Rev. Jerry Dusing, president of the Sabah Council of Churches, said early Christian missionaries had endured personal sacrifices and hardships to bring education and healthcare to the people of Borneo.

He said Hadi’s “provocative statement” last week was “simply false and untrue” and that cheating and bribery, inducements and compulsion were regarded as sins in Christianity.

Since the days when Christian missionaries first came to Sabah “we have not witnessed nor heard of any incidents of bribery or inducements to lure our people to convert into Christianity”, he said.

Instead, the pioneering missionaries had made huge personal sacrifices and endured hardships to build up the church and set up hospitals and schools in Sabah and Sarawak.

“In Sarawak, the efforts of the pioneering missionaries in the then remote parts of the Sarawak jungles had brought much needed healthcare and education to the Lun Bawang tribe. It was their sacrificial efforts which contributed to the Lun Bawang’s survival,” he said.

“Prominent leaders at various levels of society have benefited from mission schools,” he said, pointing out that Chief Minister Musa Aman himself had attended mission schools for his primary and secondary education.

Rev Dusing also reminded Hadi that one of the hallmarks of Christianity was freedom and Christians were enjoined to “live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil”.

He said “Christians believe that the ability to choose new beliefs, thoughts and feelings are at a person’s own discretion”.