Appreciation of Bishop C.N. Fang

We must thank the Lord for giving us Bishop C.N. Fang 

May 5th, 2002 was the date that Bishop C. N. Fang went to be with the Lord.In those ten years I have not read about Bishop Fang being given any recognition or being appreciated. I feel that I must write about Bishop Fang for what took place in 1981, that is 30 years ago for something which I appreciate and remember to this day. Bishop C. N. Fang is a good example of a servant leader. Although he was President of the Chinese Annual Conference and Bishop of the Methodist Church which included the five Annual Conferences he was willing to help one of his flock from the TRAC conference without any hesita-tion. 

The World Methodist Conference was held from 21st July to 28th July 1981 in Hawaii. That was preceded by the World Federation of Methodist Women (WFMW) Assembly which was held for a week from 14th to the 21st of July. 

Some 458 women from 57 countries attended the Assembly. Mrs. John Ho of the CAC represented Malaysia while Violet Dass was the official observer of TAC. I was the official observer from TRAC. The World Methodist Conference was open to observers and so we had representatives from TRAC, TAC and CAC. Bishop C.N. Fang was the only official delegate to the World Methodist Conference. 

Bishop Fang was a caring and forward-looking leader. He wanted to widen and deepen the knowledge and experience of the CAC Methodist Church and he encouraged a group of members of the CAC who could afford to pay for the trip themselves to attend the Conference as observers. Bishop Fang also arranged for those representatives from Malaysia to visit places of interest. 

I remember the grand mother-in-law (who celebrated her 100th birthday in 1999) of Betty Tan (President of SCAC MW from 1996 to 2000 and from 2005 to 2009). She wore a sarong kebaya and was the life of the party. We were visiting a high point on the coast when a gust of wind blew up from the sea and her sarong was blown up to cover her face, to the merriment of those around her. 

We also visited the USS Arizona Memorial built to commemorate the attack on Pearl Harbour. Of the 1107 sailors killed 1102 were left entombed in the ship and the Memorial was built over the sunken ship. As we were walking around the place we saw a man aged between 60 plus to 70 plus standing before a plaque with names of those who died in the attack. He was sobbing his heart out. We guessed he must have been a survivor crying for his buddies who died in the bombing. 

In Honolulu we also visited the Acres of Honour where the Punchbowl Cemetery was situated in the Puowaina Crater which had been filled with earth. It was a beautifully kept, peaceful and serene place. 

In the 1980’s travel was expensive and few people in Malaysia travelled. So after the Conference was over Bishop Fang arranged for the members to travel to the mainland of USA by organising the group to tour the west coast. The majority of the Malaysian representatives and observers were travelling to the mainland of the US after the assembly and conference but I had to take a plane home a day earlier to go back to work (as a teacher). I had to be at the airport by 11.30 p.m. and since I was 47 years old and had never travelled on my own before, I was fearful of taking a taxi alone in a strange country. So I went around asking my fellow Malaysians to accompany me to the airport but no one offered to help me. Finally I had no choice but to go to Bishop Fang for help.

He was our Bishop, the Malaysian delegate who was very busy attending meetings, yet without hesitation, the servant leader "wrapped a towel around his waist…poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet"(John 13:4-5). 

He personally arranged for a taxi to take me to the airport. Not only did he do this, together with Mrs Ho, he accompanied me to the airport. They saw me off safely, and to this day I remember what Bishop Fang did, a great man who cared for one of his flock.

Recently, I read Francis Schaeffer’s book The Mark of a Christian. I now understand what he meant by "observable love" of a Christian. Bishop Fang was a person whose love and concern and care for others could easily be observed .Bishop Fang, being the Bishop of the Methodist Church, was an ex-officio member and a counsellor of the General Conference WSCS. He was serious about serving the LORD. encouraging us to do our duty. His very presence at all our committee meetings was enough to give us confidence to carry out our duties as members of the Women Society of Christian Service/Methodist Women.

By Tan May Lian