LILIAN LIM HUI KIAU,
president of the Asia Baptist Graduate Theological Seminary (ABGTS), died on Thursday, June 25, in Singapore.
Lim became one of only a few Baptist women in Asia to be elected to lead a major theological seminary when she was
named head of ABGTS, a consortium of nine theological schools in eight countries, in 2005.
Described by colleagues as “a simple lady with a simple faith,” Lim was previously Professor of New Testament and
Academic Dean at the Baptist Theological Seminary (BTS) of Singapore, one of the nine schools that form the ABGTS
consortium. She received her theological training at BTS and at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) in
Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States. She earned her PhD from SBTS in 1994.
She served on the executive of the Singapore Baptist Convention and the Asia Pacific Baptist Federation (APBF), one
of six regional fellowships of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA). She was also a member of the board of directors of Global
Women, a mainly Baptist organization dedicated to empowering women for service and mission globally, and to creating
partnerships across national borders and artificial divisions.
Lim was a member of the BWA team participating in the ongoing Baptist-Roman Catholic Conversations between the
BWA and the Vatican. She presented papers on various topics at BWA and APBF events, including at the BWA-sponsored
Baptist International Conference on Theological Education in Prague, Czech Republic, in July 2008. She wrote one of the
Bible studies that will be used during the 20th Baptist World Congress to be held in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 2010.
“My association with Lilian started three years ago with our participation in the Baptist-Roman Catholic theological
conversations,” said BWA General Secretary Neville Callam. “Lilian was a fine person with an alert mind and a loving and
gentle spirit. Ever looking beneath the surface of things as they appear, she was a fine interpreter of people, texts and events.
She had a deep and abiding faith in God and she spent herself in the service of others,” the BWA leader said in his tribute.
“In the passing of Lilian, the entire community of theological students and teachers in Asia has lost a distinguished leader
and the Baptist World Alliance a gifted theologian and a sensitive soul. May her soul rest in peace,” said Callam.
A Chinese Singaporean, Lim was one of the subjects of the 2003 BWA book, “Stars Lighting up the Sky: Stories of
Contemporary Christian Heroes” by Tony Cupit, a former BWA director. She faced opposition from her traditional Chinese
family when she converted to Christianity at a young age, and she battled lifelong illness. “Throughout, she has maintained
deep faith in Christ despite looking death in the face, enduring pain and other challenges to life and faith,” Cupit wrote.
A memorial service took place at Calvary Baptist Church in Singapore, on June 28, followed by cremation.

JOHN H. FOSTER,
president of the Lott Carey Foreign Mission Convention from 1988-1991, and a former member of the General Council of
the Baptist World Alliance, died on Monday, August 17, after a brief illness.
Foster was senior pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church in Norfolk, Virginia, in the United States, for 41 years, retiring in 2007.
He served as president of the Virginia Baptist Association and is a former chair of the National Baptist Sunday School
Publications Board.
He was a lifetime member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and served on
the Norfolk school board from 1977 until his election to the Norfolk city council in 1984, where he served for 10 years.
In 2003, he received the First Citizen Distinguished Service Award from the Cosmopolitan Club of Norfolk. The Virginia
House of Delegates recognized Foster in 2004 as playing “a pioneering role during the 1980s in promoting racial reconciliation,
consensus, and cooperation” in Norfolk.
He earned undergraduate and graduate divinity degrees at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, and a doctorate
in ministry degree from Howard University in Washington, DC.
Foster created a continuing education program at Shiloh Baptist Church to help pregnant teenagers continue their
schooling. “When most people didn’t help those young ladies, he stepped up,” said Joseph N. Green Jr., who served with
Foster on the city council in the 1980s.
Foster is survived by wife Salona, and sons Laguana and Savon.
Funeral services were held at Shiloh Baptist Church in Norfolk on August 22.

JAN BOWMAN
of New Zealand, president of the Baptist Women’s Union of the South West Pacific from
1988-1993, died on June 13. By virtue of her position as president, she also served as a vice president of the Baptist
World Alliance Women’s Department (BWAWD).
Bowman was music director for the BWAWD Leadership Conference and other events at the 1985 Baptist World Congress
in Los Angeles, California, USA. At the BWAWD conference in 1990 in Seoul, Korea, she staged presentations from her
continental group for the entire assembly. She was named general program chair for the world congress of Baptist women
in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1995.
In New Zealand, Bowman held several top positions in leadership. She was president of the Auckland Baptist Association
in 1983, the second woman ever to hold this post. From 2004-2005, she was president of the Baptist Missionary Fellowship
of New Zealand. Bowman was district governor of Zonta of New Zealand and served as international director of Zonta from
2003-2005. Zonta is an organization of executives and professionals who work to advance the status of women worldwide
through service and advocacy.
In recognition of her life of service, Bowman was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit which is given by Queen
Elizabeth II to persons who “have rendered meritorious service to the Crown and nation or who have become distinguished
by their eminence, talents, contributions or other merits.”
A memorial service was held at Remuera Baptist Church, Auckland, New Zealand, on June 17.

BAPTIST WORLD MAGAZINE

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