Sarawak : Madeline Dennis - Moblile Clinic in Sibu

How many of you know about the history of mobile clinics of the Rajang?

The first government mobile clinic in the Rajang Basin was started by Mrs. Madeline Dennis way back in 1956, after that another mobile clinic was started in Bukit Lan by the Methodist Church sometime later when Miss Hilda Shepherd arrived. Both these ladies had years of missionary work in China before 1949.

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“I love the Chinese people, I love Malaysians and I love the Iban people of Sarawak.” (Madeline Dennis, 1989,Interview by Wong Meng Lei, 20^th March in Sibu, Methodist Message, p. 6)

Madeline Dennis was born in 19 xx in Texas, USA.  She graduated from Kentucky’s Asbury College with a degree in nursing. She married her college mate Rev Dennis upon their graduation.

Both had a heart for mission work and thus they applied for mission work overseas. The Great Depression days put their dreams on hold. They were  sent to a local rural church to work due to financial constraints of the church from 1935 onwards. This was a blessing in disguise because their experience in those years laid a strong foundation for their future mission work overseas.

In 1938, an offer came for a pastor and a nurse to work in China. It was like God’s will happening right in front of them. They had the right partnership. After a short training, in 1939, September, they boarded a huge steamship and set sail for China, a totally different country from the United States.

Madeline’s grandfather was a pastor and so was her father. Hence she did not find foreign mission work very unusual. However, Rev Dennis did not come from a similar background, in fact his parents did oppose their work in China.

When they reached China, they embarked on Chinese language studies in Shanghai for 9 months while working as missionaries straight away. In 1940, they were in Nan Ping in Fujian. Rev Dennis preached in different churches using the Chinese language while Madeline herself worked as a nurse in the Methodist Hospital of Nan Ping for the next 10 years.

They returned to the USA only once in those 10 years.

Because of the political unrest in China they returned to the US and in 1951 they were re – assigned to Sarawak to serve in Bawang Assan, an Iban longhouse church. Madeline however was offered a post in the government clinic in Sibu. She was instrumental in starting the Rajang-Igan Mobile Clinic for the government and served in this capacity for 4 years.

In 1956, Madeline and her husband were reassigned to Singapore for two years. In 1958, they started serving in Petaling Jaya, Selangor. In 1961, they were sent to Perak where unfortunately Rev Dennis was met with a very serious road accident resulting in brain injury which he miraculously recovered. brain injury . Subsequently they left Perak . In 1985, Rev Dennis had another bad fall and he passed away not long after that.

Madeline’s main concern in Sarawak was the role young Iban Methodists can play in the development of the church in the rural areas. She had served in three different areas in her life, “the wonderful people of China” ,  the Malaysian urban centers and Sarawak Iban  dominated rural areas. She hopes that the future will be bright for the rural people especially.

(excerpted and translated from Chinese Methodist Message)

(Note : To honour her, many Ibans name their daughters Madeline)

Translated by Chang Yi (16 th May 2013)