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IL News 006/2014
57th Citizenship Education
Saparua Island (Maluku), 31 March 2014
Political education for 14 congregations in the Lease Islands district of the Maluku Protestant Church (GPM) was carried out on Monday, March 31, 2014, from 9.30 to 19.00 at the GPM Church “Ullath” in Saparua island. It was a joint program by the GPM Church’s Lease district and Leimena Institute. The one day seminar began with an opening service by GPM Church Synod’s General Secretary Rev. Victor Untailawan, and was followed by an opening remark by the Synod Chairman Rev. John Ruhulesin. In his opening, Rev. Ruhulesin reminded the church congregations to play active role as God’s salt and light in building Indonesia.
Around 100 people, including pastors, pastoral apprentices, church elders, legislative candidates, traditional village chiefs, and church youths, followed enthusiastically this one day seminar. There were two main topics covered by Budi Setiamarga and Matius Ho of the Leimena Institute. The first one was on “Participating in the Consolidation of Democracy through General Elections.” The important role of general elections as a constitutional instrument to strengthen Indonesian’s democracy was emphasized. Mr. Setiamarga also discussed the need to build a party-based political system by revamping the party system in accordance with the amended 1945 Constitution. Practical steps in the form of active and responsible participations of church members in the 2014 legislative and presidential elections were also discussed.
The second topic in the seminar was on “The Calling of Christian Bureaucrats and Politicians to Become the Moral and Ethical Role Models.” The sessions laid out some biblical principles, both from the Old and New Testaments, on the Christian calling to be involved in politics, in the sense of managing our life together for a common goal. Therefore, political involvement is not an attempt to gain power for personal interest, but an ethical way to organize our life together to love one another, as shown in the biblical examples of Joseph in Egypt and Daniel in Babylon, and also in the teaching of Jesus Christ and the apostle Paul. A role model for political service in Indonesia is also found in the life of Dr. Johannes Leimena who once said that “Christians cannot divide their life into two separate realms of spiritual and political life, but the Kingdom of God must be preached in all walks of life, including politics.”