Elder Melville has been with BFEC since 1956 and committed his life to Christ shortly thereafter (1957). He was trained as a chemical engineer, but then heard God’s call to be a missionary, and went for theological training in Adelaide after finishing university. From 1973 he taught at Singapore Bible College until leaving for Japan in 1975.

Elder Melville and his wife, Salome, served a total of 27 years in Japan – 19 years from 1975 to 1994, and then 8 years from 2003 to 2010. The years in between, 1995 to 2001, were spent at Asian Cross-Cultural Training Institute where he served as dean. They returned from the mission field in 2010.

Elder Melville is currently part of the pastoral team at BFEC and also serves on the pastoral team at the Japanese Christian Fellowship Church.

Elder Melville and Salome have been married since 1973 and have two adult children, Sharon and Mark.

Sharon and her husband, Willy, have two children, Astrid and Nicky, and are back from serving a two year stint on board the OM ship MV Logos Hope. Willy was recently appointed the OM Singapore Executive Director.

Mark and his wife Clara have a child, Nathaniel, and are currently in East Asia.

Melville loves reading, walking, travelling, photography, and stamp collecting. He enjoys classical music and being with his grandchildren.

In his autobiography, “Where Your Treasure Is” (http://omf.org/singapore/resources/books/) , Melville recounts his pioneering church-planting experiences in Japan – as well as his own spiritual journey – and gives readers inspiring glimpses of the grace of God at work in yielded lives and the power of God at work in “hard” places.