Andrew Gih of the
Evangelize China Fellowship established the Southeast Asia Bible Seminary in
Malang,
East Java in 1952, and Tong graduated from it in 1961, establishing the church in 1989 following many years of preaching and evangelism.
Timeline • In 1974 Tong conducts seminars in
Surabaya and 2 years later become a guest lecturer in
China Evangelical Seminary. • Later in 1984 turned to Jakarta to uphold Reformed theology and evangelical spirit. Two years later in 1986 he was the co-founder of Reformed Evangelical School of Theology in Jakarta and Surabaya, and library and printing station that provides Christian books. • In 1989 Tong founded the Reformed Evangelical Church of Indonesia (GRII). • 1991 - 2006 Tong serves as Rector in the Indonesian Reformed Evangelical Seminary (now: Indonesian Reformed Seminary) • In 1996 Stephen Tong become the chairman of the church Synod and in 1998 he served as a Rector in The Reformed Institute in Indonesia • In 2008 Tong received an honorary degree from
Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Stephen Tong founded Reformed Evangelical Church of Indonesia in 1989 to establish a
Reformed theology-based church and congregations who are committed to
evangelism. The GRII is headquartered in the Reformed Millennium Center Indonesia, in
Kemayoran,
Jakarta, where it has its largest church, the
Messiah Cathedral. It has congregations in other major cities in
Indonesia, as well as in
Singapore,
Malaysia,
Australia,
China,
Japan,
Taiwan,
Germany and the
USA. ==Beliefs==