West Kalimantan Christian Church

West Kalimantan Christian Church or GKKB is an evangelical Christian church organization in West Kalimantan, Indonesia.

WWW gkkb.or.id

History

The church history began from three separately independent churches in Singkawang, Pontianak, and Pemangkat. All of them are in West Borneo, at that time part of Dutch East Indies.
The Singkawang Congregation was founded in the early 20th century, in the year 1906, by American evangelical missionary Charles M. Worthington. Then in 1928 the church got assistance from Basel Mission.
The Pontianak Congregation, started in 6 June 1935 by some Christians who came from China. This church then get assistance from Chinese missionaries. During the Japanese occupation, the Chinese people in West Borneo, especially the Christians faced persecution. During this time multiple churches were forced to be closed and a reverend was killed. After the end of World War II in 1950 the church received assistance from missionaries of China Inland Mission.
The Pemangkat Congregation was founded by some Christians who moved to Pemangkat. In the beginning they just conducted worship at a house. Finally with the help from missionaries who came to Pemangkat in the 1950s, the Pemangkat Church building was officially built in 1963.
These three churches then extend their evangelical mission to the surrounding areas, and built new churches in many towns and villages of West Borneo.
In 1966 the three main churches, along with other churches affiliated with them, agreed to merge and found a church organization which was named Chinese Christian Church, with the Pontianak Congregation as the center of synod.
Facing the political and social turbulence in Indonesia, then at the great plenary session in 1967, the synod decided to change the church name to West Kalimantan Christian Church, abbreviated as GKKB.
On 2 July 1988, the GKKB synod became a member of Council of Churches in Indonesia.