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The Kime family.

From Run for Your Lives by Dallas Kime, Genevieve Kime, and Ellen Dana. Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1974. Shared by Michael W. Campbell.

Kime, Dallas Spencer (1889–1985)

By Fai Leong

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Fai Leong began his pastoral ministry in Kuala Lumpur in 1980, after he graduated from Hong Kong Adventist College. At the time of writing, he was the president of the Peninsular Malaysia Mission.

First Published: January 12, 2021

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Dallas Spencer Kime, also known as D. S. Kime, and his wife Mattie Ledell were missionaries to North Sumatra, Indonesia.

Early Life, Education and Marriage

Dallas Spencer Kime was born to Calvin W. Kime and Martha Ayers Kime on March 17, 1889 in Banner Elk, North Carolina, U.S.A. The family later moved to Idaho. He was raised in a Seventh-day Adventist home along with his siblings Nellie and Clarence.1

He attended public elementary (primary) schools in Viola, Idaho and Moscow, Idaho. After completing eight years of public education, he then attended Walla Walla College Academy in Washington state.2 Kime was baptized in December 1908 in College Place, Washington by Professor M. E. Cady.3

Kime was the manager of Walla Walla Health Food Company and later the food store as well in College Place from 1909-1911.4 At College Place, he met Mattie Ledell who was enrolled in the nursing training program at the Walla Walla Sanitarium.5 They married on June 1, 1910.6 After the wedding, they continued to stay in College Place and their son Spencer was born there in 1914.7

Kime continued his education during his missionary furloughs8 and thus graduated from the academy in 1926.9 He then added three terms of ministerial training in 1937, 1938 and 1942 at the Washington Theological Seminary of Walla Walla College in College Place.10

Ministry

The Kimes began their missionary life in August 1916 in North Sumatra, Netherlands East Indies.11 They worked with the mission director, W. P. Barto, and his family at the Medan Mission Station on the east coast.12 At that time, no direct evangelical work was allowed in most of the Netherlands East Indies territory.13 To overcome the challenge, it was necessary to establish mission schools.14 To begin, they taught English at the mission station.15 Both families learned the Malay language.16 Later, Pastor Kime and Director Barto registered an education entity to establish schools to reach out to the communities. Barto was the president of the North Sumatra Educational Association and Kime served as the secretary and treasurer in 1917.17 It was part of the Malaysian Union Mission.18

An English school was established in Medan with students from age 16 to 25 years old.19 The hope was that these students would be “the first converts from Mohammedanism and heathenism.”20

Once the Medan school was established, the Kimes moved to Pangkalan Brandan, a town with a population of 8,000 about 100 kilometers away from Medan, 21 to start another English school there. Later, the leaders applied to teach Bible classes in the schools in addition to English. These schools were self-sustaining, and the students came from all ethnic backgrounds.22

After more than a year of waiting for permission to do regular missionary work in North Sumatra, “the good news eventually came from the Governor General of the Dutch East Indies that permission was granted.23

In 1918, the Thompson’s second child, Barbara, was born in Medan.24 Additionally, Pastor Kime was ordained to the ministry by Pastor I. H. Evans, Far Eastern Division president, and F. A. Detamore, Malaysian Union Mission president, in April 1918 in Singapore.

In 1919, Pastor Kime was appointed as the secretary and treasurer of the North Sumatra Mission, formerly the North Sumatra Educational Association.25 In 1920, there was an “urgent plea for immediate help” from the highlands of Sumatra to minister to the believers there.26

Pastor Kime and his family responded to the call. They travelled by train to Siantar in October the same year. From there, after two nights of rest, they loaded their belongings into a vehicle and travelled 50 kilometers to Lake Toba. After spending a night there, they took a speedboat to Beligi where they changed to a motor boat. The trip that would have taken three days took ten days due to the vehicle problems and sickness along the way. Upon their arrival, the village chief gave them a royal welcome, attired in his best and having travelled about 15 kilometers to do so.27

Additionally, villagers had travelled for kilometers on foot to see the strangers from another land. The chief invited the Kimes to stay in one of his homes; eventually, though, the mission purchased about an acre and a half of land with a one-room building on a beautiful location overlooking the village. Pastor Kime used bamboo to extend his house to a three-room residence. Approximately six months after the Kimes arrived, there were 17 baptized members with others who were keeping the Sabbath. About 100 villagers were eager to study the truth deeper and be baptized soon.28

In the beginning, no permission was granted for opening a school there. So, the Kimes began with medical missionary work such as extracting teeth, dressing wounds, treating eyes, giving fomentations, etc. This medical work removed most of the prejudice of the villagers and many friends were gained. They developed a school on the mission land with a goal to accommodate about 150 students.29

In 1921, Pastor Kime was appointed as the director (president), secretary and treasurer of the Batakland Mission.30 By August 1923, there were about 100 Adventists there, but no public evangelism could be carried out.31 Instead, Pastor Kime shared Bible truths during visits to believers’ homes. The people were very eager to learn more during these visits.32

Pastor Kime and his family returned to the U.S.A. for a furlough in 1924 and then returned to his work as the North Sumatra Mission president in 1926.33 In his absence, Pastor G. S. Youngberg carried out the duties of Pastor Kime.34 During the Kimes’ furlough, the teachers performed their responsibilities faithfully and the students went out to distribute gospel tracts.35 The gospel continued to spread into a number of surrounding new districts. Miracles and God’s power were witnessed in the medical missionary work.36

In 1927, the Central Sumatra Mission was established. Pastor Kime was elected as the mission president.37 During the years they served in North and Central Sumatra, Mrs. Kime dedicatedly worked with the local people as a nurse to help their physical condition and as a mother figure to share the gospel for their spiritual condition. However, she developed a sickness that affected her abilities, but after a year of treatment was able to resume her work. Soon, she became ill again and was taken to the hospital in Medan, Sumatra. Based on the recommendation of the physician there, she went to the Shanghai Adventist Sanitarium in Shanghai, China for treatment accompanied by Pastor Kime. Sadly, Mrs. Kime succumbed to the disease after just a few months there and passed away in the Shanghai Adventist Sanitarium on July 4, 1929, at the age of 39.38

With broken hearts, Pastor Kime and his children, Spencer and Barbara who were studying in Far Eastern Academy, left Shanghai on August 10, 1929 for the U.S.A.39 They stayed in the Walla Walla College area for about four years.40 During that time, Pastor Kime married Genevieve Graham, a dental technician and nurse, on August 16, 1931 in Portland, Oregon.41

In 1933, Pastor Kime was called to serve as the president of the Ambon Mission in the Netherlands East Indies Union Mission42 which had been part of the Central European Division since 1929.43 He and his wife served there until 1935.44

In 1935, Pastor D. S. Kime was called to labor in British North Borneo as the British Borneo Mission director.45 However, the Kimes served in that mission for less than a year46 before he was next called to lead the ministry in the Malay States Mission based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.47 Upon their arrival, Pastor Kime found out that the English and Chinese speaking works were being carried out well. The most responsive group was the Telugu people and large numbers had received the three angels’ message. A new training school was set up for the Telugu children. The Malays were slow to respond to the message.48

Pastor Kime, his wife and son Graham, born in Kuala Lumpur in 1936,49 went for their furlough and returned to the field on July 1, 1938.50 At the end of 1938, the union committee took a vote “to release Pastor Kime for service back in the Netherlands East Indies in response to an urgent call.”51

The ministry in the Netherlands East Indies Union was growing very fast. There was a need to organize a new mission to take care of the work in South Celebes and east coast of Dutch Borneo.52 Pastor Kime was appointed as the president of the newly formed mission, the North Celebes Mission.53 Simultaneously, he took care of the work in the Ambon Mission; per a January 27, 1941 Netherlands East Indies Union Executive Committee vote, “J. Sumaykoe, of the North Celebes field was asked to transfer to Ambon to serve as Assistant Director” to help Kime.54

When World War II began, the Kime family was evacuated in early 194255 and Pastor Kime served as the Waco Seventh-day Adventist Church pastor in the Texas Conference of the Southwestern Union.56 When the war was over in 1945, the Kimes were called back to their same mission field work as before the war.57

When Pastor K. Tilstra went for a furlough, Pastor Kime was asked to serve in his place as the acting president of the Netherlands East Indies Union Mission.58 During that time, Pastor Kime presided over the August 16, 1948 reopening of the Indonesia Union Seminary located near Bandung after the war.59 After two years in the acting position, Pastor Kime was appointed as the president of the Indonesian Union Mission at the Indonesia Union Mission Biennial Session held at the Indonesia Union Seminary from February 28 to March 5, 1949.60

After much surveying was done, Pastor Kime wrote to the government’s Health Department for permission to establish medical work in Indonesia in 1949.61 The response from the government was favorable.62 There was a critical need to set up more medical institutions because many Dutch doctors were planning their exit from Indonesia after it gained independence in 1945.63

Later Life

After many dedicated years of service, Kime requested a permanent return to the United States in 1951.64 He and his family then resided in Gaston, Oregon where their son Graham was attending Laurelwood Academy.65 Eventually, they moved to Texas and lived there for many years until Pastor Kime passed away on August 8, 1985 in Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.A.66

Contribution

Pastor Kime was considered a pioneering educator in the Netherland East Indies as he established or helped establish some of the first Seventh-day Adventist mission schools in previously unentered areas.67 Although he and his co-laborers faced initial opposition at each new location, they offered practical health treatment and education as well as English language classes to break down barriers and develop a positive reputation for the Adventist Church in their locales.68

In 2014, the Pacific Press Publishing Association published the book, Run for Your Lives, as part of its Adventist Heritage Library series.69 The book chronicles the Kimes’ 83-day experience as they fled the Netherlands East Indies and were eventually evacuated to safety during World War II.70

Sources

Adams, K. M. “Mission Survey of Malaysia.” ARH, September 5, 1918.

“Back for Malaysia.” Far Eastern Division Outlook. August and September 1926.

Bohner, L. F. “Other Changes in Malaya.” Far Eastern Division Outlook, March 1, 1939.

Bradley. W. P. “Netherlands East Indies Biennial Session.” Far Eastern Division Outlook, April 1939.

Crisler, C. C. “Mattie Ledell Kime.” Far Eastern Division Outlook, July 2, 1929.

“Dallas S. Kime obituary.” North Pacific Union Gleaner, November 4, 1985.

“Departures.” Far Eastern Division Outlook. September 1, 1930.

Detamore, F. A. “Progress in the Malaysian Field.” Asiatic Division Outlook, June 15, 1918.

Dick, E. D. “Recent Departures.” ARH, January 9, 1947.

“Division News.” Far Eastern Division Outlook. August 1, 1938.

Far Eastern Division Council minutes. January 23. 1938. Southern Asia-Pacific Division Archives.

Finster, L.V. “Sumatra.” Asiatic Division Outlook, November 15, 1923.

“From Here and There.” Far Eastern Division Outlook, June 1, 1947.

“From Here and There.” Far Eastern Division Outlook, November 1, 1951.

Fulton, J.E. “From Singapore to Medan.” Asiatic Division Outlook, October 15, 1917.

General Conference Committee, September 6, 1945, General Conference Archives. Accessed June 1, 2020. http://documents.adventistarchives.org/Minutes/GCC/GCC1945-09.pdf.

Gould, James W. Americans in Sumatra [Google books version]. 1961. Accessed June 1, 2020. https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=r7_xCAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false.

Johnson, H. D. “Indonesia Union Seminary.” Far Eastern Division Outlook, January 1, 1949.

Kime, D. S. “Indonesia’s Opportunity.” Far Eastern Division Outlook, August 1, 1949.

“Kime, Dallas S. and Mattie and Genevieve service record,” IDE Appointee Files, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Archives (GC Archives), Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S.A.

Kime, Dallas S. “In Batakland.” Far Eastern Division Outlook, June 1, 1927.

Kime, Dallas and Genevieve as told to Ellen Dana. Run for Your Lives. Adventist Book Center. Accessed June 11, 2020. https://adventistbookcenter.com/run-for-your-lives.html.

Kime, Mrs. D. S. “Battakland.” Asiatic Division Outlook, April 1-15, 1921.

“Malayan News Notes.” Far Eastern Division Outlook, July 1936. Accessed May 31, 2020.

Moon, E. A. “Report of the Malayan Union Mission.” Far Eastern Division Outlook, April 1, 1937.

“News Notes.” Far Eastern Division Outlook, October 1, 1935.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Various Years. https://www.adventistyearbook.org/.

Sorensen, C.P. “Nominations and Appointments.” Far Eastern Division Outlook, April 1949.

“The Netherlands East Indies Union Committee Meeting.” Far Eastern Division Outlook, April 1941.

Notes

  1. “Kime, Dallas S. and Mattie and Genevieve service record,” IDE Appointee Files, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Archives (GC Archives), Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S.A.↩

  2. Ibid.; The elementary school, academy and college were all under the umbrella of Walla Walla College as one entity with three educational levels until the levels separated in 1935 and began functioning independently (Michael J. Paulus Jr., “Walla Walla University,” HistoryLink.org, May 15, 2009, accessed June 8, 2020, https://www.historylink.org/File/9019).↩

  3. “Kime, Dallas S. and Mattie and Genevieve service record,” IDE Appointee Files, GC Archives.↩

  4. Ibid.↩

  5. C. C. Crisler, “Mattie Ledell Kime,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, July 1929, 16.↩

  6. Ibid.↩

  7. “Kime, Dallas S. and Mattie and Genevieve service record,” IDE Appointee Files, GC Archives.↩

  8. Pastor Kime’s service record verifies these dates and accomplishments which coincide with his furlough dates and the date of the Kimes’ 1942 evacuation to the United States due to World War II.↩

  9. “Kime, Dallas S. and Mattie and Genevieve service record,” IDE Appointee Files, GC Archives.↩

  10. Ibid.↩

  11. K. M. Adams, “Mission Survey of Malaysia,” ARH, September 5, 1918, 13; Crisler, “Mattie Ledell Kime,” 16.↩

  12. Adams, “Mission Survey of Malaysia,” 13.↩

  13. Ibid.↩

  14. James W. Gould, Americans in Sumatra [Google books version], 1961, 120, accessed June 1, 2020, https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=r7_xCAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false.↩

  15. Ibid.↩

  16. Ibid.↩

  17. “North Sumatra Educational Assn.,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1918), 155.↩

  18. Ibid.↩

  19. F. A. Detamore, “Progress in the Malaysian Field,” Asiatic Division Outlook, June 15, 1918, 2-3.↩

  20. Ibid.↩

  21. J. E. Fulton, “From Singapore to Medan,” Asiatic Division Outlook, October 15, 1917, 2.↩

  22. Ibid.↩

  23. Detamore, “Progress in the Malaysian Field,” 2-3.↩

  24. “Kime, Dallas S. and Mattie and Genevieve service record,” IDE Appointee Files, GC Archives.↩

  25. “North Sumatra Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1920), 165.↩

  26. Mrs. D. S. Kime, “Battakland,” Asiatic Division Outlook, April 1-15, 1921, 6.↩

  27. Ibid.↩

  28. Ibid.↩

  29. Ibid.↩

  30. “Batakland Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1922), 115.↩

  31. L.V. Finster, “Sumatra,” Asiatic Division Outlook, November 15, 1923, 4.↩

  32. Ibid.↩

  33. “Back for Malaysia,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, August and September 1926, 11.↩

  34. Ibid.↩

  35. Dallas Kime, “In Batakland,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, June 1927, 23.↩

  36. Ibid.↩

  37. Seventh-day Adventist Online Yearbook, “Central Sumatra Mission,” May 31, 2020, http://documents.adventistarchives.org/Yearbooks/YB1934.pdf.↩

  38. Crisler, “Mattie Ledell Kime,” 16.↩

  39. “Departures,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, September 1930, 12.↩

  40. Ibid.↩

  41. “Kime, Dallas S. and Mattie and Genevieve service record,” IDE Appointee Files, GC Archives.↩

  42. Seventh-day Adventist Online Yearbook, “Ambon Mission,” May 31, 2020, http://documents.adventistarchives.org/Yearbooks/YB1934.pdf.↩

  43. V. T. Armstrong, “President’s Annual Report – 1937,” Far Eastern Division Council minutes, January 23, 1938, 2, Southern Asia-Pacific Division Archives.↩

  44. “Kime, Dallas S. and Mattie and Genevieve service record,” IDE Appointee Files, GC Archives.↩

  45. Seventh-day Adventist Online Yearbook, “British Borneo Mission,” May 31, 2020, http://documents.adventistarchives.org/Yearbooks/YB1936.pdf; “News Notes,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, October 1935, 7.↩

  46. L. F. Bohner, “Other Changes in Malaya,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, March 1, 1939, 18.↩

  47. “Malayan News Notes,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, July 1936, 8.↩

  48. E. A. Moon, “Report of the Malayan Union Mission,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, April 1, 1937, 4.↩

  49. “Kime, Dallas S. and Mattie and Genevieve service record,” IDE Appointee Files, GC Archives.↩

  50. “Division News,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, August 1938, 12.↩

  51. L. F. Bohner, “Other Changes in Malaya,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, March 1939, 18.↩

  52. W. P. Bradley, “Netherlands East Indies Biennial Session,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, April 1939, 11.↩

  53. Ibid.↩

  54. W. P. Bradley, “The Netherlands East Indies Union Committee Meeting,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, April 1941, 6.↩

  55. E. D. Dick, “Recent Departures,” ARH, January 9, 1947, 1.↩

  56. “D.S. KIME--NORTH CELEBES,” General Conference Committee, September 6, 1945, 2033.↩

  57. E. D. Dick, “Recent Departures,” ARH, January 9, 1947, 1.↩

  58. “From Here and There,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, June 1947, 4.↩

  59. H. D. Johnson, “Indonesia Union Seminary,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, January 1949, 5.↩

  60. C. P. Sorensen, “Nominations and Appointments,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, April 1949, 6.↩

  61. D. S. Kime, “Indonesia’s Opportunity,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, August 1949, 2.↩

  62. Ibid.↩

  63. Ibid.↩

  64. “From Here and There,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, November 1951, 6.↩

  65. Ibid.↩

  66. “Dallas S. Kime obituary,” North Pacific Union Gleaner, November 4, 1985, 21.↩

  67. Dallas Kime’s contributions as a pioneering missionary, educator and leader in the Netherlands East Indies are previously referenced in this article in the Career and Ministry section.↩

  68. Ibid.↩

  69. Dallas and Genevieve Kime as told to Ellen Dana, Run for Your Lives, Adventist Book Center, accessed June 11, 2020, https://adventistbookcenter.com/run-for-your-lives.html.↩

  70. Ibid.↩

×

Leong, Fai. "Kime, Dallas Spencer (1889–1985)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. January 12, 2021. Accessed January 16, 2025. https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=4CJG.

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Leong, Fai. "Kime, Dallas Spencer (1889–1985)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. January 12, 2021. Date of access January 16, 2025, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=4CJG.

Copy to clipboard Download Word File

Leong, Fai (2021, January 12). Kime, Dallas Spencer (1889–1985). Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. Retrieved January 16, 2025, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=4CJG.

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