wfn.org | LWF President Encourages Co-existence for Indonesian Churches

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@elca.org>]

Visiting LWF President Encourages Indonesian Churches to Promote
Peaceful Co-existence
Emphasis on South to North Missionary Contribution

PEMATANG SIANTAR, Indonesia/GENEVA, 9 April 2002 (LWI) - Bishop
emeritus Dr. Christian Krause, President of the Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) has hailed LWF churches in Indonesia for showing
solidarity with the people during times of crisis, and encouraged
them to promote a spirit of tolerance and peaceful co-existence.

Krause, visiting with LWF member churches in the predominantly
Muslim country noted that Indonesian people are struggling to cope
with the multidimensional effects of political and economic
difficulties that have beset the country since 1997.

Addressing the Simalungun Protestant Christian Church (GKPS)
community in Pematang Siantar, North Sumatra, Krause spoke
strongly against the use of violence to resolve differences that
arise in society, and urged churches to guard against any form of
fundamentalism. It is only when "we uphold a spirit of tolerance
that we are able to ask the same of others," said the LWF
president who served as bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in Brunswick, Germany, until January 2002.

Bishop Dr. Jubil Raplan Hutauruk, Protestant Batak Christian
Church (HKPB) had pointed to a "dangerous trend" to misuse
religion to fuel religious and ethnic conflict between the
Indonesian people in the current political and economic crisis.

For more than four years now, Indonesia has experienced a
multidimensional economic, social, political and moral crisis.
Rising unemployment and poverty, corruption, complicity and
nepotism have overall pushed the ordinary people into a state of
frustration.

One of the major challenges facing the Indonesian society today is
growing religious fundamentalism. Religion has been used for
political purposes leading to tensions between ethnic and
religious groups in such areas as Ambon, West Sulawesi, Aceh and
Irian Jaya. Thousands have lost their lives through acts of
violence, posing a threat to the peaceful co-existence of people
of different origins, races and faiths.

Indonesian churches find themselves in a difficult situation.
Hundreds of church buildings and public facilities used for church
services have been damaged or completely destroyed. In some
regions, the construction of churches is prohibited.

Priorities for the eleven LWF churches in Indonesia include
improving relations with the rest of the global Lutheran
communion, and empowering the local people particularly in view of
the complex economic situation. The churches are also concerned
about corruption and economic mismanagement that have subjected a
large proportion of the country's 228-million population to
critical poverty levels. The threat posed by the rising wave of
Islamic fundamentalists throughout the islands is also high on
their agenda.

Krause reminded the GKPS community that God's love transcends all
borders and differences, allowing Christians to experience Jesus
Christ's promise that "in Him we are all one." He stressed the
need to live in a reconciled diversity.

Pointing to the history of the LWF-from the start of Lutheranism
during the Reformation in Wittenberg, Germany, 500 years ago,
through LWF's founding in 1947, soon after World War II, and today
as a global communion of churches-Krause noted that a longing for
reconciliation and peace is what has all along brought people
together.

Turning to LWF's work in more than 20 countries worldwide through
its Department for World Service (DWS), Krause said there are over
5,000 DWS men and women working among refugees, internally
displaced persons, and other needy people irrespective of the
religious convictions and racial or ethnic backgrounds of those
they must serve.

On sharing gifts in the LWF communion, Krause stated that Germany,
his own country, has "big churches and cathedrals." But "we are
worried because these places of worship are becoming emptier by
the day, and urge your encouragement in a missionary spirit," he
said, citing the generally declining number of church goers in
Europe. The first Lutheran missionaries came form Germany but
today "we recognize that the Lutheran community is growing in the
South, and shrinking in the Northern Hemisphere," he stressed.

On the situation in former communist countries in Europe during
the Cold War period, Krause said his own church was divided
between East and West. It was only in the early 90s that people
began to understand what it meant to have lived under communist
rule for 50 years.

The 21-31 July 2003 LWF Tenth Assembly was high on Krause's agenda
with Indonesian churches. He asked churches in the Southeast Asian
country to consider their contribution toward healing in the world
as underlined in the Assembly theme, "For the Healing of the
World." This could be in terms of the churches' experience in
reconciliation, forgiveness, political action or bringing together
people from different denominations, or involvement in encouraging
the government to work toward the path of peace rather than war,
he said.

During a worship service April 4, solidarity was expressed with
Palestinian Christians, caught up in the current
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Krause paid tribute to renowned German Protestant missionary
Ludwig Nommensen (1834-1918), who in 1862 began serving in
Tapanuli, North Sumatra. By 1876, there were 2,000 Batak
Christians. The Christian community Nommensen had planted grew and
prospered even after his death in 1918. Today there are more than
four million Christians in this region.

Krause's April 2-12 visit, the first with Indonesian churches
since he was appointed LWF president in 1997, takes him to Medan,
North Sumatra and Jakarta. He is scheduled to meet with Indonesian
President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

His itinerary in Asia includes a visit with the Lutheran Church of
Australia, April 13-15, as well as with the Evangelical Lutheran
Church of Papua New Guinea and Gutnius Lutheran Church, April
18-20.

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now
has 133 member churches in 73 countries representing over 60.5
million of the 64.3 million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on
behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as
ecumenical relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human
rights, communication, and the various aspects of mission and
development work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva,
Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the information service of
the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). Unless specifically noted,
material presented does not represent positions or opinions of the
LWF or of its various units. Where the dateline of an article
contains the notation (LWI), the material may be freely reproduced
with acknowledgment.]

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