“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
— 2 Timothy 4:7
Dr. Ooi Chin Aik (1955–2025) was a man wholly devoted to God and His Word. He was known as an evangelist, Bible teacher, loving husband, mentor to many, faithful servant of God, and founder of a homegrown Malaysian mission ministry. He dedicated his entire life to Jesus and served Him faithfully until his final breath.
To friends and loved ones, he was simply known as Chin Aik. Born on 11 June 1955 in Taiping, Perak, Malaysia, he came to know Christ at the age of ten in the Chinese Gospel Hall in Taiping. From that moment, his heart was captivated by the gospel, and he grew to love the church and the Scriptures deeply. Later, he actively served in Taiping Gospel Hall and was baptized in 1975. Those who knew him describe him as a high achiever—whenever he set his mind on something, he pursued it with discipline and excellence. Yet, above all his accomplishments, his greatest passion and lifelong calling was to preach and teach God’s Word.
After earning his B.Sc. from the University of Malaya in 1980, Chin Aik entered the workforce, serving as a Production Superintendent at MMI and later as a Process Engineer at Intel Penang, Malaysia. Yet even during his professional career, his heart burned with a deeper purpose—to proclaim Christ.
In 1986, he responded to God’s call to pursue theological studies at Regent College, Canada, where he earned diplomas and master’s degrees in Christian Studies, Applied Theology, and New Testament Studies under the mentorship of renowned scholars such as Professor Gordon D. Fee and Professor Michael Green. His thesis, Final Reward in Paul’s Thoughts, was written under the supervision of Professor Fee and later published with a foreword by theologian J.I. Packer (View book here – link placeholder). His love for preaching and his clarity in communicating Scripture earned him the John Maxwell Baxter Prize in Preaching in 1991.
In 2022, Chin Aik successfully completed his Ph.D. studies at the Asia Graduate School of Theology (AGST), with his doctoral research focusing on the theological discourse surrounding the “Alah Debate,” a significant topic in Christian–Muslim engagement. The thesis is expected to be published in the near future, extending his lifelong passion for bringing biblical clarity to complex issues of faith and theology.
That same year, he was publicly ordained by Evangelical Community Church Inc. (ECCI) as a Minister of the Gospel, affirming his faithful service and commitment to advancing God’s Kingdom.
Upon returning to Malaysia, based in Kuala Lumpur, Chin Aik served with the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship (NECF), eventually becoming Acting General Secretary. He also attended and served at SS Gospel Centre as a commissioned missionary, where the church fully supported his calling and vision for ministry, enabling him to expand his outreach even further. In 2001, he founded Ministries for Asia-Pacific (MAP) in Malaysia and later the same year in Australia, dedicating his life to equipping leaders, training evangelists, and strengthening churches across Asia, the Pacific, and beyond.
He started the REAP (Rural Evangelists Adoption Programme), which by 2025 was supporting 400 rural evangelists across 14 countries—reaching millions of unreached people in rural Asia and providing them with vital biblical resources and leadership training. Over the decades, he preached and taught in more than 20 nations—from Malaysia to Nepal, Kenya to the UK, New Zealand, and even The Bahamas—faithfully proclaiming the gospel in churches, seminaries, universities, and international conferences.
Chin Aik’s teaching was clear, practical, and firmly rooted in God’s Word. As an adjunct lecturer at Malaysia Bible Seminary and Malaysia Baptist Theological Seminary, and a member of the international faculty of the Haggai Institute of Advanced Leadership, he generously shared his knowledge and biblical insights, shaping countless lives for God’s Kingdom.
In his book Turning Faces Towards Heaven (review the book here), he recounted how God guided him to start and build MAP, openly sharing the experiences and biblical principles that continue to inspire Christian ministry today. Many remember his humor, his passion for the gospel, his wisdom, and his steadfast faith—always urging believers to live out Scripture in everyday life.