FALLS CHURCH, Va. — Baptist World Alliance (BWA) General Secretary Neville Callam sent a letter of support to what he called the “Baptist family in Malaysia.” The letter, sent Jan. 14, was in response to the torching of at least one church and attacks upon several others in the wake of a court ruling that allows Christians to use the name “Allah” for God. At least 10 church buildings, one of them Baptist, were attacked, damaged or vandalized.
“The [BWA] has learned, with sorrow, of the difficulties the churches in Malaysia are facing as a result of violent opposition to the use of the term ‘Allah’ for God by persons who are not Muslims,” Callam wrote to John Kok, a vice president-elect of the BWA and a former president of the Malaysia Baptist Convention (MBC). “We note with concern your government’s response to the present crisis, and we want you to know that we are joining you in praying for patience and wisdom in the face of the situation in which you find yourselves.”
The Metro Tabernacle Church, an Assemblies of God congregation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital, was fire-bombed Jan. 8, gutting the first floor. On Jan. 10, “a plastic bag of black paint was thrown at the front wall of the Malacca Baptist Church building,” said Isaac Yim, president of the MBC. Attacks on the 10 churches took place between Jan. 8 and 15. The MBC, a BWA member body, has more than 22,000 Baptist members in 163 congregations.
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