50 Years Building His Kingdom - Far Eastern Bible College

Life
Bible-Presbyterian
Church
Rev. Dr Timothy
Tow and Rev.
Robert Thawm
Luai at the
dedication of the
new building in
1996
Page 174
Missions in
Myanmar
A Brief History of Far Eastern
Fundamental School of Theology
(1987 - 2000)
THE Far Eastern Fundamental
School of Theology (FEFST) was
established on 21 May 1987, under
the leadership of Rev. Robert Thawm
Luai, founder of the Evangelical Presbyterian
Church of Myanmar (EPCM), as the
founding principal, who was also the only
member of the teaching staff for that year.
The school was started with 17 students
from 4 different denominations. The
enrolment was beyond our expectations.
We were sure that this was God’s approval
of our new seminary in partial fulfilment
of our involvement in the Great Commission
in Myanmar. This Bible Seminary is
totally sponsored by Life B-P Church, Singapore.
At that time, we did not have any
teaching facilities. Students had to sit on
the floor for class. Owing to a full workload
from 8.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. everyday
for a number of months, I was extremely
exhausted and fainted during lecture. I recovered
only after two months of medical
treatment. To make matters worse, we were
confronted by demonetisation of currency
notes on 5 September 1987. Eighty percent
of our money was frozen, and we were
in financial predicament. We still remember
our days of confusion and agony.
In 1988, we appointed two more fulltime
and five visiting lecturers as the
number of students increased to 30. Unfortunately
there was a political uprising
in Myanmar in August 1988. The uprising
was specially serious in Yangon City. The
only alternative was to shift the Bible
School to Falam in Chin State because the
headquarters of the EPCM is located
there. After one year the
uprising subsided, and when
peace and security were restored
by the military government, God
enabled our school to shift back
to Yangon in August 1989. This
was a blessing in disguise because
the new Government officially
gave us permission to reopen
our school in Yangon.
Therefore FEFST was officially
registered and recognised by the
Government of Myanmar.
The first graduation exercise
was held on 26 September 1992.
FEFST conferred the B.Th on nine students,
and awarded the G.Th and the C.Th
to two and four students respectively. We
had a large turnout at the graduation ceremony.
This was a milestone in the history
of FEFST, with the reaping of its first fruits
for the advancement of the Gospel in
Myanmar.
In 1992, our school increased its faculty
to 15, comprising six full-time and nine
visiting lecturers. The enrolment jumped
to 83 from 14 different denominations. The
students hailed from seven states in
Myanmar. To date, FEFST has graduated
more than 100, who serve the Lord as pastors,
Bible teachers, missionaries, church
leaders, and teachers in Bible schools in
Myanmar. Presently, we have an enrolment