[note 1] his father died when Stephen was 3; his family wealth had eroded during the years of Japanese imperialism.

[14] In 1949, he and his mother and siblings migrated to Surabaya, Indonesia, to find a better place of living during the Chinese Communist Revolution.

[9]: 8 When Tong was 15 years old, he had strong beliefs in communism, which he called "Karl Marx's dialectical materialism".

He ascribed to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, and had a deep hatred towards Christianity, which he regarded as "the foolish religion which came from the devilish West and has illogical teachings".

On 9 January, the last day of the conference, when Andrew Gih gave a revival sermon, Tong became a Christian.

[9]: 8 [19] While he was a teacher at South East Asia Bible Seminary, Tong served as an evangelist at THKTKH (Min Nan: Tiong Hoa Kie Tok Kauw Hwee [中华基督教会]); (Indonesian: Gereja Kristus Tionghua, now GKT (Gereja Kristus Tuhan)), transliterated "Church of Christ The Lord",[20] and travelled weekly between Malang and Surabaya.

Subsequently, starting in 1969, he received invitations to lead Gospel Rallies across Europe, America, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, and many more.

In 1974, he began conducting seminars in Surabaya to provide truthful doctrinal understanding for churches in Indonesia.

[9]: 9 Since the GRII has found in 1989, his services have extended to many major cities in Indonesia, including Surabaya, Medan, Malang, Bandung, especially during the Christmas and Easter seasons.

[26] From 2000 until 2019, he travels weekly to around 5 countries (Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan) to serve for approximately 6000 audiences.

"[27] Tong observed that many churches have been influenced by worldly philosophy, and ones that were loyal to the genuine teaching of the Bible were rare.

[28][further explanation needed] In 2004, GRII had congregations in five Indonesian cities and has expanded to branch churches around the world in Asia, Australia, Germany, and North America.

Tong personally designed the Messiah Cathedral (Indonesian: Katedral Mesias), whose proposal took 15 years to approve.

[30] The building is also home to the Reformed Millennium Center of Indonesia (RMCI), which holds some of Tong's other projects and organizations.

[41] Tong joined Reformed theologians Gerald Bray, A. T. B. McGowan, Peter Jones, and Samuel Logan as members.

[44] According to his profile on STEMI, he "emphasizes on the importance of the Bible as the sole word of God and actively encourages evangelism", and believes that churches should follow the cultural mandate.

He served as the music director for the Jakarta Simfonia Orchestra, along with artistic consultant Jahja Ling and Billy Kristanto.

[citation needed] In 1985, Tong was awarded an honorary Doctor of Leadership in Christian Evangelism (DLCE) degree from the La Madrid International Academy of Leadership in Manila, Philippines[9]: 9 In 1992, pastor Philip Teng called him the "Billy Graham of the East" for his large-scale ministries in Southeast Asia.

[51] In 2007, STEMI published the book God's Fiery Challenge for Our Time: Festschrift in Honor of Stephen Tong, the Founder and the Master Planner of Reformed Evangelical Movement: 50 Year Preaching the Word of God to regard him as "the True Evangelist of this Age" (ISBN 978-9791620314).

In May 2008, he received an honorary Doctor of Divinity (DD) degree from the Westminster Theological Seminary in Glenside, Pennsylvania.