Rich in Resources — Climatic Conditions — An Interesting People Found There — How Our Work Is Progressing
By ARTHUR G. DANIELLS
It was a glad day to our Foreign Mission Board when a definite call came to send a minister to Borneo, to care for a small company of people who had embraced our message. This call came in 1913. It was the result of missionary work done by one of our Chinese believers, who, a few months before, had gone from Singapore to British North Borneo to sell our literature. He began work in the capital, Sandakan. It is located on the northeastern coast, and has a population of about ten thousand. As a result of reading some of our literature, and studying the Scriptures with our colporteur, a number of persons began the observance of the seventh day as the Sabbath, and accepted the doctrine of the soon-coming Christ, with other views held and taught by Seventh-day Adventists. In response to their call for a minister, Pastor and Mrs. R. P. Montgomery went from Singapore to British North Borneo, arriving at Sandakan in June, 1913.
THIRD LARGEST ISLAND
Borneo is the third largest island on the globe. It is about an equal distance from the Malay peninsula, Java, the Philippines, and South China. British North Borneo embraces the whole of the northern part of the island. Its coast line measures eight hundred miles.
The interior of Borneo is mountainous. Its highest peak is Mount Kinabalu, 13,700 feet high. This mountain is only fifty-two miles from the northern extremity, and twenty-five miles from the west coast.
EVEN TEMPERATURE
Along the coast, the temperature ranges from seventy degrees in the morning to eighty-five degrees in the evening. In the mountains, the temperature stands close to fifty degrees. As far as the mountain ranges are accessible, they afford relief from the steady heat on the coast.
The mineral resources are enormous, chief among them being diamonds, gold, coal, iron, and mineral oils. The principal agricultural products are sugar, coffee, rubber, and tobacco, the latter taking the lead. The mountains are covered with forests of valuable timber, the most abundant and valuable being teak, ebony, and sandalwood.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PEOPLE.
British North Borneo has a population of about 200,000. About 50,000 of these are Chinese who have gone from the southern part of China. Other races occupying the island are the Dyaks, the Muruts, and the Punans.
The Dyaks are the most interesting and important of these tribes. There are two branches of this race, sea Dyaks and land Dyaks. The former live along the seacoasts, while the latter dwell in the mountains. In stature the Dyaks are somewhat larger than the Malays.
HEAD-HUNTING
The discoverers of Borneo were shocked to find that among certain tribes, “head-hunting” was carried on as the foremost achievement of life. Beheading was administered as punishment for theft, murder, and other offenses, to mark the termination of a period of mourning, and to celebrate the erection of the house of a prominent person in the village. The most convincing evidence a man could give that he was brave and great, was the number of human heads he could exhibit. This revolting, inhuman practice was all but general at one time; but, thanks to British influence and rule, it is now almost a thing of the past.
WHAT OUR WORK IS DOING THERE
Pastor Montgomery has his headquarters in the town of Sandakan. Here he has established a good, substantial church. Some of its members have developed into earnest, efficient missionaries, who engage in the sale of religious literature, giving770Bible studies and conducting cottage meetings. In this way, the message of truth is spread to different parts of the island. Our work is now carried on in two of the main languages of the country.
After getting the work well established in Sandakan, Brother Montgomery spent some time in other towns and settlements in his territory. He also visited the island of Labuan, some thirty miles west of Borneo. This island is thirty square miles in area, with a population of about ten thousand, made up of Malays and Chinese. Politically Labuan is connected with the Straits Settlements, and with those settlements, it belongs to Great Britain; but geographically it is grouped with Borneo.
On Labuan Island, Brother Montgomery met our first family of believers in Borneo. This family, whose name is Wong, were led to accept our message by the colporteur who came over from Singapore in the early part of 1912. Brother Montgomery remained with them nine days, instructing in Bible truths, and on August 12 baptized Brother Wong and his wife and three daughters. He also baptized Brother En Fook, his interpreter, who accompanied him from Sandakan.
THE WONG FAMILY OF LABUAN, THE FIRST FAMILY IN BORNEO TO EMBRACE THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST FAITH
All together, we find Borneo a more promising field for gospel work than we had thought it would prove to be. The people with whom we have come into close contact seem ready to receive the light of the gospel. They develop into earnest and reliable Christians, and become active workers for the salvation of others. Talent, time, and money are well expended in winning these dear people to the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour.
The superintendent of our British North Borneo mission field, Pastor R. P. Montgomery, with his wife.
