Rev. Dr. Stephen Tong Awarded Kuyper Prize For Lifetime Of Evangelism
(ANALYSIS) On March 14 in Jakarta, Indonesia, in the midst of a conference in his honor, I was there when the Rev. Stephen Tong was awarded the Kuyper Prize for his amazing services in evangelism, Christian witness and eminent Christian cultural engagement in the wider world.
The prize is awarded by Calvin University and Calvin Seminary of Grand Rapids, Michigan, in memory of Abraham Kuyper, a person sadly too little known in the English-speaking world. The polymath Kuyper was a creative theologian, pastor, church builder and newspaper and magazine founder and editor who also established the Free University of Amsterdam, created a new political party and was prime minister of the Netherlands from 1901-1905.
This award is not at the level of a Nobel or Templeton, but it deservedly highlights the prodigious work done by the Rev. Tong, another person too little known in the English-speaking world. It is the first time that the Kuyper Prize has been awarded to someone in Asia.
Tong was born in Xiamen in China in 1940. His father died when he was just 3, and he credits his mother as the major shaper of his life. As a widow, she said she would never remarry and would dedicate herself to the service of God, especially in raising her nine children.
The family moved to Indonesia when he was a child, and the young Stephen threw himself into a range of commitments, including for several years as a Marxist. Eventually, as a self-taught prodigy, he embraced the Reformed/Calvinist understanding of Christianity and committed himself to evangelism and planting churches. He has preached to over 37 million people during his 66-year ministry across Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia and the Americas. He has also established a 5,000-member church in Jakarta and 90 major church plants throughout southeast Asia. On top of this, he has created a seminary, a network of schools and budding higher education programs.
This would be enough for several lifetimes, but perhaps the most notably thing about Tong has been his additional emphasis on Christians' responsibility to shape culture. Apart from the sanctuary, meeting halls and growing seminary, his church complex contains an excellent museum, including magnificent galleries on China's history that rival and exceed that of many national museums and on which he leads learned verbatim tours focused on Chinese history.
The campus also includes reproductions of classical and Western pictorial and sculptural art — pushing congregations and students to appreciate God's common grace that reveals itself throughout human cultures, and thus also the importance of creating Christian culture. Using one of his other talents, Tong is the architect who designed the buildings and the campus.
While his cultural commitments are wide and deep, perhaps his major emphasis has been on music. Here again, Tong is self-taught. He recounts that he listened to Western classical music for eight hours a day over 15 years until he thought he could appreciate it. He has written over 200 hymns.
As a result, he is also a key figure in the classical music scene in Indonesia, serving as the principal founder and music director of the Aula Simfonia Jakarta, which includes a full orchestra and chorale. Its venue is in the only Indonesian classical concert hall that meets international standards. The building and auditorium were also designed and shaped by Tong through his talents in acoustic engineering. God willing, Tong will embark on a tour this summer covering both the U.S. East and West coasts.
The conference and celebration concluded on a Saturday evening with a concert. The internationally acclaimed conductor Jahya Ling, who is also the co-founder of the Tongs’ Evangelistic Ministries, conducted the earlier part of the program. But the program was closed with Mendelsohn's Symphony No. 2, which was led by — who else? — Tong, who also happens to be an accomplished conductor.
Tong is a polymath and multitalented person whose stunning range of activities remain firmly and deeply rooted in his Christian faith. He is perhaps most alive in his preaching, which consistently challenges his hearers to follow Jesus Christ to the point of death.
This remarkable man is now 85, and rather than slowing down, he asks for prayer that he might live until at least the age of 90 so that he can complete a series of Farewell Gospel Rallies worldwide and also finish the Calvin Institute of Technology.
Paul Marshall is the Wilson Professor of Religious Freedom at Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University, director of the Religious Freedom Institute’s South and Southeast Asia Action Team, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom and author of over 20 books on religion and politics. He gave the opening plenary address at the conference celebrating the Kuyper Prize.