Brief History of The Bridge International Church

The Bridge International Church was born on January 11, 2004 in the Taman U Thant home of Dotson and Valerie Wells with about sixty people, Malaysians and expatriates. Interim leaders were soon elected, and Todd Nelson was affirmed as pastor of the new congregation.

The fledgling church found a temporary home in The Ark, an estate behind the British High Commission on Jalan Ampang. There the church met on Sundays for worship and conducted The Alpha Course on Tuesday nights as a form of outreach to the community. Through The Alpha Course, and by word of mouth, attendance at The Bridge began to grow.

The first Easter service was conducted at The Raintree Club with many visitors and over 180 people attending the service and the luncheon following. Meanwhile, church administrators were looking for an alternative venue to allow the church to keep growing.

Church member and Korean Air Force Brigadier General Oh Won Yong made contact with Fairview International School about the church meeting on their campus. In May 2004, The Bridge made the move to Fairview to utilize their multi-purpose hall for worship and their classrooms for Sunday School. The school was very gracious and accommodating of our need for space.

On May 23, 2004, after much hard work by elders and administrators, The Bridge adopted a constitution and our first budget. We also affirmed elders and administrators to serve on-going terms according to the new constitution.

From January 2005 until September 2007, Lisa Roberts served the church first as our Youth Pastor, then as Associate Pastor overseeing the Sunday School, women's, and single adult ministries, in addition to doing youth ministry. In April 2007 she married Amos Great, and they now have a ministry based on the other side of KL.

Our long search for a more suitable venue came to an end when we relocated to the Chinese Chamber of Commerce Building near the Fairview School campus. Easter Sunday 2007 was our first meeting in the new place.

We at The Bridge believe that God's vision for us is to be a united international church in KL that serves as a hospital, a filling station, and a bridge. We build bridges of friendship with people so Jesus can walk across those bridges and draw people to Himself. With faith in the Father and His promises, we look forward to a bright future -- one in which people of all kinds and from many nations find hope, healing, caring, community, purpose, and power for living in Jesus and His people. And once empowered and discipled, these same people go forth as ambassadors for Christ wherever He sends them.