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Jakarta, Indonesia
A minority within a minority


In Indonesia, the world’s fourth largest nation with 215 million people, Mennonites are a minority within a minority. Indonesia has 300 ethnic groups scattered across more than 13,000 islands stretching for over 5000 kilometres along the equator between Southeast Asia and Australia. Ninety percent of the people are Muslim, and 6% Christian. A Mennonite World Conference census shows that 87,802 baptized Mennonite members live there – the fifth-largest group of Mennonites in the world. They belong to three synods:

Gereja Injili Tanah Jawa (GITJ) has 48,000 members, 89 congregations and 112 mission churches. Formed in 1940, GITJ has Javanese roots and is based primarily in central Java. In November 2000, it experienced reunification after a split. Gereja Kristen Muria Indonesia (GKMI) has 15,200 members, 40 congregations and 100 mission churches. Formed in 1941, GKMI has Chinese historical roots and is based primarily in communities surrounding Mount Muria, a string of volcanic peaks in central Java. It also plants churches in other islands, such as Kalimantan. Jemaat Kristen Indonesia (JKI) has 12,000 members, 41 congregations and 75 mission churches. An offshoot of GKMI, JKI grew out of the charismatic renewal movement of the 1970s. It is based primarily in Indonesia but also has five churches in California and one in Australia.

As a small denomination within a minority faith, Mennonites have often suffered persecution. But they’ve also often peacefully coexisted with their Muslim neighbours, along with some Hindus, Buddhists, Javanese animists and mystics.

The Mennonite presence in Indonesia began when Dutch Mennonites sent a missionary in 1851. Missionaries from North America and Russia came later.

Struggle

Today Indonesia is struggling to give birth to more democracy after outside rule by the Dutch and Japanese, and then dictatorship-like governments after independence in 1945. It is a nation torn by religious, political, ethnic and economic conflict.

More than ever before, radical Muslim groups are struggling to make Indonesia an Islamic country with an Islamic government. There is discrimination against Christian employees in government offices and Islamic companies. There have been killings and fighting. Over the last 55 years, radical Muslims have burned down almost 1,000 churches. Two churches burned were Mennonite – one on Sumatra and one on Java.

Although the tensions are labelled religious, politics and economics often fuel the conflicts. Some politicians make use of radical Muslims’ dislike of Christians to promote their own political interests.

The conflicts also develop into ethnic conflicts, especially in places like central Java, where most of the Chinese are Christians and most of the Javanese are Muslim.

The conflicts are getting worse because of economic differences and increasing poverty. Some Javanese consider Chinese to be outsiders (even though many of them were born in Indonesia) who have unfairly moved into the middle-to-upper-classes.

Mennonites deal with the tensions in a variety of ways.

The cost of following Jesus

Yesaya Abdi is senior pastor of the GKMI Anugerah congregation in Jakarta. He and many of his 250 church members are of Chinese descent. Yesaya remembers standing on the top floor of their new meetinghouse as it was being built during the 1998 riots, killings and rapings. He prayed the church would survive. “From where I stood upstairs on the floor without walls, I saw fire from the north, south, east and west, and I was afraid,” he says. The Anugerah church did survive, and it now thrives – but only by the grace of God, says Yesaya, who believes God will also strengthen the believers if persecution should still come.

Evangelism can inflame tensions, says Tanto Handoko, general secretary of JKI, a synod whose priorities are evangelism and church planting. “We love peace, but it’s a vicious cycle. Our goal is to bring disciples to the Lord and to train them to build churches. So, even though we want peace, we disturb it. Even though [persecution] happens, we don’t ultimately fear, because we see it as a privilege. That’s the cost of following Jesus.”

Economic hardships and political chaos have also made Indonesians hungry for God, Tanto says. This has caused the Christian church to grow, despite the danger it is in. “Since the crisis here, people – have come to Christ in great numbers.”

JKI has established a detailed system for planting churches. The synod has 41 mother churches, which all have at least one satellite or mission church.

Making peace

GKMI also has planted many mission churches and launched community projects through PIPKA, its board of missions and charities. The synod also sponsors YPPS,

Paul Gunawan And Sjakur Ama

which works with Mennonite Central Committee to create community-based cooperatives.

Paul Gunawan, GKMI’s director of publications and documentation, works with Sjakur Ama, the Muslim village chief of Lamper Lor. They build trust through joint community projects – such as a free lunch program, the sale of rice for greatly reduced prices, and youth outreach. They even share religious holidays. “When my church has a Christmas event, we invite all the neighbours, and all the people come, even though they are Muslim or Buddhist,” Paul says. “We all celebrate together, and Sjakur gives a speech. We try to have a program that all people, not just Christians, can enjoy.” In return, Paul was asked to preach last year at the mosque during a Muslim celebration.

Similarly, Paulus Hartono, pastor of the Mennonite congregation in Solo in central Java, has helped to found an interfaith committee to foster

Paulus Hartono and Dian Nafi

interreligious and interracial dialogue and to fund humanitarian projects. Paulus works alongside Dian Nafi, a regional leader of moderate Muslims. They joined forces after the riots and economic crash of 1998, induced by the fall of President Soeharto, who had ruled for 32 years. They work at creating safe places for dialogue to happen. The committee distributes rice to 12,000 families in 21 areas throughout the city each year. Last year, the committee also facilitated four village road projects.

Santoso, a Muslim member of the committee, says the committee needs to instill the attitude that violence, as well as hunger, needs to be alleviated. “It’s easy for communities to receive the rice, but the people don’t as easily receive the concept of peacebuilding.”

 – From Meetinghouse reports by Laurie Oswald

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Last modified January 31, 2001.

© 2001 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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