Pioneering in - Far Eastern Bible College

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of the Pacific War, the smoke of gunpowder has introduced a newand strange odour into their midst.The total area of Borneo measures over 700,000 squarekilometres. Its northern part was British (now East Malaysia), theremainder five-sevenths constitute the former Dutch territory.Since 1950 when Indonesia gained independence this area hasbeen called Kalimantan. With 500,000 square kilometresKalimantan is as big as France or Kansu Province of our country.But its population of over two million is sparse. The Dyaks aresons of the Island. In course of time, as commerce and miningbrought in outsiders, they were pushed into mountain districts ofthe interior. This fact is verifiable from the names of places leftbehind. With the exception of Java, the Dutch Government hadconcentrated very little on opening up Borneo, by reason, perhaps,of their limitations. So, Borneo has to this day remained virgin.Only along the seacoast have there been established a fewimportant centres of commerce. For example, Bandjermasin in thesouth, Pontianak on the west, Kutai, now Samarinda, on the east.There are a few overseas Chinese in Samarinda and the samemay be said of all eastern Borneo. They total but a few scores ofthousands. Most of our overseas Chinese live in the Pontianakdistrict, the latest figure being over 200,000. The object of ourmission to Samarinda was to evangelise the Dyaks. For Dr. Jaffrayhad investigated and discovered that they were long waiting forthe saving grace of God!Who are these so-called “mountain” Dyaks? How did theDyaks originate? They are generally known to be of Malay stock,a branch of the people of Indonesia. They speak like the Sundadialect of Java. However, their custom and habits rather resemblethose of the Chinese. The colour of their skin is the same as thatof the Chinese. This is not surprising for are not the aborigines ofFormosa (Taiwan) of Malay stock? Moreover, the first to come incontact with the Dyaks were the overseas Chinese.90
However, though many old Dyaks claim to be Chinesedescendedand China their fatherland, we have little evidencefrom history. But the strange thing is: in the midlands of a littleriver at Kutai on an uninhabited bank there were the ruins of atemple with three Chinese characters on the lintel, “K’ung MingTung”, i.e. “The Cave of Kung Ming.” It is said in interiorPontianak that many natives have claimed Chinese nationality,with Chinese surnames such as Lim and Tan. Perhaps during theYuan (Mongol) and Ming Dynasties, some refugees fromKwangtung and Fukien Provinces had fled here in sailboats. Laterthey married with the natives and a mixed race of Dyaks arose.When we first set foot on Dyakland we met an octogenerian, aHakka from Punyu Prefecture, Kwangtung. He was an officer inHung Hsiu Chuan’s army. After Hung lost the war, he sailed in ajunk to the Philippines, the Sulus, and finally to Borneo. Hemarried a girl of the mountains who gave him a son. Ever since hehas lived a Dyak’s life. Had he not spoken in Hakka, you couldnot know his Chinese nationality. Alas, China is undone! Herturmoils of ravage and war have sent many talented ones abroad.Through such consanguinity and friendliness to overseasChinese, we were fired with a zeal to preach. To expedite ourwork we began to make an extensive study of their lore.Those Dyaks we contacted were the semi-civilised who hadcome within urban environs. These were farmers. Borneo has fewhigh mountains and the coastal regions are low-lying. The Dyaks,however, make their settlements in thickly jungled, hilly countryor uplands. As the soil is not very fertile the Dyaks do not plant inwatered paddy-fields but on the clearing of a jungle hill-slope.This sort of planting is done entirely by human labour. First theyspend a month cutting down trees. (The area for planting isdetermined by the numbers in a family.) After another month,when the branches and leaves with all the shrubs and grass aresundried, these are set on fire, and their ashes are used for91
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Pioneering in Dyak Borneo© 1997 Re
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Translator’s Preface to this Abri
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Chapter 1A Half-Century of Fleeting
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are higher than the earth, so are m
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children, her great hope, and looki
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he would have to go from home to sc
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if he had footache, to which he cou
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to the boy, “You just come with m
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with the nursing superintendent and
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inflammatory disease of the small i
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corrupt petty officer. But he had n
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He loved China like his own country
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such an extraordinary institution p
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For the company of schoolmates who
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them published in the newspapers’
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misunderstood or falsely accused, t
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One day while writhing in the throe
Page 41 and 42: Although he utterly detested those
Page 43 and 44: inside the living quarters he becam
Page 45 and 46: last, he was determined to a celiba
Page 47 and 48: “A laborious couple”45
Page 49 and 50: period, we expressed our regrets to
Page 51 and 52: esulted in our coming together agai
Page 53 and 54: was no help to me. But when she pou
Page 55 and 56: But the peculiar condition surround
Page 57 and 58: saw it declared it was the work of
Page 59 and 60: her same-mindedness in this matter.
Page 61 and 62: Chapter 4“A New Thing”“And he
Page 63 and 64: entreated him to find them pastors
Page 65 and 66: With Dr Jaffray on eve of sailing f
Page 67 and 68: - the Chinese Foreign Missionary Un
Page 69 and 70: The Chinese Foreign Missionary Unio
Page 71 and 72: aptised. Moreover there are one tho
Page 73 and 74: espond to this type of work. In add
Page 75 and 76: Chapter 5Strange Quarry from a Wild
Page 77 and 78: A Chinese Templeinstitution where o
Page 79 and 80: The durian tree is very tall. Its f
Page 81 and 82: e their home. Were it not for two b
Page 83 and 84: A few days after our arrival in Mak
Page 85 and 86: Fifteenth Night are equally boister
Page 87 and 88: hear some hawker in the silent stre
Page 89 and 90: He will surely answer.” We prayed
Page 91: Our jungle headquartersnomadic life
Page 95 and 96: A longhousedwelling. Ordinarily, yo
Page 97 and 98: The first Dyak village we visitedso
Page 99 and 100: the art of eking out an existence.
Page 101 and 102: Dyak one-piece coffins!becomes thei
Page 103 and 104: Although the things their hands hav
Page 105 and 106: An ox totem, part of the ox-spearin
Page 107 and 108: “. . . further augmented by fierc
Page 109 and 110: for Thee . . . The things that are
Page 111 and 112: White khaki and topeethe virtue of
Page 113 and 114: you come to their village, you need
Page 115 and 116: title given made him “Temenggung
Page 117 and 118: We spent a total of three weeks on
Page 119 and 120: eligion, it is your great mistake o
Page 121 and 122: Like am army’s expenditionary for
Page 123 and 124: Our jungle hotelthat time I was the
Page 125 and 126: Paul Lenn among the bravehardly wal
Page 127 and 128: Second, the “disciples of a heter
Page 129 and 130: A Dyak Christian Chieftain’s fune
Page 131 and 132: eport, proving the method we’ve a
Page 133 and 134: who was with me showed His mighty w
Page 135 and 136: eader of the Indonesian edition of
Page 137 and 138: we left for another village. Sudden
Page 139 and 140: swamped with a hundred items of bus
Page 141 and 142: “going south,” and my original
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without anymore relying on the evan
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Those who first heard the Word and
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They are in unceasing pursuit of im
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weak. Yet the conference required m
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just one hour gathering the produce
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Pioneering in - Far Eastern Bible College

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