John Trevor White was born in the village of Draycott in Somerset, England in 1910. While he was still a baby, his parents dedicated him to missions in China. However, White was destined to bring the gospel to the indigenous people of Borneo. 

The Welsh revival left an indelible impact on White’s mother, Grace, who told him the stories of how people had been touched and the amazing power that they had experienced. White absorbed these stories and at the age of 17, he gave his life to God. The young man, who was already serving in Sunday School, was further inspired when a Baptist pastor in Cheddar invited him to preach in different village churches. He also served an apprenticeship in carpentry and sign writing which proved to be useful later when he would build churches in Borneo.

Fired up with a zeal for missions after the Keswick Convention, he wrote to several mission organisations but discovered that theological training was needed for missionary work. While White was in The Bible College of Wales (now known as Trinity School of Ministry), he kept asking, “Where is God calling me?” One day, as he was reading 1 Kings 17:3 where God told Elijah “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan”, a voice seemed to tell him “Go to the east”.

But where in the East? White wrote to the head of the British and Foreign Bible Society seeking direction and two possibilities emerged: The Christian and Missionary Alliance in the United States or the Borneo Evangelical Mission (BEM) based in Melbourne. As there was no BEM office in the United Kingdom, White went under Worldwide Evangelisation for Christ (WEC International). It took 10 months before he finally set sail for Borneo where he served for the next 50 years. 

On arrival in Sabah, White was warmly greeted by E. Stafford Young who had joined BEM in 1937. BEM, which started its mission in North Borneo towards the end of 1928, founded the Borneo Evangelical Church or SIB (Sidang Injil Borneo), an evangelical denomination in Malaysia.  

A pragmatic and down-to-earth missionary, the first task White embarked on was learning Malay or Bahasa Melayu. White travelled with Young to Ranau, a village in the interior of Sabah, where he built his house and mission station. The two of them and a convert named Rentian, who belonged to the indigenous Dusun people, started preaching in villages around Ranau. It was common practice for missionaries to adopt a local name and White was given the name “Achang Ating” which was later changed to “Asang” (meaning “light”).

The Dusuns believed in dreams and Asang had his first encounter with the spiritual world and beliefs that kept them in bondage and fear when a sick Dusun woman, Yatta Adan, dreamt that a white man came to heal her. Despite seeking the help of local witch doctors and sacrificing many buffaloes and chickens, she remained sick and it was only when “Asang”, the man whom she had seen in her dream, came and prayed for her that she was miraculously healed.  

During World War II, Asang was interned by the Japanese as a prisoner of war. He survived the war and was later sent back to the UK to recover. Undeterred by his wartime trauma, he returned to Sabah after eight months to resume his ministry in July 1946. 

During the 1940s, Asang preached in 25 villages in Ranau and saw 400 conversions in the first year itself.[1] In a village called Parad, nearly the whole village became Christian. He was assisted by Kentuni in his ministry and their partnership was a powerful one. Kentuni became the pastor of Bongkud in the early 1950s. Eventually, Asang’s evangelistic work extended to Narawang, Perancangan, Tekutan and Nalumad. 

Asang’s mother Grace was a spiritual support in his ministry. She visited him in Sabah against the advice of her doctor as she was not in good health. Grace served in practical ways among the Dusun and prayed for them. After three years, she returned to Draycott. When Grace went home, Asang decided to get married as the Dusuns were very insistent that a man should not be without a wife. He married a Dusun woman named Konih, a widow who had a little girl named Lydia. Delia was the first fruit of their union. Initially, Asang and his family stayed in Parad and he would walk to the surrounding villages to evangelise.  

A resourceful person, Asang encouraged some Dusuns to take up the government’s offer to move to a new place where they would have ample land to cultivate padi. The Dusuns knew Taginambur as a haunted place. In 1905, a smallpox outbreak had killed many villagers there. Now, in 1951, the born-again Dusuns who were no longer bound by fear agreed to move to Taginambur which was 10 miles from Kota Belud.

The Dusuns built two longhouses and a church. Asang and his family lived beside the church. Subsequently, another daughter named Rosmie Anne was born.

Asang discipled and mentored the Dusuns till they were capable of serving and progressing on their own. The church in Taginambur grew more independent and some of the members went for Bible college training. Among the graduates from Lawas Bible College were Mandarisi and Lagadan. On Christmas Day 1957, the attendance was 1,000 people. On a normal Sunday, the congregation was about 600 people.

Economically, the villagers experienced exciting developments when they took up rubber tapping. Venturing into planting wet padi also saw a better yield. Asang established a school with its first teacher, Nell Young, who was subsequently joined by another woman teacher, Margaret. In the meantime, he also travelled to Kota Marudu to extend his ministry. The work spread to Kota Tagaro after an older man, Sulidan, accepted the Lord, and began to witness.

Asang, who had lived in Malaysia since 1948, was granted citizenship status in 1967 and had total freedom to travel around. He started to build a church in Bongkud. Around this time, his mother returned from the UK and stayed in Sabah till her last days. Asang also built a school in Bongkud and by May 1967, there were about 200 pupils. All subjects were taught in English.

In 1973, revival broke out in both Sarawak and Sabah, starting with the usual Easter Convention where the preaching of the speaker, Petrus Octavanius, was accompanied by many wonders, signs and miracles. In Taginambur, revival started from a children’s camp which was supposed to last only five days. As the flame of the revival spread, nightly meetings were held in the church and the people experienced strong winds blowing and repentance. It was a new phenomenon for Asang who sensed it was the work of the Holy Spirit. People became more faithful in their spiritual life and began reaching out to others for Christ.

Between 1980 and 1981, Asang rebuilt the Bible College at Namaus. The college, Sekolah Theologia Pertama, had been built in 1965 but as the number of students grew, it was no longer able to accommodate them and many parts of the old buildings needed urgent renovation. Asang had the help of many volunteers from the village of Melangkap. Subsequently, more help arrived from Taginambur and Tuaran when villagers there heard that Asang was rebuilding the Bible College.

In 1985, the church leaders felt that the church in Taginambur was slipping into lukewarm mode. Three of them, Balan, Kingas and Gungkangou, began initiating intercessory prayer. During one revival meeting, there was a word of prophecy about Asang but he could not hear clearly as there were so many people praying. Later, he learned from Kingas that the Lord had given a word of affirmation for Asang’s toil in serving him. His fellow travelling evangelists were also given words of honour and appreciation. Kingas told Asang that he had been honored for his faithfulness in ministry, even walking barefoot from village to village (sometimes riding a buffalo or bicycle), sleeping on rough ground, and eating whatever was available (including snake satay). Asang, who had been labouring in Sabah for the past 50 years, was assured and happy on hearing these words of affirmation.

In his old age, Asang’s eyesight deteriorated. Although he could still see to walk, there were black masses in front of his eyes. Three months short of his 96th birthday, he suffered a stroke. He went home to the Lord two days later, on May 29, 2006. According to his daughter Delia, she wept tears of joy on the day of the funeral because God sent a sign of His divine presence when it drizzled only around the area of the burial ground, while other places remained dry.