WASHINGTON (ABP) — The first woman president of a consortium of Baptist seminaries in Asia died June 25 in Singapore.
Lilian Lim, 50, was born with Marfan's syndrome, a connective-tissue disorder that weakens major arteries. Eron Henry, a spokesman for the Baptist World Alliance, said she became ill shortly after a conference in Prague last July when her aorta ruptured, and her death appeared to be related to that episode.
An ethnic Chinese woman born in Singapore, Lim made history in 2005 when she was elected president of the Asia Baptist Graduate Theological Seminary, a consortium of nine schools strategically placed to train Baptist leaders in areas where Christians are a small minority.
Lilian Lim, the first woman to be president of the Asia Baptist Graduate Theological Seminary, died June 25 in Singapore.
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Colleagues described Lim as "a simple lady with a simple faith." Neville Callam, general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance, called her "a fine person with an alert mind and a loving and gentle spirit."
"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," Callam said. "May her soul rest in peace."
Lim converted to Christianity at a young age, against the wishes of her traditional Chinese parents. She became a journalist and public-relations professional, and later followed a calling as a pastor and academician.
She received theological training at Baptist Theological Seminary of Singapore, one of the schools comprising the ABGTS, and earned a Ph.D. from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1994.
Before heading the consortium, Lim was academic dean and vice president of BTS in Singapore.
The ABGTS was formed in 1959 by the then-Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. When the renamed International Mission Board pulled out in 1999, Mercer University in Macon, Ga., provided supplemental funding to keep the seminary open. The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship provided support through scholarships and service of global missions personnel.
Alan Culpepper, dean of Mercer University's James and Carolyn McAfee School of Theology, taught Lim in his last Ph.D. seminar at Southern Seminary in 1991 and saw her from time to time after that, most recently in Hong Kong last January.
Culpepper recalled Lim as "a visionary leader with a gentle spirit."
"As president of the Asia Baptist Theological Seminary, she moved between cultures with ease, advancing the work of the church and theological education in Asia," Culpepper said.
Daniel Vestal, executive coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, described Lim as "one of the finest global Baptist leaders among us."
"She has been a treasured friend to Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, and we are grateful for her life and ministry," Vestal said.
Rob Nash, global missions coordinator for the CBF, called Lim "a gentle but strong presence among us, always championing the cause of theological education in Asia."
Lim was the sixth president of ABTGS and the first female. She was active in the Baptist World Alliance and member of a BWA team participating in ongoing Baptist-Roman Catholic conversations between global Baptists and the Vatican.
She spoke frequently at BWA events and wrote one of the Bible studies that will be used during the BWA's 20th Baptist World Congress scheduled in 2010 in Hawaii.
Lim served five years on the board of directors of Global Women, a network that promotes women-to-women missions and ministry around the world. Cindy Dawson, Global Women executive director, called her "a grace-filled woman who led by example."
Dawson said one of her fondest memories of Lim is working with her to get emergency relief aid and mosquito nets into Burma following Cyclone Nargis, when the country was closed to outside help.
"Following Lilian's life example, I am confident other women will find empowerment to thrive and serve despite the obstacles they face," Dawson said.
A memorial service is scheduled June 28 at Calvary Baptist Church in Singapore, followed by cremation.
Mountain Brook Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., a strong supporter of ABTGS, has established a fund in Lim’s memory to support scholarships for students of the seminary.
Memorial gifts for scholarships for ABGTS students can also be made by sending contributions to the Lillian Lim Memorial Scholarship Fund at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.
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Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.