What does it mean to be a Christian in Indonesia? According to former World Renew staff member, Iskandar Saher, the answer to this question has been hard to define for generations.“To become a Christian in Indonesia had almost become synonymous with leaving your culture and customs behind,” said Saher. “The early colonial missionary movement encouraged an attitude of ‘Christ against Culture’ and people adopted that to such a point that the church became a potted plant of Dutch religion in Indonesia rather than a church that was truly transplanted into the soil of Indonesian society.”

“To become a Christian in Indonesia had almost become synonymous with leaving your culture and customs behind,” said Saher. “The early colonial missionary movement encouraged an attitude of ‘Christ against Culture’ and people adopted that to such a point that the church became a potted plant of Dutch religion in Indonesia rather than a church that was truly transplanted into the soil of Indonesian society.”

In addition, the Indonesian church has historically been tightly controlled by the government.

“Under the Suharto regime, the government kept tight reigns on what the church could and could not do,” said Saher. “The church was prohibited from social action. These political chains were further tightened by Indonesia’s later ‘State ideology’, which legitimized the presence of Christianity but prohibited its role and outward expansion in society.”

As a result of these factors, the Indonesian church was often looked upon by its Muslim neighbors with suspicion. They were thought of as a source of western immorality and materialism. In addition, the church was so inward-focused and separate from society, that they were hesitant to engage in social action or get involved in community projects. Christianity’s minority status in the country also played a factor in the church’s isolation.

“Muslims and Christians have existed side by side in relative harmony for the better part of Islam’s history in Indonesia since the 15th century,” said Saher. “Recent history, however, has made it clear that the place of Islam in Indonesian society is undergoing a significant change. In the 1970’s, Islam experienced a resurgence in Indonesia bolstered by the oil dollars from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. This made it possible to build more Mosques, Islamic Universities and Islamic learning centers.

“Along with the growth of moderate Islamic movements, there also came radical movements which supported violent jihad. Organizations such as the Islamic Defense Front, Laskar Jihad, LAskar Mujahidin, and Jemaah /Islamiah were all spawned from these ideological roots and have been responsible for major terrorist attacks and attacks on churches and Christian populations. Even though these radical Islamic groups are at the fringe of Islam in Indonesia, they have played a part in hindering the Christian church from truly engaging their communities.”

In response to this situation, the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee – now known as World Renew – helped to start a new non-profit organization in Indonesia in 2000. This organization, the Center for the Development of Holistic Ministry (or P3H for short), had the simple aim of encouraging and equipping the church to do holistic ministry in their communities. In other words, it wanted to remind Christians of Christ’s call to care for the whole person in community and to be a church where the gospel that is proclaimed is the same gospel that is demonstrated.

“Over the past 12 years, P3H has trained more than 700 church and community leaders,” said Saher, who left World Renew and now serves as Director of P3H. “Trainings have touched on topics such as disaster response, peace-building, pig and cow raising, soil management, and organic fertilizer production as well as forming a Biblical worldview, and how to engage your community members in the process of community transformation.”

World Renew-Indonesia staff member, Nick Armstrong, likens the impact of P3H to a nationwide movement.

“Most of the work that is being done today with communities continues to move forward through voluntary help and local resources,” said Armstrong. “Only a fraction of what is done is through World Renew funds. The results are amazing. In the past 10 years, for example, churches have worked together to respond to 30 disasters that affected their communities. In some areas, churches are helping communities build wells so that people don’t have to walk 5 kilometers or more to find water. In another area, farmers have tripled their rice yields and diversified their crops. And in many areas, churches are actively engaging with Muslim leaders and other community members in a peace-building process.”

This is just a sampling of the way that the Christian church is now engaging with and transforming Indonesian communities. The story of P3H wouldn’t be complete, however, without touching on the impact that the South Sumatera Christian Church has had in the village of Moro-Moro.

Moro-Moro lies in the Indonesian region of Mesuji and is home to some of Indonesia’s indigenous people. It is also made up of prime land that could be used by large corporations for palm oil production. Since the people of Moro-Moro lack titles to the land that they have lived and worked on for generations, they have been ensnared in a long conflict over the land and their right to live there.

“The people of Moro-moro are not only considered landless, but also ‘stateless’ as their lack of land title has used to deny them citizenship in Indonesia,” explained Armstrong. “The government has systematically discriminated against these people by giving them no identity cards. This denies them the legal grounds for staying on the land they are farming, and denies them access to social services such as education and health. By granting the use of that land to the big palm oil companies, the government continues to avoid their obligation to provide basic social services to the people of Moro-Moro. They also add to their own revenues through fees, taxes and bribes paid by the big companies.”

As a result of this situation, over the past 15 years, many people have lost their land, homes, and businesses as palm oil companies have come in. The people have also lived in constant fear of being forced from their homes. Two years ago, for example, 230 homes were bulldozed in the neighboring village of Pekat. Five people were killed and more than a thousand people were displaced.

The situation affecting Moro-Moro has become a national issue. It is also starting to gain international scrutiny.

The diaconal arm of the South Sumatran Christian Church has struggled alongside the Moro-Moro community during this land rights dispute. As part of their response to the situation, the church selected two leaders to be “peacebuilding agents” for the community. These agents attended a three- week training course at the Mindanao Peace Institute for two consecutive years. They then became instrumental in helping the community of Moro-Moro develop a local farmer’s union to help them organize and take a path of non-violent resistance, protect their rights to the land, and promote their struggle to become Indonesian citizens.

With the support of this farmer’s union, the Moro-moro community, religious leaders, academics and the mass media, the situation affecting Moro-Moro has become a national issue. It is also starting to gain international scrutiny.

Oki Wahab, one of the peace-building agents, has plans to fortify these advocacy efforts through a peacebuilding website and the publishing of a research book and a book of stories detailing the Moro-moro people’s struggle. The research book includes supportive comments from the vice minister of the Indonesian Law and Human Rights Ministry, and other academics and journalists, and will soon be published in Indonesian and English.

The hope is that these advocacy efforts will put enough pressure on the Indonesian government that they will provide citizenship to the people of Moro-Moro and allow them to stay on their land.

In the meantime, the community members have also taken some concrete steps to protect themselves. Through the farmer’s union, the Moro-Moro people have come together to raise funds and build their own school, children’s medical clinic, water and sanitation station, and homes. These community improvements are a subtle “act of resistance” against the government because they provide a concrete expression of the people’s human dignity in the face of laws and situations that try to dehumanize them and deny them rights.

“The fact that the church is at the center of this community movement, is such a dramatic change from how the Indonesian church acted 12 years ago,” said Armstrong. “It is so awe-inspiring to see Christians passionate about making a difference in their communities, and to see them so engaged in the process. I praise God for all that they are doing and ask you to continue to keep them in your prayers.”