[The following account is the Merging of the Messages given at the Silver Anniversary Service of Island Glades Gospel Centre followed by two others on the following Sunday morning services when the Main Message was further enlarged upon.]

A.  IGGC in Perspective
"Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances (lit. traditions), as I delivered them to you." I Cor. 11:1, 2

1. Island Glades Gospel Centre (IGGC) is part of Burmah Road Gospel Hall, the oldest assembly in S.E. Asia.
As such it has inherited a Rich Heritage which goes back to 1855 when Mr. Bausum of *Swiss assemblies (?) [*sourced from Echoes Publication (1984), That The World May Know Vol. 5 by Dr. Fredk. A Tatford, but see link on Mr. Bausum] commenced assembly work at 35 Farquhar Street in Penang. He was joined in 1859 by Mr. & Mrs. John Chapman who had been commended from Bristol, UK.  Later other missionaries joined them and branched out to the other states in the then known Malaya.  BRGH would celebrate the 150th anniversary of assembly work in Penang in 10 years time. (DV). [See link on this]

This in turn means that IGGC is also part of a great movement that began in 1825-30 in England, Scotland and Ireland and which later spread to Europe commonly referred to as the brethren Movement.

Hence, IGGC is part of a Rich Heritage that has continued down to the present.  She must safe-guard and uphold this simple love for the Lord, His Word, the Gathering of His people and the Reaching out into Regions beyond to spread the Light of the Gospel, and at the same time she must continue to have Fellowship with BRGH, her sister assemblies in Penang, and all brethren in Christ in Malaysia and in the World-wide Church.

2. Because of this Rich Heritage, it is inevitable that IGGC has also inherited some traditions over the years. Today there is a movement against traditions. While, not all traditions are good, not all are bad either.  Some are Scriptural and therefore must be maintained. Some are not Scriptural, but they are good for God's people. There are others which are not Scriptural but are treated as sacred, thus hampering progress.  These must be discarded. It is therefore the duty of the present IGGC to discard the bad, maintain the good and stand fast on that which is Scriptural.  For instance,

a.   BeWare of “Christianising” non-biblical Western and local traditions which are bad:

• The Christmas (Santa Claus) and Easter (Easter Eggs) traditions vs. remembering historical events.         
• The Colonial dress code vs. the Malaysian dress code.
• The Casual dress code in official functions that does not respect the local host/community/society.

b.    Be Watchful when Compartmentalising non-biblical "church" traditions which are good:

   i.    The Specialised Gatherings in the church, e.g. Sunday School, Young People's Group, Senior Citizens' Fellowship, etc. Biblically, there should be no such compartmentalisation in the church. However, there is nothing wrong with such groupings (Cf. I Jn. 2:12-14), but take care that there is no forsaking of the assembling of ourselves together as an assembly. Heb. 10:25
   ii.    The Sunday evening Gospel Meeting, cf. teaching and preaching the Gospel Acts 2:14-41; 4:2, 4
   iii.   The Lord’s Supper being delegated to an “appendix” of the so-called “Worship Service” as against it being the most important part in such a service.               
   iv.   Having the Lord's Supper on a Sunday morning only as against any other time or day, cf. “as oft as…” I Cor. 11:25 cf. Acts 20:7; I Cor. 16:1, 2

c.   Be Wary when Criticising non-biblical inherited traditions - they can be good or bad depending on need.

   i.    Music at the Lord's Supper.
   ii.   The Workers' Committee, The Church-Care Committee cf. elders and deacons.
   iii.  Naming our Assemblies "Brethren" cf. church identification and identity.
   iv.  Giving new names to those baptised cf. Saul and Paul; Peter and Cephas; etc.

d.   Be Warned when Civilising or Modernising Biblical principles and practices which are not traditions.
      Certain Biblical principles are unfortunately regarded as traditions because of the influence of the world's contemporary philosophies and thinking, e.g. the present thinking on Human Rights, the Environment, etc.

   i.  Confusion between the Rights, Roles and Responsibilities of the different sexes in a public gathering in the local church and in the Home cf. the Biblical teachings in John 1:12; Gal. 3:28 (Rights), I Cor. 11:3ff; 14:33ff;  I Tim. 2:11ff ; Eph. 6:23ff  (Roles and Responsibilities).
   ii. Confusion between God's love for Sinners and His Hatred of Sin, e.g. His love for homosexuals and His hatred for homosexuality, etc.  Rom. 1:27ff, etc.
   iii. Confusion between a Spontaneous Spirit-led Remembrance-Worship Meeting and a Limited, but "Lively" Programmed Meeting.  Cf. I Cor. 14:23ff - the principles and practices of a public church gathering.

CHALLENGE: IGGC must search the Word, know its teaching and not be influenced by the changing moral values of the World around them. Subject them all to the Searchlight of God's Scriptures.

B.  IGGC's Pioneers
"Remember them who have the rule over you who have spoken unto you the Word of God, whose faith follow, considering the end of their manner of life." Heb.13:7 cf. ch.11; I Cor.11:1

I would like to single out three local pioneers of IGGC, not to boost their image, but rather for us to Record, Remember and Respect the Roles they played in building up IGGC and other related assembly work, whose faith we should follow even as they follow Christ.
       
1.  Mr. Tan Wah Kim - "The Father of Development" - A Man of Vision, Verve and Vitality.

a. With respect to IGGC.
      i.    He Envisaged the Possibility of a Children's Work.
     ii.    He Executed the Project of a Sunday School with the help of Mr. Yap Fook Chong and others. This was the beginning of IGGC.
      iii.   He Extended support to People appointed to take over the work from BRGH at IGGC.

b.  With respect to other Pioneering Projects:
i.    Building Projects: he was involved with and initiated the following building projects:-  the Burmah Road Gospel Hall building (1935),  Butterworth Gospel Hall (1959), Island Glades Gospel Centre ( Mar. 9, 1970),  Christian Convention Centre (1970), Sungei Nibong Home and Centre [now, Sungei Nibong Gospel Hall] (1982), Burmah Road Gospel Hall Annexe. In all these projects he was “stubborn” in not borrowing money from unbelieving sources or using worldly strategies to acquire funds.
ii.    Basic Pioneering Concepts: He was directly involved in or he initiated or introduced the …

• 1st Bible Camp in 1947 at Relau.
• 1st School Prayer Group (Penang Free School) in the late 40's.
• 1st Pan-Malayan-Singapore Bible Camp in 1950 (?).
• 1st Scripture Union notes to Burmah Road Gospel Hall in 1950. (?)
• 1st Open-air Sand Service at New Coast Road (now Gurney Drive) in the 50's
• 1st Residential Bible School, Mar. 10, 1972                 

iii.   He opened up his home at...
             27 Free School Road for the Penang Free School Prayer Group.
             11 Circular Drive, Fettes Park for the Fettes Park Sunday School.

CHALLENGE:  Have a Vision, show Vitality and interest others, then have the Verve to follow through.

2.      Mr. Daniel Jevaraj - no need for him to be called home before we remember him. He is "The Father of Trouble-shooting"; His motto is: "HaveTrouble will Travel."

   a.   While he was in BRGH, he was sent with Mr. W. Wilson to oversee the work at IGGC in 1970.
   b.   While he was at IGGC, he was sent to Butterworth Gospel Hall with Mr. Tan Wah Kim until an Oversight was formed.
   c.   While he was at IGGC, he was sent with Dr. Lim Seang Chye to supervise the work at SNHC in 1989. He then stayed back at SNHC to oversee the work fully.
   d.   While he was at SNHC, he was requested by Taiping Gospel Hall to help out. He did so for 2 years until a diaconate was formed.
   e.   While he was at SNHC, he was requested to return to IGGC last year (1994). He managed to help solve the problems so that today every one at IGGC is working for the success of the Anniversary Celebrations. Where he will go next?  Have Trouble will Travel!
         [Note: Today (2006) he is back in his home town in Taiping serving as an elder at Taiping Gospel Hall at their request, and commended by Sungei Nibong Gospel Hall]

CHALLENGE:  Do not give Trouble; but when Trouble comes be prepared to deal with it. Do not run away!

3.      Mr. Ung Kim Cheng  -  Mentioned to Challenge the Young.

• At age 13, came to know the Lord.
• At age 14, 15 commenced serious study of the Bible with Scripture Union Study Notes and Emmaus Bible Correspondence Courses.  With Mr. Chang Hon Liong, pioneered a Bible Study Class which later came to be known as the Bible Class at 51 Service Road. They faced many problems initially when starting the class.
• At age 16, taught in Hokkien in the Chinese Sunday School in the morning, and went over to Butterworth to help in the Butterworth Sunday School at the home of Mr. Ang Tiang Choon, Kampung Musang in the afternoon.
• At age 16, was involved in open-air evangelism and spoke at the Coast Road Open-Air Service and other open-air services.
• At age 17, became Superintendent of Taylor Road Sunday School, and conducted a five-day Children's Campaign at Cheeseman Road Playground.
• At age 18, was the first to complete 24 courses of the Emmaus Bible Correspondence Course to be awarded a special certificate from Toronto, Canada.
• At age 18, started the Friday Bible Class at the home of Mr. & Mrs. Ng Swee Sin.
• At age 20, became Superintendent of Butterworth Sunday School and lay the foundation for both English and Chinese-speaking work with Mr. & Mrs. Ng Swee Sin. Later took charge of the work that led to the building of the Butterworth Gospel Hall.

• Later years:
• Started the Specialist Teachers’ Training Institute-Technical Teachers’ Training College Christian Fellowship in 1967 in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur.
• Established assembly work at Temerloh Gospel Hall, Pahang in 1968.
• Pioneered the Inter-Sunday Common Syllabus, Inter-Sunday School Bible Quiz and Sunday School Audio Visual Evangelistic Service (SSAVES) for Penang Sunday Schools.
• Obtained official recognition for the Penang Free School Christian Fellowship in 1969 (–1979)
• With Mr. Tan Wah Kim and Mr. S.S. Adams pioneered the 1st Residential Bible School in 1972.
• Obtained official recognition for the Maktab Perguruan Sri Pinang Christian Fellowship in 1980 (-1992) 

CHALLENGE:  Young People of today should be prepared to reach out into new areas to start new work, not to wait and step into shoes of older ones.  Get the support, advice and guidance of older ones by all means, but do not wait for them to initiate. Seek to Found for the Future for those that Follow instead of placing an over-emphasis on the Fellowship of
Friends.

C.  IGGC's  Progress

1. Since the opening of IGGC on March 9, 1970, IGGC has made tremendous progress under the initial leadership of Mr. Daniel Jevaraj, and Mr. Wilson and later Dr. Lim Seang Chye and their wives and members of the first and subsequent Workers' Committees.

2. Then on July 2, 1972 some believers from BRGH moved to IGGC permanently to hold its first Lord's Supper in its new premises.  Exactly ten years later, IGGC became a fully independent assembly with their own Oversight.

3.   IGGC had joined BRGH in a number of projects: They were together in organising Bible Camps, in launching the first Residential Bible School in 1972, in holding various combined conferences, in starting the work at Sungei Nibong Home and Centre, etc.

4.   Together with Sungei Nibong Gospel Hall, it has launched out in starting new work at Sungei Ara in 1987. It is also involved on its own and with other assemblies in many other projects over the years.  Its members have gone out as missionaries to serve the Lord in various countries in the world.  It has its own local missionaries. Mr. Stefan Khoo has been with IGGC since 1980 and Mr. David Jevaraj is now serving at Sungei Nibbong after he returned from the States last year. 

5.   Much of IGGC's progress must be attributed to the hard work of Mr. & Mrs. Daniel Jevaraj and Mr. & Mrs. Wilson in the early stages. Later they were ably supported by Dr. and Mrs. Lim Seang Chye and a Working Committee which developed into the present group of Elders and Deacons.

6.   In the meanwhile, how can IGGC ensure further progress?
      I Chronicles Chapters 28 and 29 record a convention in Israel almost the same as we are having today with a difference.  Then, it was the coming together of the people to listen to King David's plans to build a Temple for God and how God had forbidden him because much blood was shed during his regime.  Instead God advised that his son Solomon should undertake the project.  Thus, the convention that day was to inform Israel of King David's preparations he had made for the building of the Temple and the introduction and confirmation of King Solomon as the project leader. King David had prepared well for the future. Now he appealed to the people to support King Solomon in this undertaking in every way.  His speech that day formed the peak of I Chronicles.

Today we are gathered together to give thanks not for the Commencement of a Building Project, but for its Completion and Continuation all these twenty-five years.  As IGGC celebrates its Silver Anniversary, it can learn a few lessons from King David's Great Convention Speech to Israel.

   a..  Ensure that you stick to the Pattern as revealed in God's Word. I Chr. 28:11, 12, 18, 19

   b.   Ensure that you Plan with a Purpose and seek to Fulfil it - just Act on it.
         "Be strong and of good courage, and do it."  I Chr. 28:20

   c.   Ensure that you claim God's Promise, Presence and Power in doing his work.
         "Fear not, nor be dismayed; for the Lord God, even my God, will be with thee;
          He will not fail thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the Lord."  I Chr. 28:20

   d.   Ensure that you get the co-operation of the People and the other leaders:-
      i.    The priests and the Levites must be with the work, i.e. the Elders and the deacons;
      ii.    Every willing skilful man, i.e. the Gifted members in their specialised areas.
      iii.   The princes, i.e. the leaders of the various groups in the assembly.
      iv.   And all the people, i.e. the other members of the assembly: they must give their co-operation wholly.

May the Lord bless the Assembly at Island Glades Gospel Centre richly and abundantly
Even as you all celebrate and rejoice before the Lord
On the occasion of your Silver Anniversary
From this day forth and forevermore.