Indonesia

Churches of Christ in Australia has a new international partner, The Indonesian Churches of Christ. This new relationship builds on contacts that have grown over recent years and a foundation laid in the past by Australian missionaries including Noel and Jean Flint (NSW) and John and Shirley Truscott (WA). Today there are more than 280 local churches and church planting projects. There are two Bible colleges that train and equip church planters.

 

More recently this relationship has grown through the initiative of the Conference Council of Churches of Christ in Victoria and Tasmania. The Executive Officer, Paul Cameron, and Dr Stephen Curkpatrick, from the Churches of Christ Theological College, have developed close links with key leaders in Indonesia. The closeness of the partnership is affirmed by the Indonesian Churches of Christ congregation in Victoria. Some of the Indonesian ministers from Melbourne have had contact with the churches in Indonesia.

 

This partnership will grow. It will include church and Bible college support and possibly some aid and development projects. The GMP Board commented that Churches of Christ in Australia can learn a great deal from these Indonesian churches in their courage and commitment to church planting.

 

Population: 245,613,043 (July 2011 est.)

Language: Indonesian (official), local languages, the most prevalent of which is Javanese.

Average Life Expectancy: 70.76 years

Literacy: 90.4% (2007)

Major Religions: Muslim 86.1%, Protestant 5.7%, Catholic 3%, Hindu 1.8%, others 3.4%.

GNI per capita: $4,394 (2010 est.)

 

Indonesia is the world's fourth-most populous nation. The island of Java is the most populous island and one of the most densely populated areas in the world.

 

Indonesia has a wide range of mineral deposits and production, including bauxite, silver, and tin, copper, nickel, gold, and coal. Agriculture is key to the economy of Indonesia accounting for 43% of total employment and directly contributing 15% to the GDP. Despite its importance and role in the national economy, national food production is still insufficient to meet the food security needs of Indonesia’s citizens. While Indonesia is a middle-income country, much still needs to be done to assure sustainable economic growth, improve employment, and strengthen food security.

 

Natural disasters have devastated many parts of Indonesia over the past few years. On December 26, 2004, a 9.1 to 9.3 magnitude earthquake took place in the Indian Ocean, and the resulting tsunami killed over 130,000 people in Aceh and left more than 500,000 homeless. On March 26, 2005, an 8.7 magnitude earthquake struck between Aceh and northern Sumatra, killing 905 people and displacing tens of thousands. After much media attention on the seismic activity on Mt. Merapi (central Java near Salitiga) in April and May 2006, a 6.2 magnitude earthquake occurred 30 miles to the southwest. It killed more than 5,000 people and left an estimated 200,000 people homeless in the Yogyakarta region. An earthquake of 7.4 struck Tasikmalaya, West Java, on September 2, 2009, killing approximately 100 people. On September 30, 2009, a 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck Western Sumatra. No official statistics were released on deaths and injuries; however, press reports indicated more than 1,100 fatalities.

 

By the time of the Renaissance, the islands of Java and Sumatra had already enjoyed a 1,000-year heritage of advanced civilization spanning two major empires. During the 7th-14th centuries, Buddhism flourished on Sumatra. By the 14th century Hinduism had risen in eastern Java. Islam arrived in Indonesia sometime during the 12th century and supplanted Hinduism by the end of the 16th century in Java and Sumatra. Bali, however, remains overwhelmingly Hindu. In the eastern archipelago, both Christian and Islamic evangelism took place in the 16th and 17th centuries, and, currently, there are large communities of both religions on these islands.

 

The Dutch began to colonize Indonesia in the early 17th century; Japan occupied the islands from 1942 to 1945. Indonesia declared its independence after Japan's surrender, but it required four years of intermittent negotiations, recurring hostilities, and UN mediation before the Netherlands agreed to transfer sovereignty in 1949. Free and fair legislative elections took place in 1999 after decades of authoritarian rule. Indonesia is now the world's third most populous democracy, the world's largest archipelagic state, and home to the world's largest Muslim population. Current issues include: alleviating poverty, improving education, preventing terrorism, consolidating democracy, implementing economic and financial reforms, stemming corruption, holding the military and police accountable for human rights violations, addressing climate change, and controlling infectious diseases, particularly those of global and regional importance. In 2005, Indonesia reached a historic peace agreement with armed separatists in Aceh, which led to democratic elections in Aceh in December 2006. Indonesia continues to face low intensity armed resistance by the separatist Free Papua Movement.

 

(Sources www.state.gov, The World Factbook)

 

The Churches of Christ in Indonesia were established through the work of US missionaries in the 1970s. The first local church was in a home in Bandung which continues to meet today. In 1978 the founders of this church developed a constitution and having been registered by the government continues to guide the churches today.

 

In Indonesian society the role of founder is particularly important. Founders hold formal power and influence, and appoint their successors. The two founders, Dr Gi Tambunaan and Dr Paulus Wibowo, are recognized by the Indonesian Government as being the ‘Living Founders.’ They are part of the Board that approves new congregations becoming part of Churches of Christ and oversee the signing of relevant documents. This legal entity in Indonesia is known as Gereja Jemaat Kristus Indonesia (GJKI). GMP has signed a partnership agreement with GJKI.

 

There is a history of ongoing contact with the Indonesian Churches of Christ and the Overseas Mission Board of Churches of Christ in Australia. Face to face visits have occurred in the past. COCOA funds were also used in post-tsunami relief work through Paulus Wibowo.

 

From the beginning church planting has been a high priority with a focus on smaller rural communities. The church planting strategy begins with a decision to intentionally bless a local community that has no Christian presence. Their prayer and hope is to be salt and light.

 

The churches are scattered through Indonesia with the greatest concentration in Central Java. The churches see themselves as connected to one entity but at the same time also centre their life around three particular centres of influence.

Asia Pacific Internationalwas formed in 1979 by Dr Gi Tambunaan. API has a commitment to holistic ministry and mission through the training of Christian leaders. They structure a one-year program around four 12-week terms. The students live in and undertake study, gain ministry experience and research a future possibility for ministry and church planting.

 

They also have a Community Development Ministry which includes:

The churches in central Java are based around Salatiga and a training college – Indonesian Church of Christ Theological School in Salatiga (STJKI). This college and its network is recognised by the Indonesian Government. The course is a four-year program and includes weekend ministry and a six-month placement. There is an intentional decision to ‘bless a community’ by meeting a community need as part of the planting program. The planting initiatives also make use of the Smart-Point initiatives developed by API (above). Students from STJKI are active in supporting the reconstruction of communities following the eruption of Mt Merapi in October and November 2010.

 

The coordinating organization or conference, of Churches of Christ in Central Java, is known by the first letters of its registered name - LEMKERSA. The focus of LEMKERSA is to oversee the local churches and the Bible College and to work at developing congregational leaders.

 

Paulus Wibowo, a university lecturer, moved to Yogyakarta with his family in the early 1980’s after some years working as part of API (above). Paulus has a deep sense of call to unreached people groups and this is reflected in the church planting projects he coordinates. He is also involved in an international project to ‘map’ the unreached people of the world and his responsibility is to map Indonesia. He visits remote Indonesian locations as part of this mapping research.

 

Paulus holds regular gatherings of planters and key leaders. There are around 127 churches he supports, some are also related to API and LEMKERSA.