Origninally a native tribe inhabitating the highlands near the extreme interior of north-east Sarawak (Fifth Division) close to the border with Kalimantan. Evangelized largely by missionaries of the Borneo Evangelical Mission (BEM) during the late 1930s and 40s, successive generations of this relatively small but intelligent and hard-working tribe have integrated extremely well into modern society and have contributed to national development and building somewhat in reverse proportion to their size. The centre of their native life remains the settlement of Bario, still accessible only by small aeroplanes.
In Christian memory, Bario—also famous for its fragrant hill rice—is always associated with the spiritual revival that swept through the community in Oct 1973, and manifested in amazing signs and wonders, including unexplicable balls of fire lighting up in the night sky. The revival soon swept beyond Bario to neighbouring Sabah and Kalimantan as well. There remains many leaders in the Church today who were active participants in the revival and could recall first-hand their role in and experience of it. A balanced and reliable account of it and its aftermath can be found in the highly readable account by Solomon Bulan and Lilian Bulan-Dorai (brother and sister who were teenagers at the time).
Further Reading:
Solomon Bulan & Lilian Bulan-Dorai, The Bario Revival. Kuala Lumpur: HomeMatters Network, 2004.
C. Hudson Southwell, Uncharted Waters. Kuching, Sarawak: Astana Publishing, 1999.
Shirley Lees, Drunk Before Dawn. Sevenoaks, Kent: OMF Books, 1979.
Bill Lees & Shirley Lees, Is It Sacrifice? Experiencing Mission and Revival in Borneo. London: Inter-Varsity Press, 1987.
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