BUKU INI DI TULIS PADA TAHUN 1869 OLEH SEORANG MUBALIGH AMERIKA YANG MERANCANG DAKWAH KRISTIAN DI MALAYSIA
“THE MALAYSIA MISSION OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH”
By : The Rev. JOHN RUSSELL DENYES
MISSIONARY, SINGAPORE MALAYSIA, 1869
Saya memetik tulisan yang di buat pengarang bagi makluman semua tentang bagaimana kristian berdakawah di Malaysia. Buku ini telah di tulis 140 tahun dahulu dan sangat menarik untuk tatapan kita semua.
Malaysia merangkumi Indonesia, Semenanjung, Borneo dan Filipina
Dalam tulisannya Rev John Russell menyifatkan seluruh kepualaun Melayu ini sebagai Malaysia. Ini membawa erti bahawa semua kepualaun ini adalah merupakan satu negara sebelum dipecah-pecahkan oleh barat.
“Malaysia, the home of the Malay, or brown man, to the southeast of Asia, between Indo-China and Austraha. It includes the Malay Peninsula and the larger half of the islands of the Eastern Archipelago. The Land group are Sumatra, a country as large as the States of Areas Iowa, Missouri, and Arkansas; Java, of the size of New York State; Celebes, the territorial equal of all New England; Borneo, nearly four times as large as Illinois; and all the hundreds of lesser islands and islets which appear so insignificant upon the map, but which are in reality countries capable of supporting a large population. The Philippine Islands are properly a part of Malaysia, but as they are treated in a separate booklet they will not be discussed further in this one.
The land area embraced within the bounds of Malaysia amounts to seven hundred thousand square miles, a territory equal to one fifth of the area of the United States. Much of the country is mountainous. In Sumatra and Java and in many of the smaller islands there are active volcanoes, and these countries are subject to frequent and violent earthquakes. The climate is hot and moist. The Climate thermometer stands at about ninety degrees in the shade the year around.”
Agama orang Melayu ketika itu
“Speaking generally, the Malays are Mohammedans. Before the introduction of Mohammedanism, Brahmanism, Sivaism, and Buddliism prevailed largely throughout Sumatra and Java. This is shown by the numerous ruins of old temples, scattered all over these Mohammedans islands. Even now Islam does not mean here what it does in Arabia and Turkey. The Malay has adopted the creed of Mohammed, but this has “only increased the number of supersensual beings to whom he prays.”
Bila Dakwah Kristian Bermula ?
“Mission work has been carried on among the people of the Dutch possessions in Malaysia since 1603. The results have not been very gratifying, owing partly to the methods adopted and partly to the opposition of the government to the use of aggressive measures in evangelization. Dr. Callenbach, a Dutch authority, says that in 1900 there were ” some 41 European clergymen and evangelists, aided by 355 ordained natives, native preachers and teachers, working among 234,073 natives of the undenominational Protestant Church of the East Indies.”
Penumpuan Kristian Kepada Pelajar2 Sekolah
“The people are content with their own way of living, and resent any interference on the part of a foreigner. But let a boy or a girl become a pupil in one of the mission schools,and the whole situation is at once altered. Interest in a child gives free access to the home and frequently to the hearts of the parents.
The objects of these schools are to educate the children of native Christians, to open the homes of the people to the missionaries, to remove the prejudices of the people against Christianity, and to open the eyes of the younger.
Their aims generation to the moral and spiritual possibilities to be found nowhere but in the Gospel. To this end chapel services are held daily. The children are taught to sing Christian songs, and are instructed in the fundamental truths of religion. Vohintarv Bible classes are conducted, at which a good percentage of the students are in attendance. Lessons are explained from the Christian viewpoint,and five days every week the pupils are under the influence of earnest Christian teachers.”
Hasil Dakwah kepada pelajar
“At the close of 1903 there were in Malaysia, apart from the Philippines, 26 schools, with 112 teachers and an enrollment of 3,270 pupils. The Sunday schools numbered 4G, with 102 teachers and 1,757 scholars.There were 12 foreign missionaries, 8 assistant missionaries,8 representatives of the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society,57 local preachers, and 1,467 church members and probationers.
The Epworth League has begun its work among the youth, showing its worth here as in other mission fields. But these figures do not tell the whole story of missionary effort. Thousands of Bibles, tracts. Scripture-text pictures, and religious periodicals have been placed in non-Christian homes. Several thousand young men and young women have come under the influence of our mission schools,and while they are not as yet Christians, they have lost faith in idolatry.
A Christian sentiment has begun to pervade public thought, and on every hand are indications that the field is white already to the harvest.”
Cara Mubaligh berdakwah di kampung2
“The opening of a new station in a village or a neighborhood is Reaching usually preceded by street preaching. A missionary,the Natives with a native helper or two, finds his way into av illage, selects a convenient street corner, and begins to sing. The unusual noise attracts a crowd. The missionary mounts a doorstep or box, and explains the nature of his message and calls upon his helpers to testify to the poAver of the Gospel. Portions of the Bible,tracts, and Christian calendars are offered for sale.
Sometimes these visits are made at night, and magic lantern pictures are thrown upon a screen while the missionary tells the stories of the Bible. Sooner or later some man will be found who is ready to offer the use of a room in his home for a small rental or free for the services. As soon as the prejudice has disappeared sufficiently for the people to sit quietly and listen the crowd is divided into smaller groups, w^here more direct and personal work can be done. This is the beginning of the Sunday school. As converts begin to come in, a rudimentary church organization”
Penumpuan kepada China dan India
Kekuatan orang2 Melayu memegang islam menyebabkan mereka menumpu kepada Cina dan India.
“Up to the present time the difficulty of reaching the bigoted and fanatical Mohammedan Malays has led to the concentration of efforts upon the Chinese and the Tamils, as they represent the way of least resistance. There is good reason to believe, however, that aggressive work among the more primitive peoples of the jungles would soon yield a large harvest.”
“The first difficulty to be met in solving the problem is that of language. Malaysia is the meeting place of all languages and dialects. More than fifty languages, to say nothing of the minor dialects, are spoken on the streets of Singapore. The presiding elder of the Singapore District Speech holds Quarterly Conferences in seven distinct languages. When the various native workers are gathered together in Di.strict or Annual Conference the question of secretaries and interpreters becomes a serious one.
The language of commerce is Malay, but although the people of every land soon pick up enough of this language to transact ordinary business, very few of them ever learn enough of it to receive rehgious instruction in it. There is no other way but to seek each group in its ownl tongue. This means that every missionary who survives long enough must learn from one to five languages.”
Pergerakan Kristian di Pulau Pinang
“The records of the same 5′ear begin the stor}’ of another mission that has proved more successful. At the Annual Meeting it was decided to open work in Penang, on the westcoast of the peninsula. Penang is the second city in the Straits Settlements, and has a population of about one hundred and twenty-five thousand people, most of them being Chinese or Tamils.
“The island of Penang was acquired by the English government by cession from a native prince in 1785 for the small annual payment of $6,000. It is two miles from the mainland, and is twelve miles long and nine wide. Later a small strip was taken possession of on the opposite coast to arrest the Malay piracy of that part of the high seas. This strip is known as Province Wellesley, and was purchased for an annuity of $2,000.”