Asia Pacific Baptist Federation

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) [Asia Pacific Baptist Federation: [http://www.apbf.info/about-apbf.htm About APBF] ] . It adopted its current name in 2007 after a resolution was approved during the the ABF Congress held in the city of Chiang Mai, Thailand from May 2 to May 6 2007 Baptist World Alliance News: [http://www.bwanet.org/default.aspx?pid=541 Asian Federation changes name, elects new leadership] ] .

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 [William Carey University: [http://www.wmcarey.edu/carey/bms/bms.htm Center for Study of the Life and Work of William Carey, D.D. (1761-1834) - Baptist Missionary Society] ] BMS World Mission: [http://www.bmsworldmission.org/standard.aspx?id=1429 BMS origins and early days] ] . His 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 [cite journal |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1992 |month=October |title=The Rest of the Serampore Trio |journal=Christian History & Biography |volume= |issue=36 |pages= |id= |url=http://www.ctlibrary.com/ch/1992/issue36/3616.html |accessdate=2008-06-29 |quote= ] . 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 [cite web |url=http://www.theologicalstudies.org.uk/article_judson.html |title=The Life and Work of Adoniram Judson, Missionary To Burma |accessdate=2008-06-29 |work= |publisher=Theological Studies.org.uk |date= ] .

Judson later began Baptist missionary work in Burma on July 13 1813 upon his arrival in Rangoon [Glimpses of Christian History: [http://chi.gospelcom.net/DAILYF/2001/07/daily-07-13-2001.shtml July 13, 1813 • A Miserable, Dirty Town for the Judsons] ] . 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 . The single largest member of the APBF is the Myanmar Baptist Convention which claims more than 1.1 million baptized believers [Myanmar Baptist Convention: [http://www.mbc1813.org/affiliation.htm Affiliation and Partnership] ] .

The headquarters of the APBF is located in Shillong, Meghalaya, India. The principal officers of the APBF are:

Ministries

* Mission & Evangelism: Chaired by Brian Winslade of New Zealand, 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.

* 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 Lilian Lim of Singapore, 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.

* Asian Baptist Youth Fellowship: Chaired by Jesse Ray Porras of the Philippines, the Asian 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 Chiyo Murakami of Japan, the Aisan Baptist Women's Union conducts training programmes for women leaders and hosts a major regional level conference once in five years.

* Asian Baptist Men's Department: Led by a team of dedicated laypeople, 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 September 1 2007, the following conventions and unions are represented in the APBF [Baptist World Alliance: [http://www.bwanet.org/default.aspx?pid=437 Member Bodies and Statistics] ] [Asia Pacific Baptist Federation: [http://www.apbf.info/member.htm APBF Member Bodies] ] :

See also

* Baptist World Alliance

References

External links

* [http://www.apbf.info Asia Pacific Baptist Federation]
* [http://www.bwanet.org Baptist World Alliance]


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