Bill Lees died on March 14 in Reading where he had lived since 1966.
His earlier ministry in Malaysia had continued to be a major part of his life so that it was appropriate that the main address at his Thanksgiving Service was by Dr. Philip Lyn from Skyline Church, Kota Kinabalu, East Malaysia.
Monkton Combe conversion
Bill was born on April 8 1924. He came to a personal faith in Jesus while at Monkton Combe School and went to Birmingham University to study medicine. After graduation, in 1948, he joined the Colonial Medical Services in Penang, Malaya. It was during this time that he became aware of the work of the Borneo Evangelical Mission and their appeal for 12 new workers. He married Shirley Johnson in 1952 and together they joined BEM to work amongst the Murut tribal people of Borneo. It was a time of health and spiritual revival with rapid church growth. The Sidang Injil Borneo is now the largest Protestant denomination in Malaysia with over 500,000 members.
Challenge to missionary service
Bill worked as a church planter rather than as a doctor and challenged others not to hold on to professional status when evangelism was needed. Bill’s forthright challenge to missionary service was very influential in the 1950s and 1960s.
On returning to Britain in 1966 he and Shirley attended Wycliffe Baptist Church in Reading where he was an elder while working as a Developmental Paediatrician.
He also developed significant work among British and overseas students and it is said that some 3,000 Christians, with significant positions in Malaysia, credit Bill with wise counsel and prayerful direction.
Bill retired from the NHS in 1989, but continued to use his medical qualifications right up until his death. He is survived by his wife, two daughters and four grandchildren. His first daughter, Ruth, had cerebral palsy and died in 1969.
