SINGAPORE — Lilian Lim Hui Kiau, president of Asia Baptist Graduate Theological Seminary (ABGTS), died June 25 in Singapore.
Lim was the first Baptist woman in Asia to be elected to lead a major theological seminary when she was named head of ABGTS, a consortium of nine theological schools in eight countries, in 2005.
Described by colleagues as “a simple lady with a simple faith,” Lim was previously professor of New Testament and academic dean at the Baptist Theological Seminary (BTS) of Singapore, one of the nine schools that form the ABGTS consortium.
She received her theological training at BTS and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) in Louisville, Ky. She held a doctorate in New Testament from SBTS, which she received in 1994.
She served with the Singapore Baptist Convention and the Asia Pacific Baptist Federation, one of six regional fellowships of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA).
She was also a member of the board of directors of Global Women, a mainly Baptist organization dedicated to empowering women for service and missions globally and to creating partnerships across national borders and artificial divisions.
A Chinese Singaporean, Lim was one of the subjects of the 2003 BWA book “Stars Lighting up the Sky: Stories of Contemporary Christian Heroes” by Tony Cupit, a former BWA director. She faced opposition from her traditional Chinese family when she converted to Christianity at a young age and she battled lifelong illness.
“Throughout, she has maintained deep faith in Christ despite looking death in the face, enduring pain and other challenges to life and faith,” Cupit wrote.
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