New Villages and Missionaries: OMF in Malaya, 1952-1982 by Tai Kim Teng

This book, New Villages and Missionaries, OMF in Malaya 1952-1982, narrates God’s mission work by 256 Overseas Missionary Fellowship (OMF) missionaries of Western origin serving inside the numerous New Villages of Malaya, which was a newly established resettlement plan to counter the communist insurgency at that time.

Many of these missionaries had formerly served in China where OMF started as China Inland Mission (CIM) in 1865, before being expelled from 1949-1951. The British Colonial Government of Malaya had welcomed them knowing their fluency in the Chinese language and good track record of providing medical, social and educational services to the masses would help win the “hearts and minds” of the Chinese in these New Villages which felt imprisoned in “concentration camps”.

As a result, from 1952 to 1982, they managed to establish 20 indigenous churches which were Chinese-speaking and also founded a seminary which is today called Malaysian Bible Seminary (MBS). Their church-planting effort has undoubtedly changed the face of Christianity in Malaysia.

It is a must-read book for those interested in indigenous mission work and the history of OMF in Malaysia.The book is written after extensive research and presented in an easy-to-read story format.