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28th December 1920 – 20th April 2009
Rev Tow was one who firmly believed that all of God’s servants must serve till the end of their lives. For him, there was no such thing as retirement. For more than fifty years, he faithfully fulfilled His Master’s call until the day he was called Home to glory on 20th April 2009.

Rev Tow’s life has many lessons for us who follow after in faith. As we consider further his life, let us learn from the fine example of this beloved teacher and pastor.

Conversion and consecration for full-time service

Rev Tow was soundly converted at a revival meeting conducted by Chinese evangelist, Dr John Sung, who brought Pentecostal Revival to Singapore. In response to the altar call, he dedicated his life for full-time service on 8 September 1935, attributing his spontaneous response to his devout mother’s vow to the Lord.

Theological training

In 1946, he cancelled law studies in London, and enrolled at a seminary in Nanking to study theology under the famed Dr Chia Yu Ming. Recognising his potential, the seminary recommended him for transfer to Faith Theological Seminary, USA, in 1947. This was God’s way of preserving his servant from the snare of Communism in China two years later. Truly, “a man’s heart deviseth his way but the Lord directeth his steps” (Prov. 16: 9).

Rev Tow graduated in 1950 with a Bachelor of Divinity. It was at Faith that he imbibed the spirit of the 20th Century Reformation from Dr Carl McIntire, the President of International Congress of Christian Churches (ICCC) to stand against doctrinal and ecclesiastical apostasy. His heart was strangely warmed, gripped by the clarion call to “… earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3).

Pastoral ministry

That same year, the young graduate from Faith was invited to pastor the proposed Life Church (“Say Mia Tng”) English Service which was to be set up in response to the growing needs of a new English-educated generation. He was ordained for the pastoral ministry by the Philadephia Presbytery at the 2nd Plenary Congress of the ICCC at Geneva, the city of French Reformer John Calvin.

The Life Church English Service, with a transfer of 30 members from mother Church, was inaugurated at Life Church, Prinsep Street, on 20th October 1950. “The message preached by the young and inexperienced pastor that first Lord’s Day was an exposition of the Bible slogan chosen for the English Service. It was ‘Holding forth the Word of Life’, taken from Philippians 2: 16” – “Son of a mother’s vow.”

Labouring tirelessly in the service for over 50 years, Rev Tow was available to his flock 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. He devoted his life to whole-heartedly serve the Lord’s people; he was ever ready to spend and be spent (II Cor. 12: 15).

Biblical separation

In 1954, along with Rev Quek Kiok Chiang, Rev Tow formally withdrew from the WCC-linked Chinese Presbyterian Synod. This was a crucial first step of “Biblical separation.” Thus was inaugurated the B-P Church which today has grown into a worldwide Church Movement (Matt. 13: 32).

Burning zeal for souls

From his earliest days Rev Tow was fired with a love for souls. This sent him and Elder Hsu Chiang Tai on numerous missionary journeys to Malaysia’s villages to reach out to the Chinese. His knowledge of Chinese dialects was put to good use as he shared the Gospel in fluent Teochew, Hokkien, Hakka, Cantonese and Mandarin.

Far Eastern Bible College

Rev Tow set up the Far Eastern Bible College (FEBC) on 28th April 1962. As the founding principal, he believed that “formal theological training is vital for church growth.” In his book “Forty years on the road to Church growth” the principal wrote: “Without proper Bible training, the Church that relies on self-taught evangelists or missionaries will be stifled in growth, inasmuch as the tether of their theological knowledge is short and the ability of their preaching skills is limited. Many a self-made pastor have run off their bobbins due to a lack of intensive, systematic training in the Word.” Thus, in obedience to the Pauline mandate, “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also” (II Tim. 2: 2), FEBC was established.

To-date, FEBC has turned out over 700 graduates, labourers in the Lord’s vineyard, in many parts of the world. Through FEBC’s ministry, Bible Colleges have been founded in Cambodia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Kenya and Tanzania.

Conclusion

In this day of apostasy and compromise, Rev Tow stood boldly and unwaveringly for the defence of God’s Word and held on steadfastly to the doctrines of fundamentalism and Biblical separation.  His pioneering of the Bible Presbyterian local movement and the Far Eastern Bible College continues to impact Singapore and Christendom around the world. 

As founder of the B-P movement in the East and spiritual mentor to many pastors, Rev Tow continued faithful in the Master’s service until the very end : “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (II Tim. 4:7). May we follow in the steps of this beloved and fearless soldier of the cross of Jesus Christ till our Lord returns! Amen.