OUR HISTORY

RBS has been in existence for over 50 years!

The very first RBS was held in 1972 in Penang at the Christian Convention Centre (CCC) at Batu Ferringhi, organised by the Brethren churches in Penang. It ran in Penang for five years, attended by youth from all over the country, most of whom were awaiting their Form 5 (then MCE) and Form 6 (then HSC) exam results. The school was eight weeks long, with a curriculum focused on providing Christian youth with a strong foundation in biblical studies as well as ministry skills.

Unfortunately, due to resource constraints, a decision was made to halt the school from 1976 onwards.

In 1991, under the leadership of Island Glades Gospel Centre (IGGC), Penang, RBS was revived. While the focus of the school remained essentially the same, the school, also held in CCC Penang, was shortened to merely four weeks.

In 1994, RBS was handed over to the resource-richer Klang Valley Brethren churches to run. The school was relocated to Highlands Christian Centre (HCC), Cameron Highlands. While the length of the school remained at just under four weeks, the curriculum was revised to include a week-long mission trip to small-town churches in various parts of peninsular Malaysia at the end of the school.

In 1997, a decision was made to hand over the running of RBS to the Brethren agency Inter-Brethren Assemblies (IBA), now known as IBA Youth Development (IBAYD) —an arrangement which has continued to the present day.

Currently, RBS continues to held annually in HCC Cameron Highlands. It now runs for six weeks, including a mid-school day-trip mission to the orang asli villages on Jalan Tapah and an end-of-school five-day mission to small-town churches across Malaysia. The students finally converge back in Petaling Jaya for five days of debriefing, final classes and their graduation ceremony.

RBS has evolved over the years—and we continue to do so to adapt to a changing world and a new generation of youth—while still remaining solidly true to the mission and ethos of the school, which is equipping youth to be followers of Jesus who are grounded in the unchanging Word of God as the basis for faith and life.

We are deeply encouraged to see how God has raised up church leaders, missionaries and other committed servants of God from amidst our alumni. Another joy is seeing RBS alumni giving back to the school in various ways. Some who are now working have sponsored needy students’ RBS fees or helped support the costs of the school. Some have returned to serve as staff, teachers, mission supervisors, planning committee members and in other support services. Our current teaching faculty includes alumni across the generations from the RBS schools of 1973 through to 2013.

The value of RBS has also been echoed by entire families who have attended across the years, with parents desiring their children to be blessed through the school just as they themselves were a generation before.

The RBS ministry has also been held in high repute beyond Brethren circles and we have been privileged over the years to provide assistance and consultation to similar programmes initiated by the Methodist churches (Jeremiah School), Wawasan Penabur for the BM-speaking churches across Malaysia (Sekolah Kepimpinan Isakhar (SKI)) and PJEFC (Step Up). Each year, we have students from across a wide spectrum of denominational backgrounds, some of whom also return some years later to serve at the school in various capacities. Some of our teachers and panellists are also from other denominational backgrounds.

In the end, whatever good fruit RBS has been blessed to contribute to over the years, it is entirely to the glory of God, apart from whom we can do nothing (John 15:5).

“For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.” (Romans 11:36)

Photos caption:

RBS school photos from 1972 and every tenth year thereafter (except for 1982 when the school was on hiatus).