IMPORTANT STATEMENT ON AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Dear fellow believers all around the world,
Greetings and peace to you. We are writing this letter to inform you that our beloved Rev. Stephen Tong, is sharing the grace and experiences of his lifetime service to God through an autobiography, so that everyone can share in the glory of God and benefit from it. Stephen Tong Evangelistic Ministries International is set to exclusively publish The Autobiography of Rev. Stephen Tong: Use My Life (用我一生 ) — which has been reviewed, corrected, and is about to go into final printing in Mandarin.
Fourteen years ago, Rev. Ken Ang Lee proposed to Rev. Stephen Tong to create an autobiography by dictation. Initially, they both thought this method would work, but later during the editing process, Rev. Ken Ang Lee insisted on being credited as the author of the book. Rev. Stephen Tong disagreed because the content — including all aspects of history, culture, art, music, philosophy, and so on — was derived from his dictations. Rev. Stephen Tong then suggested Rev. Ken Ang Lee to take credit as an editor instead, but he strongly disagreed. As no consensus was met, Rev. Stephen Tong then decided to stop the project and offered a sum of USD 20,000 as an appreciation for his effort and labor in editing the autobiography, but Rev. Ken Ang Lee had rejected the offer.
Due to this conflict, the publication of the autobiography was delayed for fourteen years, and had to be re-narrated. The previous commission given to Rev. Ken Ang Lee to work on the autobiography no longer exists. The result is the current official version, which is the only complete Mandarin version in the world, to be published by Stephen Tong Evangelistic Ministries International. We are hereby informing that Rev. Stephen Tong has not authorized any other individual or institution to publish this autobiography — all rights to the book belong entirely and exclusively to us (Stephen Tong Evangelistic Ministries International). That said, we also reserve the full rights for translations into any languages, and such versions not released officially by us would not be authorized copies. The entire proceeds of this book sale will be donated to the building fund of Calvin Institute of Technology/Calvin University in Indonesia.
This autobiography will be available soon, and we encourage you to periodically check the announcements from STEMI’s official website (stemi.org), social media accounts, and local STEMI channels. Please keep this project in your prayers, and to give thanks and honor to our Lord for using His servant mightily for over 67 years of ministry.
Together, let us praise the Lord’s glorious name. Soli Deo Gloria.
In Christ,
Jahja Ling
Co-Founder/Vice President of STEMI
Click here to see the Mandarin version of this statement. Click here to download the statement.
