to fill the gap, stepping in to preach, to baptise and even to manage the church’s administration.

Dr Tan running a Sunday School class in the early days of the church.

“In the early days when we had no Pastor, I was the one who attended the Pastors’ meetings of all the EFC churches.

“They would give reports of how their church had grown. Sometimes I felt so embarrassed that my church is such a small church,” Dr Tan said.

Now 65 years old, Bethany EFC remains a small church of some 100 members. But Dr Tan has a different perspective of his church’s size.

“I believe God has a plan for every single church. We did think of maybe buying a bigger property or bidding for government land. But all this have come to nothing.

“God wants the church to remain like this, then He must have His purposes.”

One of the benefits of a small church, Dr Tan admitted, is that its cosy size allows people to know each other.

Perhaps it is because of such warmth that it is one of the churches that grew during the pandemic, going from 50 members to its current size of 100.

Bethany EFC today.

“Young families came, generally attracted by the welcoming atmosphere. Our pastoral team would take pains to remember the names of the newcomers.

“They also like the quality of our Sunday School. We have dedicated energy to make sure there is a strong ministry of teaching.

“So people recommend the church by word of mouth. We get one or two new people a week and many of them stay.”

Over the years, the church has also raised full-time workers.

Commitment counts

Asked why he has remained when Pastors and parish have come and gone, Dr Tan told Salt&Light: “There have been ups and downs in the church. Every time there is a shake-up in the church, I see members leaving, even if it is over little things like disagreements between members.

Dr Tan at the sanctuary of the church. Photo by Christine Leow.

“Commitment to a church is one of the main lessons that I learnt. God has put you there, be committed to it through thick and thin. If anything happens to me in the church, it’s not the church, it’s me.

“And I don’t want to leave because I was hurt or the Pastor is not doing what I think he should be doing. It’s not for me to leave, it is for me to put things right.

“I always felt that when you are in the church, it’s like a commitment next to marriage. Whatever happens, I am committed to this church, I will stay.”

As the only living founding member of Bethany EFC who is still with the church, Dr Tan said: “My hope is that God will still continue to bless this church. Whether it will remain small or expand, it’s God’s will.”

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