In Honor Of Dr David Gunaratnam

"Every church has her theologian, but not every church has a saint". That was how a Malaysian leader described Dr David Gunaratnam, the quiet, saintly elder-statesman, who recently celebrated his 70th birthday.

Rev Wong shared his "reflection on the impact of David's ministry on mentoring a young generation. His leadership is relatively a quiet one and yet impactful.

In an age where the public applauded celebrities, platform charismatic leaders, David's quiet leadership offers a new perspective and freshness of spirituality. We thank God for a man like David. He is indeed God's gift to His church."

Thanks to Kar Yong, I learnt that a new book has been published in honor of him: "The Soul of Mission: Perspectives on Christian Leadership, Spirituality and Mission in East Asia: Essays in Appreciation of Dr David Gunaratnam."

Kang San, the editor, describes the project in his introductory chapter:

"David Gunaratnam celebrates his seventieth birthday on October 3rd, 2007. In appreciation of David’s lifelong ministry to the church in Malaysia and commitment to cross-cultural mission in East Asia, a group of friends agreed to contribute a series of essays dealing with the theme of “spirituality, leadership and mission”. These three themes converged in David G’s (as David is affectionately called) life and ministry as a servant of the church, an advocate for global mission, and a disciple of Jesus Christ. Although most of the writers in this volume reflected on East Asian contexts, we hope these essays will contribute to the ongoing discussion on servanthood, mature leadership and genuine spirituality in the practice of Christian mission. The volume also offers a sampling of perspectives from both experienced mission leaders from the West and national leaders from different parts of Asia whereby issues on discipleship, suffering, leadership, growth of the church, and mission in East Asia are explored."