2002 marked the 160th anniversary of the arrival of the first Baptist missionaries in Hong Kong. In 1842, Dr. and Mrs. William Dean, who had begun work with the Swatow Chinese in Bangkok, Thailand in 1835, came to these shores to plant the seed of faith among inhabitants here. Dr. Dean was the first Westerner to learn the Swatow dialect of the Chinese language, and he worked among these people in Hong Kong.

Rev. and Mrs. James Shuck also came in 1842, and they worked mainly among the Cantonese speaking Chinese living here. At about this same time, China "-as opening up to mission work and many missionaries were beginning outreach efforts there. The port of Swatow, located on the China coast 150 miles north of Hong Kong, was opened in 1860, and at that time the mission work started in Hong Kong was transferred there. The Swatow Christians in Hong Kong were assimilated into the Cantonese churches in the territory.

The work of American Baptists in and around the city of Swatow prospered and spread. However, in 1937, the Japanese war started in China and conditions became very unsettled. People began to migrate to the more secure area of Hong Kong. Among them were many Christians, and in 1938 a small group of them gathered together for prayer and Bible Study and began the Kowloon City Swatow Baptist Church.

With the ending of the war in 1945, missionaries returned to China and began rebuilding the work among the Christians there. However, the communist revolution soon spread across the country and they were again forced to leave. Thousands upon thousands of refugees flooded into the British territory of Hong Kong. The Swatow Chinese Christian laymen shared the Good News of the Gospel message, and two other churches, the Hong Kong Swatow Baptist Church and the Shamshuipo Swatow Baptist Church, were begun in 1948 and 1952 respectively.

The leaders of these churches sent a request to the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society to send missionaries fluent in their dialect to come and work with them. In 1954, Loren and Ruth Noren and Edna Smith were assigned to work here. They, together with many dedicated Christians here, worked to minister to the needs of the refugees and people living in Hong Kong. The church grew rapidly.

The Christians have not only been concerned to minister to the spiritual needs of the people, but have made great efforts to attend to physical and mental needs as well. A holistic ministry has been the key to touching the lives of countless individuals.

The Swatow Baptist Churches have grown to 21 churches and chapels stemming from the three which were here before the missionaries arrived in 1954. The membership in these churches is now well over 8,000.

For fellowship and joint service, many of the Swatow churches have cooperate in the Mission Outreach of the Shantou Baptist Churches of Hong Kong. Some estimates are that about 20% of the present population of Hong Kong have Swatow background. The Swatow Baptist Churches have also joined with nearly 100 Cantonese and Mandarin Baptist Churches to form the Hong Kong Baptist Convention.

(adapted and taken from "The Peak" Spring 1993)