Asia Pacific Baptist Federation

The Asia Pacific Baptist Federation (APBF) is a regional organization of the Baptist World Alliance, a worldwide fellowship of churches that subscribe to Baptist distinctives. The APBF was formed in the then British colony of Hong Kong in 1973 as the Asian Baptist Federation (ABF).[1] It adopted its current name in 2007 after a resolution was approved during the ABF Congress held in the city of Chiang Mai, Thailand from 2 May to 6 May 2007.[2]

Logo of the APBF

Brief history in Asia and the Pacific

One of the earliest Protestant missionaries to Asia was an English Baptist named William Carey who was one of the founders of the Particular Baptist Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Heathen (today known as BMS World Mission) in 1792.[3][4] He started his work in the Dutch controlled Serampore north of Calcutta, India in 1793, initially focussing on Bible translation, preaching, teaching, and the founding of schools. One of the major schools established by this mission is Serampore College, founded in 1818.

Other pioneers include Joshua Marshman and William Ward who together with Carey became known as the Serampore Trio.[5] Of the three, Ward was instrumental in converting American Congregationalist missionary, Adoniram Judson, to Baptist beliefs and baptised both Judson and his wife, Ann Haseltine Judson, in Serampore.[6]

Judson later began Baptist missionary work in Burma on 13 July 1813 upon his arrival in Rangoon.[7] Today most countries in Asia have Baptist believers and churches.

Organization

The APBF represents almost 60 Baptist denominations (known as conventions or unions) from 20 different countries, encompassing almost 30,000 congregations with more than 5 million baptized believers.[2] The single largest member of the APBF is the Myanmar Baptist Convention which claims more than 1.1 million baptized believers.[2][8]

The principal officers of the APBF are:[9]

Office	Name	Territory
President	Rev. Edwin Lam	Singapore
Vice Presidents	Mr. Bijoy Sangma Mr. Ratu Inoke Kubuabola Rev. Mark Wilson	India Fiji Australia
General Secretary	Rev. Dr. Vesekhoyi Tetseo	Okinawa, Japan
Treasurer	Mr. Peter Leau	Australia

Ministries

• Mission & Evangelism

Chaired by Tim Hyunmo Lee of South Korea, the Mission & Evangelism committee organizes consultations and encourages partnership within member bodies.

• APBF Communications

Chaired by Bijoy A. Sangma of India, ABPF Communications seeks to improve the network of Baptist within Asia by sharing news and information about the work of member bodies. It publishes the quarterly APBF Digest and manages the online presence of the APBF.

• APB Aid (Relief & Development)

Chaired by Les Fussell of Australia, the Relief & Development committee mobilizes resources to support member bodies in responding to calamities and providing development aid.

• Theological Education

Chaired by Miyun Chung of South Korea, the Theological Education committee provides the infrastructure for fellowship and partnership between the more than 50 Baptist theological colleges and seminaries in Asia.

• Asia Baptist Peace Network

Chaired by Alan Marr of Australia, the Asia Baptist Peace Network seeks to be involved in conflict resolution and training Baptists for peace making.

• Co-opted Members in the APBF Executive Committee

Makoto Kato from Japan and John Kok from Malaysia.

• Asian Baptist Youth Fellowship

Chaired by Vesekhoyi Tetseo of Japan, the Asia Pacific Baptist Youth Fellowship conducts training programme and conferences at sub-regional and region wide levels including a major youth conference once in four years.

• Asian Baptist Women's Union

Chaired by Precey Caronangan of the Philippines, the Asian Baptist Women's Union conducts training programmes for women leaders and hosts a major regional level conference once in five years.

• Baptist Women's Union of the South West Pacific

Chaired by Sue Peters of Australia, the Baptist Women's Union of the South West Pacific networks as a resource body for women's ministries across the South West Pacific, encourages and supports women leaders and hosts a major regional conference every five years.

• Asian Baptist Men's Department

Led by a team of dedicated lay people, the Asian Baptist Men's Department seeks to reach out to Baptist men and involve them in ministry and also improve the quality of their faith so as to impact society.

Members

As of 1 February 2011, 57 conventions and unions are represented in the APBF:[10][11]

Country	Member body	Congregations	Members
Australia	Baptist Union of Australia	994	70,997
Bangladesh	Bangladesh Baptist Church Sangha Bangladesh Baptist Church Fellowship Garo Baptist Convention, Bangladesh	337 459 148	15,000 15,100 12,254
Cambodia	Cambodia Baptist Union	230	6,995
China, People's Republic of    Hong Kong    Macau	Baptist Convention of Hong Kong Macau Baptist Convention	90 6	72,000 750
China, Republic of    (Taiwan)	Chinese Baptist Convention	197	22,767
Fiji	Fiji Baptist Convention	14	750
India	Arunachal Baptist Church Council Assam Baptist Convention ** Baptist Church of Mizoram Baptist Union of North India Bengal Baptist Union Bengal Orissa Bihar Baptist Churches Association Boro Baptist Convention Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars Council of Baptist Churches in Northern India Evangelical Baptist Convention of India Garo Baptist Convention of India India Association of General Baptists India Baptist Convention Karbi Anglong Baptist Convention ** Karnataka Baptist Sabhegala Samakya Lairam Jesus Christ Baptist Church Lower Assam Baptist Union Maharashtra Baptist Society Manipur Baptist Convention ** Nagaland Baptist Church Council ** North Bank Baptist Christian Association Orissa Baptist Evangelical Crusade Tripura Baptist Christian Union   Bengal Orissa Bihar Baptist Convention * Samavesam of Telugu Baptist Churches *	— 328 422 136 173 85 — 255 — 141 2,376 121 80 278 14,031 88 261 145 1,350 1,347 894 3,240 500   70 893	— 26,947 83,501 13,600 16,280 16,500 — 165,400 — 31,286 207,524 10,300 5,900 22,092 24,493 18,810 20,700 7,025 182,540 454,349 85,818 430,000 80,000   13,990 475,639
Indonesia	Convention of Indonesian Baptist Churches (KGBI) Union of Indonesian Baptist Churches (GGBI) The Fellowship of Baptist Churches of Papua	140 206 210	9,726 74,581 45,984
Japan	Japan Baptist Conference Japan Baptist Convention Japan Baptist Union Okinawa Baptist Convention	11 329 74 39	476 34,077 4,437 3,178
Korea, Republic of	Korea Baptist Convention	2,508	774,259
Malaysia	Malaysia Baptist Convention	164	19,143
Myanmar	Myanmar Baptist Convention Self Supporting Kayin Baptist Mission Society	4,522 69	1,142,655 11,543
Nepal	Nepal Baptist Church Council	90	12,000
New Zealand	Baptist Union of New Zealand	244	23,118
Papua New Guinea	Baptist Union of Papua New Guinea	283	80,000
Philippines	Baptist Conference of the Philippines Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches Convention of Visayas and Mindanao of Southern Baptist Churches General Baptist Churches of Philippines Luzon Convention of Southern Baptist Churches	354 900 889 252 540	26,906 250,000 52,166 7,667 41,895
Singapore	Singapore Baptist Convention	20	6,939
Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka Baptist Sangayama	22	5,000
Thailand	12th District of Churches of Christ in Thailand Thailand Baptist Convention Thailand Karen Baptist Convention Thailand Lahu Baptist Convention	54 88 134 104	9,846 9,935 23,772 8,130
Vietnam	Baptist Churches in Vietnam	—	—
Total		41,781	5,264,784
Footnotes * Membership under review ** Member churches of the Council of Baptist Churches in Northeast India [12]

See also

• Baptist World Alliance

References

1. Asia Pacific Baptist Federation: About APBF Archived July 22, 2012, at Archive.today
2. Baptist World Alliance News: Asian Federation changes name, elects new leadership Archived July 15, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
3. William Carey University: Center for Study of the Life and Work of William Carey, D.D. (1761-1834) - Baptist Missionary Society
4. BMS World Mission: BMS origins and early days
5. "The Rest of the Serampore Trio". Christian History & Biography (36). October 1992. Retrieved 2008-06-29.
6. "The Life and Work of Adoniram Judson, Missionary To Burma". Theological Studies.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2 July 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-29.
7. Glimpses of Christian History: 13 July 1813 • A Miserable, Dirty Town for the Judsons Archived February 16, 2006, at Archive.today
8. Myanmar Baptist Convention: Affiliation and Partnership Archived July 2, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
9. "APBF Leaders - APBF". APBF. Retrieved 2017-12-21.
10. Baptist World Alliance: Member Bodies and Statistics Archived 2008-04-18 at the Wayback Machine
11. Asia Pacific Baptist Federation: APBF Member Bodies Archived July 23, 2012, at Archive.today
12. Council of Baptist Churches in Northeast India: Members

External links

• Asia Pacific Baptist Federation
• Baptist World Alliance