The Life of Late Rev. Dr. Wong Tik Wah – Following the Lord Wholeheartedly

Ps. Le Hui Yi (Faculty in Development)   Translator: Rev Daniel Ng Wee Jin

Seeds of Faith
Rev. Dr. Wong Tik Wah was born in Perak on 5 February 1967. Although his family was not wealthy and had not yet believed in Christ, his grandfather and his father saw the importance of education and, thus, sent him to study at a school (Sam Tet) established by the Catholic Church. While there, the seeds of faith were sown in him as he actively participated in the school’s Christian Fellowship. At the same time, his house was opposite the Gunung Rapat Chinese Methodist Church, hence he had the opportunity to observe the distinctiveness of Christians, especially in the way they treated others through the principle of “loving others as oneself”. Gradually, the seeds sown in his life through his time in school and neighbourhood bore fruit; he repented and accepted Christ during his secondary school days in the Christian Fellowship.

Receiving His Calling
Rev. Tik Wah was an outstanding student who excelled in his studies and took up important positions in uniformed bodies. At the time, due to his passion for uniformed bodies that emphasised discipline, he applied to join the army, air force and navy. In order to fulfill his dreams, he exercised diligently, trained his body and took discipline seriously.

While in secondary school, however, Rev. Tik Wah attended Rev. Stephen Tong’s evangelistic rally and dedicated himself there to full-time ministry. After graduation, he went to a small town near Teluk Anson (now Teluk Intan) to become a temporary teacher. He tried to escape God’s calling by applying to join the army, but when his application was rejected, he felt that his last hope had been dashed. The Lord seemed to close door after door in order to lead him on the path to full-time ministry.

Thus, 1993 saw him graduate with a Bachelor of Theology degree from Seminari Theoloji Malaysia (STM). During his time as a seminarian, Rev. Tik Wah did his field education at Seremban Chinese Methodist Church, serving alongside the pastor-in-charge at the time, Rev. Yik Kwak Hoong, especially in carrying out pastoral visitation. Having great aspirations, pastoral tasks such as visitation, providing transport to members, handling funeral matters, going to different cemeteries, and other duties, seemed insignificant to Rev. Tik Wah. As such, he often considered not entering full-time ministry.

These thoughts continued until one particular day when, while riding on public transport to his field education placement, a small voice told him to turn to the last page of the theological dictionary in his hands. When he did so, he saw the names of many pastors and scholars, all bearing the title of “Dr”. Only then did he understand that full-time ministry was not necessarily limited to overseeing the daily operations of the church, but that the full-time vocation from God was far richer and broader than he had thought. From then on, he stopped running away from the Lord’s calling and decided to study diligently, striving to excel not only in becoming a good pastor, but in academic pursuits as well.

Taking Action
Knowing the inadequacy of his English proficiency at the time, which could not meet academic requirements and standards, he started to learn English by studying primary school English textbooks. He also memorised the contents of Bible and theological dictionaries in order to equip himself. Then Rev. Koo Tiong Ling, who was President of the Chinese Annual Conference (CAC) of the Methodist Church in Malaysia, recommended that he further his studies with a Master of Theology degree (MTh) at Trinity Theological College, Singapore (TTC). While studying in TTC, he served as campus ministry worker of CAC (1994-2001). At his initiative, campus ministry was established in various main universities in West Malaysia, leading to the birth of Serdang Chinese Methodist Church, Permai Chinese Methodist Church and Skudai Chinese Methodist Church. Once the campus ministry was established, he was then assigned by CAC to be the director of Isaiah School (1999-2004).

Constantly Improving
Being a Methodist pastor, Rev. Tik Wah decided to focus his MTh thesis at TTC on John Wesley. This thesis would later become one of the admission review documents for his PhD application in Australia. Upon completing his MTh, he joined the Chinese department of STM in 2000 as an adjunct lecturer. Two years later, CAC assigned him to STM as a full-time lecturer. At the same time, he became the pastor-in-charge of Bountiful Grace Methodist Church, Seremban. When Rev. Tik Wah subsequently became the Dean of Students at STM, his strictness, yet keen intellect and pastoral care caused the students to both respect and fear him. Seminarians who were assigned to his pastoral group would have experienced his heartfelt pastoral care and guidance.

Striving For Excellence

In 2004, Rev. Tik Wah married Sis. Ching Wee Ling. Later, when Rev. Tik Wah decided to pursue his PhD in Australia for economic and academic reasons, he was introduced to Rev. Prof. Dr. Norman Young by Rev. Prof. Dr. Gribben of the University of Melbourne, Australia. So it was in 2005 that Rev. Tik Wah and Sis. Wee Ling flew to Australia to pursue his PhD, specialising in Wesleyan theology, at the University of Divinity, Melbourne. He would become the last student supervised by the elderly Rev. Dr. Young. During his studies, he had the opportunity to utilise libraries at different universities, attend seminars in various countries, and exchange theological viewpoints with others while broadening his horizons. Rev. Tik Wah also lectured at the Bible College of Victoria while Sis. Wee Ling took up part-time jobs in order to cover their living expenses. In his second year of studies, Rev. Tik Wah was granted a scholarship and overseas research fund by the United Faculty of Theology. Then, upon the approval of Bishop Hwa Yung, he became the pastor-in-charge of Melbourne Gospel Hall of the Uniting Church in Australia, which comprised of Chinese immigrants of different nationalities. God used Rev. Tik Wah’s time in this church to enrich his pastoring experience, teaching him to be humble and patient. During this time, he also started to train himself in lectionary preaching.

After completing his doctoral dissertation, Rev. Tik Wah found himself spiritually dry, leading him to begin attending retreats at Jesuit monasteries, and participating in the spiritual practices of St. Ignatius of Loyola. He came to the realization that theological education could not remain merely at an intellectual level. Holistic theological education must also include spiritual and practical levels. Eventually in 2008, not only was he awarded his PhD with first class honours, he also completed his studies in Ignatian Spirituality.

Serving Tirelessly
Due to his spirit of excellence, Rev. Tik Wah did not stop his academic learning after completing his doctorate, but continued to research various fields, such as spirituality, environmental protection, religious dialogue, same-sex issues, etc. In addition to teaching at STM, he travelled tirelessly to different churches to care for church members, ministers, preachers, and especially seminary students who were at the start of their seminary studies. In 2009, while teaching Systematic Theology, Methodism, Christian Spirituality, supervising theses and being STM’s Dean of Students, CAC assigned Rev. Tik Wah to also be the pastor-in-charge of Bountiful Grace Methodist Church, Seremban. From 2018 to 2020, he started and headed STM’s Centre of Christian Spirituality to create awareness of spiritual practices. Then, on 10 November 2020, Rev. Tik Wah was elected as the President (later designated as Bishop) of CAC during the 45th Annual Conference of the CAC. As Bishop, Rev. Tik Wah was dedicated to pastoring and theological education. His published writings (in Chinese) entitled Christian Faith: An Outline, and A Collection of Articles on Wesleyan Theology, are easy to understand and were written to equip and guide believers. Although he could not teach full-time in STM after becoming Bishop, he continued to promote training for believers, initiating the “Methodist Leadership Development Course”. He also served as an adjunct lecturer in STM, nurturing successors in theological education. He was generous in sharing his research findings, and was a keynote speaker in Methodist conferences held around the world.

Striving Wholeheartedly
Throughout his life journey, Rev. Tik Wah was constantly striving wholeheartedly. On 19 April 2022, even before taking his last breath, he was on his way to the CAC Pastors’ School. He wholeheartedly served in the land known as Malaysia, and in the mission field known as The Methodist Church. Because of his faithfulness to the Lord, the Lord continued to expand Rev. Tik Wah’s borders to love both God and his neighbours. His life could best be described in the words of Paul: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:7-8)

1993 Bachelor of Theology, Seminari Theoloji Malaysia (STM)
1994 Joined Chinese Annual Conference (CAC), The Methodist Church in Malaysia
1994-2001 CAC Campus Ministry Worker
1999 Master of Theology, Trinity Theological College (Singapore)
1999-2004 Director, Isaiah Training School
2000 Adjunct Lecturer (Chinese Department), STM
2002 Full-time Lecturer (Chinese Department), STM
2003-2004 Pastor-in-charge, Bountiful Grace Methodist Church, Seremban
2005-2008 Pastor-in-charge, Melbourne Gospel Hall (Uniting Church in Australia)
2008 Doctor of Philosophy, University of Divinity (Melbourne)
2009-2015 Pastor-in-charge, Bountiful Grace Methodist Church, Seremban
2016-2020 Dean of Students, STM
2021-2022 Bishop, CAC