The early 20th century Canadian-born U.S. evangelist, Aimee Semple McPherson, was a
pioneer among women in Christianity during the early era of the Pentecostal revivals. Having
experienced a profound religious conversion at age seventeen, Sister Aimee married and
became a missionary to Hong Kong. After the death of her missionary husband, Robert
Semple, in Hong Kong, she returned to the United States and began preaching across the U.S.
and later, throughout the world.
In 1918, she established her base in Echo Park, Los Angeles, California, where in 1923, the
5,500 seat Angelus Temple, which is now pastored by Matthew Barnett, was dedicated and
became the center of her revival, healing and benevolent ministries. No woman in church
history had the massive volume of divine healings take place in ministry as Sister Aimee.
Local hospitals in Los Angeles lined up ambulances at the backdoors of Angelus Temple to
carry in patients on stretchers and gurneys.
Sister Aimee was the first woman to receive a FCC radio license establishing KSFG Radio
and was a pioneer religious broadcaster. Her sermons were the first to incorporate the
contemporary communications of that day into her preaching of the gospel. From Angelus
Temple she performed an extensive social ministry, providing hot meals for more than 1.5
million people during the Great Depression. She summarized her message into four major
points emphasizing Jesus Christ as the Savior, the Healer, the Baptizer into the Holy Spirit,
and the Soon-coming King, known as "The Foursquare Gospel." She established L.I.F.E
Bible College, currently known as Life Pacific College, and began to train students in the
ministry of the Foursquare Gospel. Soon graduates were going throughout the United States
establishing churches and requesting spiritual covering. This need led to establishing a
movement called the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel. Sister Aimee died in
1944, while conducting a crusade in Oakland, California.
From its beginning at Angelus Temple, the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel
has now grown to include more than 1,900 churches in the United States and Canada, and
over 30,000 churches and meeting places worldwide. As of 2002, there were about 5,000,000
constituents in 125 countries around the globe. It presently ranks as one of the three or four
most distinguished branches of Evangelical-Pentecostalism. During 2001, there were 959,279
men and women, boys and girls who accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior through
the ministry of the Foursquare Church around the world. This equals 2,628 persons entering
the Kingdom of God every day of the year. There were 244,421 persons baptized in water
and 233,225 believers who received the Baptism with the Holy Spirit that year as well.
Although the Foursquare Gospel became far-reaching very quickly, it took many years to
arrive on Malaysian shores. Mason and Virgene Hughes, former missionaries to Papua New
Guinea, were sent to Singapore by Foursquare Missions International. The Hughes' 'opened'
Malaysia to the Foursquare Gospel in 1983 from their base in Singapore by connecting with
"Ike", later known as Joshua C. H. Wong, from Kuala Lumpur. Pastor Ike had been saved in
his early teens through the simple testimony of a neighbor and grew very quickly in the faith.
By his late teens he had established a church for the deaf after learning sign language. He
worked with The Finnish Foreign Mission, which was very active in Malaysia during those
days. He had heard about the Hughes ministry and traveled to Singapore to meet them and
ultimately work with them.
In partnership with Mason Hughes, Pastor Ike incorporated Lighthouse Foursquare
Fellowship (M), BHD. in Kuala Lumpur on the 12th day of November, 1984, as the
pioneering pastor and the chairman of the new church organization. He later married the
company secretary, Mong Swee Lai, also known as Stephanie. Pastor Ike and his wife
Stephanie desired to change the name and add the word "church." On the 8th day of October,
1985, Lighthouse Foursquare Fellowship' s name was officially changed to The Foursquare
Gospel Church, Bhd.
For many years Pastor Ike served The Foursquare Gospel Church of Malaysia as chairman,
credentialed new workers, and established many enduring international relationships. He and
his wife Stephanie also birthed a son, Jeremy - the first Malaysian "Foursquare baby." The
number of FGC4 workers increased, including Mary Philips in the state of Johor, who worked
among the Tamil in the palm oil estates, a Chinese-English worker in Johor Bahru, and James
Supayah' s Tamil work. In the late 1980' s, Pastor Ike resigned his responsibilities as
chairman. Mason Hughes appointed James Supayah the new chairman before he retired from
his missionary ministry. The Foursquare work among the Chinese in Malaysia diminished
and continued solely among Supayah' s Tamil church in Johor Bahru until the late 1990' s.
Pastor Ike and his wife pastor Revival Glory Church in Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.
In June, 1993, FMI missionaries George and Joyce Butron moved to Kuala Lumpur to
establish new pioneer works in Malaysia. They had been serving in Singapore since 1988.
They started a home group in the Ampang area of Kuala Lumpur, which included about 10
individuals. The Butrons worked hard among the Malaysians, but their brief ministry in
Malaysia ended in February 1994.
For many years the Foursquare Gospel Church of Singapore contributed heavily to support
foreign missions in several nations including Malaysia. When Mason Hughes resigned, much
of the funding was redirected by the Singaporeans to better establish their local work. The
funding of the work in Malaysia was also cut during this time. In 1999, Foursquare Missions
International purchased a two-storey building in Johor Bahru for The Foursquare Gospel
Church of Malaysia. The national board is currently using it as the meeting place for the
Johor Bahru branch.
Growth in The Foursquare Gospel Church of Malaysia began to take place again in 2000.
Foursquare Missions International deployed Michael and Jannie Stubbs, with their daughter
Jenica, from Emporia, Kansas, USA, to Penang, Malaysia, in November of 1999 to establish
new contacts and partner in planting new churches. They had pioneered works in Finland, Russia, Estonia, and Vietnam.
The Stubbs' were introduced to Pastor Martin Duke of Rivers of Water Church in Bukit
Mertajam. Pastor Martin, originally a Methodist and later a lay worker of the Full Gospel
Assembly, was in the process of turning over his independent church to begin to work with
the Malaysia Center for Global Ministry associated with The School of Acts in Kuala
Lumpur. He had asked his assistant pastor Sam Hari, who was gifted in church planting and
worship ministry, to serve as acting pastor for the year 2000, and to build a relationship with
the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel through Michael Stubbs. Pastor Hari, a
Malaysian University of Science graduate with a B.A. in Physics, was crucial in establishing
a foothold for the ministry of Foursquare in the northern region of the peninsula of West
Malaysia.
In June 2000, Pastor Hari, in cooperation with the National Evangelical Christian
Fellowship of Malaysia, secured a one-year, renewable, professional missionary visa for the
Stubbs family. This type of visa had been unavailable. God also began to speak to Pastor Hari
prophetically, through a song he wrote, about his destiny in the Foursquare Gospel Church.
Another relationship growing strongly in 2000 was with Pastor Albert Kok of Vision Harvest
Church in Kuala Lumpur. He had a previous relationship with the former regional
coordinator of Foursquare Missions International named Fred Horner. Pastor Albert is a
Christ for the Nations graduate with relationships with Foursquare pastors Richard William
and Kevin Chua in Singapore.
In September 2000, Rivers of Water of Bukit Mertajam and Vision Harvest Church of Setapak, Kuala Lumpur, affiliated with the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel in ceremonies performed by the U.S. Director of Missions, Mike Larkin, and the Asia/Pacific Regional Coordinator John Watson. This was the beginning of a period of growth for the movement.
By January 2001 Pastor Sam Hari officially became the senior pastor of Rivers of Water Church in Bukit Mertajam. Two new congregations were planted in June of that year. One was a Tamil work in Kota Permai planted by Pastor Pakiam and currently by Pastor Rajan. The other is a Chinese work in Bukit Mertajam with Pastor Daniel Toh.
In March 2001, a member of Shekinah Community Centre in Ipoh and the pastor of the Rivers of Water Chinese congregation began to discuss The Foursquare Gospel Church resulting in the Ipoh church pastor initiating contact with FGC. Later, Pastor Sam encouraged Michael Stubbs to follow-up on this contact. As a result, Pastor Henry Liew of Shekinah Community Centre began to build a relationship with The Foursquare Gospel Church through the Stubbs family. The fruitful friendship that followed resulted in Pastor Henry' s three congregations unanimously joining Foursquare in October of 2001. Later, as the relationship
grew, Pastor Henry was powerfully motivated by an inspirational dream and vision he received from God revealing his personal destiny, and the apostolic and prophetic mantle upon The Foursquare Gospel Church of Malaysia. Pastor Henry and Jenny Liew graduated with a diploma from the Bible College of Malaysia. They went on to graduate with Bachelors and Masters Degrees from Asia Pacific Theological Seminary in the Philippines.
In March, 2002, the first National Convention was held in the Genting Highlands with Reverend John Watson of FMI and Dr. Jun Ferrez, National Leader of the Philippines Foursquare Gospel Church, as the key speakers. Forty-three pastors and leaders came
together for this event. The theme was "Growing Together for the Harvest." A new board was established on March 22nd, which added Henry Liew, Sam Hari, Michael Stubbs, and Albert Kok to the national board along with James Supayah and Sathiya Thangavelu. Pastor Henry was nominated by Sam Hari and unanimously approved by the board of directors as the new
chairman and national leader. Pastor Sam was nominated and unanimously approved as vice-chairman and Michael Stubbs, later, as secretary-cum-treasurer.
During the month of March, 2002, two more churches were planted on Penang Island. One was Rivers of Water Penang by Pastor Christopher and Vijaya Krishasamy and the other was Penang Harvest Church by Pastor David and Julie Chin. The national office was officially relocated, by motion of the board, to Ipoh. In May, Pastor Henry planted The Foursquare Gospel Church of USJ in Selangor. The following month Shekinah Community Centre also planted a new Filipino congregation and English-language Tamil congregation in Ipoh. By October of 2002 the number of churches meeting weekly had grown to 16. The cities include
Kuala Lumpur (1), Subang Jaya (2), Penang Island (2), Bukit Mertajam (3), Kota Permai (1),Kulim (1), Ipoh (5), and Johor Bahru (1). Rivers of Water Church and Shekinah Community Centre have 'birthed' 10 of these 16 churches. Due to the growing need for church-planters and leaders, The Foursquare Gospel Church is also preparing to launch a Bible college named Shekinah College of Ministry.
The Foursquare Gospel Church of Malaysia works in close partnership with the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel. Rev. Jun Ferrez of the Philippines Foursquare Church has been very supportive in discussions concerning the developing Bible college. The church is going through much growth and change, including church planting, revision of its bylaws, and development of its leadership resources. In an effort to become more self-sufficient, FGC passed resolutions requiring ministers to pay one-half of their personal tithes to support the national office and to give one missions offering from each church each month in support of
home and foreign missions.
On July 2nd, 2002, Reverend John Watson held the first FGC Polity Course in Kuala Lumpur following which Henry Liew, Sam Hari, and Albert Kok were ordained under The Foursquare Gospel Church of Malaysia. The next polity course and credential service will take place on October 9th, 2002, with over twenty additional workers to receive their FGC credentials. By the end of 2002 the number of credentialed FGC workers will be about thirty individuals.
