Calling For Education and Renewal in Maluku

IL News 017/2013

On November 17-22, 2013, the Maluku Protestant Church (GPM) held their 35th General Synod Assembly in Uwen Gabungan, Seram island, in Maluku province. The church is the largest in Maluku province with around 500,000 registered members. Institut Leimena was invited to address the assembly, which convened hundreds of their church leaders from the whole province. The Leimena team who came were Legal and Judicial Studies Taskforce Chairman Maruarar Siahaan, Executive Director Matius Ho, and Legal Researcher Viona Wijaya. Arriving in the opening ceremony on November 17, the Leimena team was welcomed by the GPM Church Synod Chairman Rev. Dr. J. Chr. Ruhulessin, before addressing the assembly on the day after.

This year’s assembly took up the theme of “God Is Good To All Creation”, with sub-theme “Educating Congregations to Work Together for the Renewal of Life in the Church, Society, and Nation.” Around 300 people followed the sessions enthusiastically. In the assembly, Institut Leimena addressed the issues of Public Leadership and Customary Rights. The participants responded positively and actively by raising up many questions and ideas in those sessions.

Public leadership and customary rights are indeed pressing issues in the Maluku society right now. For example, currently in Aru islands—one of the district in Maluku province—there’s a controversy over a plan to convert three-quarter of the land for sugarcane plantation, which is troubling many people, especially their indigenous people.

The rapid wave of development sweeping Maluku province is calling for leaders who can make wise decisions. On the other hand, the situation also affirms that educating people is becoming more important than ever. This is the calling that the GPM Church wants to answer by working together with all the people to find solutions for these social problems, within the boundaries of the church’s calling in this world.

The call for education and renewal by the GPM Church in Maluku should be welcomed by all the churches in Indonesia. In this way, the church will truly become the salt and light of the world in the life of the church, society, and nation!