The Trinity Network has many gospel partners across Australia and the world. At the end of April, Sue and I were able to spend two weeks in Kuala Lumpur with a couple we sent out from Trinity Church Adelaide around 20 years ago. Andrew and Judi Cheah are serving at St Mary’s Cathedral in Kuala Lumpur (KL), where Andrew is the Dean (Anglicanese for Senior Pastor of a cathedral).
Andrew moved to Adelaide from KL in the 1990s to complete high school studies and a medical degree at the University of Adelaide. He boarded with a Trinity family who brought him to Trinity Church Adelaide. Andrew got involved with Evangelical Students at Adelaide University, where he met Judi. Andrew was one of Trinity’s first ministry apprentices, supporting himself with part-time medical work. After working for a few years, Andrew and Judi headed to Moore College in Sydney to train for vocational ministry. While Andrew and Judi were at college, I called them regularly to persuade them to return and minister in the Trinity Network. But my pleas fell on deaf ears! They headed back to KL and St Mary’s Cathedral.
What Sue and I did in Kuala Lumpur
I preached on the two Sundays we were there. In between, I gave the talks at a three-day residential all-church conference. Sue had a morning session with pastors’ wives and ran a seminar on parenting. We also had the opportunity to spend time with the staff and Leadership Team talking through our experience of church planting in Adelaide. In between speaking engagements, we spent time with staff, Andrew and Judi, and eating! We were quickly reminded that food is a prominent ‘love language’ in Malaysia.
What is St Mary’s like?
It had been over ten years since Sue and I had spent time at St Mary’s. The church’s history is similar to that of Trinity Church Adelaide—an old historic building with a central city location. They now have 13 Sunday congregations with meetings in Mandarin, Bahasa Malaysia, Iban, Nepali, and English. It has grown to around 1,300 people attending each weekend, and every corner of the cathedral precinct is utilised.
Their website has a strapline – ‘13 Congregations 1 Mission’ – and their mission is:
To glorify God, together, in response to His grace, by making disciples of Jesus Christ.
Under God, that is what is happening! They have a growing passion to see unbelievers come into the kingdom. There is a strong training culture designed to help people grow to maturity and serve the cause of Christ. The church is a gospel-centred, Bible-based, disciple-making community. It was a wonderful shot in the arm to talk with new believers who had come under the sound of faithful Bible teaching. The staff team are united in purpose and commitment to seeing the gospel go out.
The future for the cathedral?
The cathedral facilities are ‘full’, but the gospel need in the country remains great. Please pray for Andrew, Judi, and the church leadership as they consider the best way to see gospel ministry multiply in KL, Malaysia, and further afield.
Partnering across Adelaide, South Australia and the world
We know we serve a gracious and merciful God. We know the scope of God’s concern is all the nations of the world. He desires to see people from every country under heaven ‘saved and come to a knowledge of the truth’ (1 Timothy 2:4). Consequently, we want to pray and send. We pray for people everywhere to believe – that means people in our immediate spheres of influence. But it also includes the many we have not met with whom we will share eternity. We are keen to send people from our Network to serve Christ in Australia and across the nations. We are committed to partnering with brothers and sisters throughout the world to see God’s saving gospel proclaimed.
We have returned encouraged
It was so good to see our dear friends, Andrew and Judi, faithfully pressing on with gospel-centred ministry. It was good for our hearts to see the way the cathedral ministry has blossomed since we last visited over a decade ago. Witnessing the cathedral partner with other gospel-centred churches in Malaysia was inspiring. Yet the greatest encouragement was seeing how our God superintends His gracious work everywhere. He is the gospel architect, and He invites us to partner with Him in this ministry.
Keep praying for the Cheahs and the members of St Mary’s Cathedral, that they will bring glory to God.
Pray for us in the Trinity Network that we will continue to lift our eyes and prayers to the God who is at work bringing people from across the world into His forever family.