The Rt Revd Datuk Dr Luke Chhoa Heng Sze, the 3rd Bishop of the Anglicn Diocese of Sabah, was received back to heaven to be with the Lord at 3:00 AM on Wednesday, 19 April 2000.  He was 76 years old.
The funeral service was held at All Saints' Cathedral, Kota Kinabalu at 9:30 AM on Friday, 21st April 2000.  The cortege was taken to the Anglican cemetery at Mile 5-1/2 Jalan Tuaran.

For more on the Bishop's life, click here.

The late Bishop Datuk Dr Luke Chhoa left behind
 
 

The Province of the Anglican Church in South East Asia
and The Diocese of Sabah
 

Note :  Well wishers can leave a note / message for the family of the late Bishop Datuk Dr Luke Chhoa on our Guest Book.  Please click here.
 
 

BISHOP  DATUK  DR  LUKE  CHHOA  HENG  SZE
 

Bishop Chhoa was born in China on April 20, 1925.  At the age of 11, he began to have contact with the Church and it was through this contact vis-a-vis the worship, teaching and other activities of the Church that he came to know the Lord.  He accepted Christ as his personal Saviour and was baptized when he was 15 years old.  Praise God that it was during the altar call at an evangelistic meeting that he pledged to be in the full-time ministry.  He was then 20 years old.

Two years later in 1947, Bishop Chhoa left China for Kuching, Sarawak where he was supposed to take over his father's business.  However, as he felt that he did not have the aptitude for business venture he gave up the offer and after a 5 year spiritual struggle, he was recommended by the then Diocese of Borneo in 1952 to take up theological study at the Trinity Theologicl College in Singapore.  After his graduation in 1955, Bishop Chhoa was posted to begin his ministry as a Vicar of St Paul's parish, Penang and later as the Archdeacon of Northern Malaya.  On July 4, 1956, Bishop Chhoa was married to Madam Wong Siew Diik of Sibu, Sarawak.

In 1971, as it happened that the late Bishop Tan Sri Roland Koh of the Sabah Diocese had to be transferred to become the Bishop of the new (Anglican) Diocese of Malaya and as his replacement, Bishop Chhoa was nominated by the Archbishop of Canterbury to be the successor.  And to prepare him for the Episcopal tasks ahead, arrangement was made for Bishop Chhoa to under a  5-month course in England where he was consecrated as at Lambeth Palace on St Andrew's Day of November 30, 1971 by Dr Arthur Michael Ramsay, the then Archbishop of Canterbury.

Bishop Chhoa left Penang for Sabah with his family (wife and 4 children) on January 2, 1972 to assume his new post and was installed as the new Bishop of Sabah on January 25, 1972, succeeding the late Tan Sri Roland Koh.  Thus began the new chapter in Bishop Chhoa's life as a Bishop - a life that is totally and selflessly dedicated to serving the Lord in His vineyard despite the hardship, albeit a persecution, he had to face following his consecration as the then Bishop of Sabah.  For it was at his time tha the (Christian) church in Sabah had to experience a very unfavourable political climate whereby the work passes of several priests of non-citizen status had to be withdrawn by the then State Government, causing all of a sudden a big vacuum of trained and experienced clergy in service in the Diocese.

Under such trying circumstances and with only 4 local priests to assist him, one can imagine how difficult it must have been for Bishop Chhoa as leader of the diocese and being new to the ministry, to endure and cope with the shortage of ministry workers in a Diocese of about 11 established Churches and Mission Districts at the material time.  But praise God that through the wisdom and foresight God had bestowed upon Bishop Chhoa, he encouraged and inspired a considerable number of lay people to dedicate themselves to either  render more commitment than theretoforein their service of various capacities for the Church where they worship or to work full-time to assist in the ministry.  Many had responded to his call with quite a few having offered themselves for full time ministry on a non-stipendiary basis.  And this response of the lay people had greatly contributed not only to the maintenance of normal activities of our Churches but also to the various aspects of growth in mission works of the Diocese, which indeed is a blessing from God given to His Church for His own glory !

We praise and thank God that by His grace and through the wisdom, faithfulness and dedicated service of Bishop Chhoa, our Diocese had managed to overcome the spiritual warfare that confronted the Church at that most difficult time in the mid 1970s.

Bishop Chhoa was awarded a D. D. (Doctor of Divinity) honorary degree in 1987 by the John Deway University in New York in recognition of his mission endeavours.  He was also conferred Datukship by the Sabah State Government in 1984 for his contributions as a Christian leader to the society at large.  He retired in April 1990 and was appointed Honorary Chaplain for Trinity Theological College, Singapore, from 1991 to 1993.  While in Trinity, he initiated the senior citizen class in the college.  In 1994, he returned to Sabah and was actively engaged in preaching and teaching in our Churches and Sabah Theological Seminary.  Likewise, Bishop Chhoa initiated the senior citizen class in Sabah Theological Seminary and it was during this time that he wrote four very useful chinese books related to senior citizen ministry.  He was the Hon. Assistant Bishop until sickness overtook him.  Indeed, the late Bishop Datuk fitted into the description of the Bible - a faithful and dedicated servant of God - well.
 

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