In a very exiting development, St Martin's church is developing a prayer link with the congregation of Holy Trinity Church in Batu Gajah in the state of Perak in West Malaysia.
The purpose of this link is primarily for our two churches to support one another through prayer. Holy Trinity Church is based in the town of Batu Gajah which has a population of 34000 people situated 24km from the state capital of Ipoh. The name Batu Gajah, which literally means "stone elephant" in the Malay language, is presumably derived from 2 large stones boulders that resembled elephants found along the Kinta river. The town is famous for it's tim mining, and has a significant Chrinese population.
The history of Holy Trinity goes back to 1884 when chaplaincy work started in Batu Gajah mainly looking after the planters who were in and around the town. However, after 1910, Rev. H. C. Henham took the intiative to start ministry among Tamils, the ministers used to travel to Batu Gajah from Ipoh. The old wooden Church building remained up to 1990 when a new building was constructed. There is also a mission church called St Andrew's in the Kinta Valley.
Holy Trinity Church has a mainly Tamil congregation, the church itself is open evangelical with a sacramental focus. The congregation is drawn from a middle socio-economic background with more and more people being from professional sectors. The Church has grown through difficult times and now has grown to an average Sunday attendance of around 90-100 adults and with about 20 children for the Sunday School. Jesvinder, the Parish Priest, arrived at Holy Trinity in November 2004, and married his wife Caroline in May 2006. The challenge facing Holy Trinity is sharing the gospel and growing the congregation larger. The church has adopted the Diocesan Mission statement : Mission as Transformation (2006-2010) with a special focus for each year. The theme for year 2006 was Transformation of Individuals in Christ and for the year 2007 the theme would be Transformation of Families in Christ. The word transformation has been stressed into the hearts and minds of all members. The hope of the people of Holy Trinity is that their partnership with St Martin's will open up the view of the church to ministry and mission, which is my hope too.
Please hold Jesvinder and the people of Holy Trinity and St Andrew's in your prayers. For further information, including photos of Holy Trinity, please follow the link from our website (http://walsallstmartins.2day.ws/walsallstmartins/section/5PrayerLinkHolyTrinityChurchBatuGajahMalaysia/).
Simon
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