Background:
Indonesia, located in South East Asia, is the largest Muslim country in the world with
almost a 200 million population. It consists of more than 13,677 large and small islands,
with main large islands as Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Irian Jaya, etc. It has an
ancient history of kingdoms and empires such as Hindu, Mataram Kingdom, Buddhist Sriwijaya
Kingdom, Hindu-Buddhist Majapahit Empire, and since the 15th century Islamic Kingdoms of
Java, Sumatra etc. It was occupied by the Dutch in the 16th century who brought Western
Christianity to the land. It was then occupied by the Japanese, and finally gained its
independence on August 17, 1945, and became the modern Republic of Indonesia.
Due to the nature of the land and its history, Indonesia has many ethnic and religious
groups. During the Sriwijaya-Majapahit periods, eastern Christians of the Antiochian
Syrian tradition had landed on the land, and were later followed by the Non-Chalcedonians.
However, they disappeared soon from the Indonesian landscape. Since its independence, the
modern state of Indonesia recognizes only those religions which existed and took active
parts during the struggle for independence. The State Department of Religions recognizes
Islam, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. All new religions that
came later have to be categorized under these five recognized religions or be considered
illegal.
The Beginning
The history of the Orthodox Church in Indonesia, was started by the conversion of a
young man of Muslim background. He had been searching for a deeper certainty of God. He
debated with his former school teacher who had converted to Christianity, and was able to
win the debate, and thus was not convinced of the truth of the Gospel. By God’s grace,
through his reading of the Qur’an 3:45 which says that Christ is "Word from
God", he realized the Oneness of Christ and God, just as the Oneness of the
"Speech" and the "Speaker". He converted to Protestant Christianity,
and was influenced very strongly by Charismatic Movements in the middle of the 1970’s.
Later he missed the liturgical life of Islam, especially the fasting, certain type of
prayer, etc., and was bewildered by the plethora of denominations and sects with the
differing and opposing traditions. He set his heart for a further search, that of the
ancient Christianity of the East, since he believed that Christianity was born in the same
Middle Eastern milieu as was Islam. In 1978, he went to study in the Protestant
Theological Seminary, the Asian Center for Theological Studies and Mission, (ACTS) in
Seoul, Korea, without finding the answer to his quest. In the start of 1982 he found a
book: "The Orthodox Church" by Timothy (Kallistos) Ware in a book shop in Seoul.
The book helped him to see the Church for which he had been looking. Finally, on September
6th, 1983, he converted to Orthodoxy with the blessing of the
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople (the late Patriarch Demetrios), and of His
Eminence Metropolitan Dionysios of New Zealand, and was chrismated by the hand of the
(then) Archmandrite Sotirios Trambas ( who is Bishop of Zelon, stationed in Korea).
Having graduated from Korea, he went to Greece, where he stayed on Mount Athos. This
was the time in which he began to translate liturgical books into Indonesian, and
struggled with terminology suitable to express the faith. Also during this time he wrote
books on Orthodoxy and kept continuous correspondence with people in Indonesia. By the end
of 1984 he went to study in the U.S., at the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology
in Boston. Having finished his study in Boston and in two other schools in the U.S., he
was ordained by His GraceBishop Maximos of Pittsburgh to the Diaconate in the Holy Cr oss
Church (pastored by Fr. John Chakos), and to the priesthood in the St. Paul Orthodox
Church in Cleveland, Ohio, (pastored by Fr. James Symeonides). The young man we are
talking about is now known as Fr. Daniel Bambang Dwi Byantoro, the author of this article.
The result of his correspondence to Indonesia was the conversion of four young men who
also joined him in the States and have now also become priests in Indonesia.
The Mission in Indonesia started
On June 8th 1988,Fr. Daniel left the States for Indonesia. First, he went to his
hometown of Mojokerto, East Java. All the translation works he wrote during his stay on
Greece and America were brought home. In Mojokerto he started to convert the family
members, and teaching them how to make prosphora, and the vestments from the local batik
material. From Mojokerto he moved to Solo (Central Java) where a lot of his former
charismatic friends were located. He started holding Bible study classes, out of which
several mission activities to the villages were started. The first convert to the Orthodox
faith was a Muslim young man: Muhhamed Sugi Bassari, who was baptized by the name of
Photios, on April 1989.
In order to make the effort legal, a foundation was formed by the name of "Yayasan
Dharma Tuhu" ("The Straight Doctrine Foundation"), and then, due to the
objection of many of its Hindu sounding name (i.e. "Dharma"), it was changed
into "Yayasan Orthodox Injili Indonesia" ("The Indonesian Orthodox
Evangelistic Foundation"). Through this legal notarized foundation, an office was
opened, with two workers, using the pavilion of Fr. Daniel’s rented house in the village
of Baturan, and then after some months moved to a rented room of a small hotel "Hotel
Kaloka" in the middle of the city. For two years, Fr. Daniel did not know in whose
authority he was under, since he thought that the Diocese of Pittsburgh was responsible
for this undertaking, and much help came from the States during all these beginnings, both
from the OCMC and from personal friends, Orthodox and Non-Orthodox.
During these times, Fr. Daniel made an effort to make Orthodoxy incarnate itself within
the local culture. Besides using the local language, it also used the local culture, such
as: sitting on the floor for worship, all the women wearing veils, all shoes to be taken
off upon entering the Church, using the traditional coned rice for commemorating the dead
instead of wheat kolyva etc. The Eastern Church in Indonesia had become really eastern in
its cultural expression. Then a rented house in a slum area was found, where offices and
classes took place. It had eleven workers. During this time, small theological classes
with the view that they would become an embryo of the seminary, were conducted, but they
did not last long, due to financial strains. A small house near the office was made into a
church. Through his several visits to the States during these times, Fr. Daniel was able
to purchase part of this land, and later Bishop Sotirios helped to purchase the house
which was used for the church. During these times, a great difficulty arose within the
mission, due to some intrigues and quarrels, and slanders were made against Fr. Daniel. It
was the hardest time for Fr. Daniel. He maintained regular communication with His Eminence
Archbishop Dionysios. Several times he wished to quit from the whole enterprise, but a new
strength came out of each situation, so that he could continue to lead the mission.
The Church continuously grew. In 1991, the Orthodox Church was legally recognized after
many difficult struggles, and was put under the care of the Protestant section of the
State Department of Religion. At this time the mission already had Fr. Yohannes to
minister in Mojokerto, East Java, whose church-building project given through the donation
of Mr. Lestenkoff from the States was halted due to the protest of the Muslims, and the
unfinished building became a ruin. Fr. Lazaros who started the church in Chilapap could
not obtain a building permit also due to the Muslim objection. Similarly, Deacon (now
Father) Methodios, started the Church in the village of Grasak, where a church building
was donated in 1990 by His Eminence Metropolitan Dionysios but was not to be used due to
the protest of the Muslims. Through another visit to the USA, Fr. Daniel was able to
collect some money to build a permanent church -building. The money was not enough, but
through the help of Bishop Soterios, a donation was given from Greece, and with many
difficulties, a building permit was obtained to erect a church building at last on
September 10th, 1996, and the mission was able to finish it and use it until now.
Further Development
The results of the former intrigues did not subside that easily, but in 1994, a clergy
meeting was held, and a covenant was made that all the clergy would unite their minds and
efforts, and promised not to be carried away easily by any slanders. Since then the Church
has been at peace, and no more quarrels nor misunderstandings exist among the clergy in
Indonesia. During all those years from time to time the Divine Liturgy was conducted in
the Greek Consulate in Jakarta. Later in 1995, a Protestant pastor became interested in
Orthodoxy. Not long after he converted to Orthodoxy, a quarrel broke out over certain
points of doctrine and ethos of the Church. He left the Church for the Non-Chalcedonian
tradition. But a mass baptism was conducted in Jakarta, and then Fr. Daniel had to face
the man, and finally a settlement was reached. The people who were baptized by Fr. Daniel
now became members of the "Aghia Epiphania" parish in Jakarta. Since then Fr.
Daniel has had to move to Jakarta, and once a month be in Solo where the church is under
the care of Fr. Alexios, but still overseen by Fr. Daniel.
Meanwhile, in Surabaya, a group of people were interested in Orthodoxy, and on October
30th, 1997, Fr. Daniel gave a seminar there. In Jakarta, a similar seminar has been
prepared for November 21st. On October 12th, 1997, a 2000 sq. meter lot was donated to the
Church in Jakarta, and an Orthodox Christian Center is going to be built on it. Now the
Church in the village of Grasak is going to begin the process of obtaining a permit, since
the recent death of the former village chief. In Jakarta, Fr. Daniel does a lot of
biblical teaching every Sunday afternoon at 1pm and 6pm. Arabic and Hebrew are being
taught by Fr. Daniel for the sake of contextualization to the Muslims. The Liturgy in
Jakarta is conducted in the house of one of the parishioners, Mr. Roy Martin, a famous
Indonesian film star who converted to Orthodoxy with his wife.
During his visit to Hong Kong in the month of September 1996, His All-Holiness
Patriarch Bartholomeos I, along with the Holy and Great Synod of Constantinople, founded
the new Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and South East Asia, with His Eminence Metropolitan
Nikitas as its first Metropolitan. Automatically, Indonesia came under the care of the new
Archdiocese. His Eminence visited Indonesia, from July 29th to August 5th, 1997. The
response of the people was very enthusiastic. He gave a lot of support and direction as to
how the Church had to proceed. His Eminence also founded a new office, the Orthodox
Center, with Mr. Matthew Budiharjo as its director. This organization will make a national
retreat for the year of 1998, as well as develop and promote other programs. The
translation work is continuing, and besides books on Orthodoxy, apologetic works for the
Muslim people to understand are also being written.
With the recent burning of churches in Indonesia, difficulties in doing mission have
been escalating, but the Holy Spirit is still working so that the work of the mission will
not be halted. We don’t know what future holds for us, but we believe that the Lord will
not allow that which He has created in Indonesia to be destroyed by any evil power. The
Church will grow, and the mission will proceed. To God will be the glory. Amen.
Solo, 29th October 1997.
[reprinted from http://www.cs.ust.hk/faculty/dimitris/metro/history_indonesia.html