FALLS CHURCH, Va. (ABP) — David Wong, former president of the Baptist World Alliance, died Sept. 16 in Alhambra, Calif. He was 97.
Born in Wuzhou, China, Wong moved to Hong Kong in 1949. He was the first layman and the first Asian to be elected president of the worldwide umbrella group for national and regional Baptist denominations. He held the post from 1975 to 1980.
An architectural engineer, he chaired the BWA Men’s Department and served as president of the Asian Baptist Federation before becoming BWA president.
Wong was deeply committed to laymen’s ministry, and presided at the first World Conference of Baptist Men, held in Hong Kong in 1974.
As president, he helped implement organizational changes, including the creation of the BWA General Council and the Division of Evangelism and Education. Under his leadership, the BWA granted newer and younger member bodies equal standing with older conventions and unions.
Wong traveled widely as BWA president, visiting approximately 70 countries during his tenure. He also wrote a memoir, By the Grace of God: Memoirs of David Y.K. Wong.
Wong “distinguished himself as a good man who served the BWA with faithfulness and loyalty,” current president David Coffey said, according to a BWA news release. “We express our gratitude to God for David Wong’s service and send our loving sympathy to his wife, Lillian, and family.”
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