A New Chapter: The Orthodox Church in Sumatra, Indonesia

Luke Bullock CH202 4/25/2013 Word Count: 3496 [not counting footnotes or bibliography]

Introduction The Byzantine Christian tradition has extended to the island of Sumatra, Indonesia.1 Fr. Chrysostomos Manalu established the first Greek Orthodox parishes in his native Sumatra in the late 1990s. In the first decade of the 21st c, the community has experienced significant growth. As the Orthodox community of Sumatra consists entirely of Indonesians, it marks the spread of the Greek Church to another corner of the world (c.f. Mk 13:10).2 Eastern Christendom has spread a little more east. This paper attempts to articulate the key features of the recent history of the Orthodox Church in Sumatra. What does Orthodox Christianity look like in Sumatra, Indonesia? How does the Orthodox community in Sumatra interact with other Christians? This paper will begin with a general introduction to the history of the Christianity in Southeast Asia, Indonesia, and Sumatra. The majority of the paper will focus, first, on the biography of Fr. Chrysostomos Manalu and his family and, second, on the current institutional Orthodox presence. This paper will identify some of the pressing ecclesiastical issues facing the Orthodox community in Sumatra. The research blends together limited secondary literature, contemporary internet postings, oral history, e-mail correspondence, and eye-witness evidence from the author.3 The lack of critical scholarship on this topic means that this paper acts as a tentative first attempt to pull together the available data.

For the purpose of this paper, the following terms are considered interchangeable if not synonymous: Byzantine, Greek, Eastern, and Orthodox. While each characterizes a different aspect of Church History, they each indicate here a close liturgical, dogmatic, and ecclesiastical relationships with the Church of Constantinople. Fr. Chrysostomos prefers the title Gereja Ortodox Indonesia (Orthodox Church of Indonesia). This correlates to a Church that is both pan-orthodox and indigenously Indonesian. 2 Southeast Asia includes Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, and the Philippines. China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan play key roles economically and culturally in Southeast Asia. Their presence and influence may be found in every major Southeast Asian city. In the context of Christian missions, South Koreans have become a strong presence throughout Southeast Asia. India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka are considered South Asia. Their presence may also be found throughout Southeast Asia. The cultural exchange includes a high degree of diversity and possible synchronicity. In Medan, Indonesia there stands a unique Catholic church built in a style reminiscent of a Hindu temple. Besides the residual colonial influences of the European powers and China, Australia and to a lesser degree New Zealand emerge as a key hub. Thus, for Protestant missions within Asia, Australia and South Korea are two of the primary centers for Christian seminaries and originators of missionaries. Outside of the Asia and Oceana, missionaries have come from Europe and North America since the 19th c. 3 A number of key methodological limitations must be acknowledged. First, the oral interviews were not sound recorded. The quotations, though, have been acknowledged and accepted by the speakers by written authorization. Second, Presbytera Elisabeth and Fr. Chrysostomos speak limited English. As the author does not speak Bahasa, Batak, or Greek, the conversations have been limited. Third, while much of the information from their correspondence has been collaborated by other Orthodox Christians in Malaysia and Indonesia including during the authors visit to Medan in October of 2010 key details of the history have not been confirmed or substantiated secondarily. Because of these methodological limitations, the paper does not enter into critical commentary or

Background and Context to Christianity in Southeast Asia, Indonesia, and Sumatra Indonesia incorporates a huge, multi-cultural reality. The land of Indonesia spreads out over seventeen thousands of islands six thousand of which are inhabited stretching a distance wider than the continental United States.4 The population ranked fourth in the world exceeds 238 million people. As the fifteenth largest island of the world, Sumatra has a population over 50 million.5 There are 719 spoken languages in Indonesia; Sumatra hosts over 50 living languages.6 The earliest Christian presence in Sumatra came through Persian and Syrian traders. Sumatra forms the western side of the straights of Malacca, a key trading route from ancient times. The strongest early evidence of Christian in Sumatra comes from Abu Salih, a 7th c. Persian trader, who observed several Nestorian churches in Fansur near present day Sibolga.7 Later sources confirm the presence of Persian Christians in Banda Aceh, the northern point of Sumatra. These sources include the writings of Marco Polo, Chou Chuu-fei, and Tome Pires. In 1347, Giovanni de Marignolli of Florence reports finding Christians at Majapahit, east Java, and at Palembang, south Sumatra. The missionary activity, though, remained limited. Most of the Christians in Sumatra today received their faith through Protestant missionaries in the 19th c. The first waves of Protestant missions Dutch, British, and German focused on the non-Muslim Batak people group in north central Sumatra near Lake Toba.8 To this day, Christianity in Sumatra centers around this ethnic group, the Batak.

rigorous analysis of the historical narrative and religious phenomenon of the topic. Rather, the paper functions as a first attempt at pulling together the historical data available into one portrait for the first time. 4 The distance between Los Angeles and New York is about 2444 air miles. The distance from the Banda Aceh, Sumatra to Jayapura, West Papau is about 3178 air miles. Accessed March 30, 2013, http://www.mapcrow.info/cgibin/cities_distance_airpt2.cgi?city3=12101%2CN&city4=1477%2CL; http://www.mapcrow.info/Distance_between_Banda_Aceh_ID_and_Jayapura_ID.html 5 These statistics are based on the 2010 census. Accessed April 23, 2013, http://www.citypopulation.de/php/indonesia-admin.php 6 Accessed April 23, 2013, http://www.ethnologue.com/country/ID 7 John C. England, The Earliest Christian Communities in Southeast and Northeast Asia: outline of evidence available in seven countries before AD 1500, Missiology 19 no 2 Ap 1991, 207-208. 8 Simon Rae, Karel A. Steenbrink, Jan S. Aritonang, Richard Daulay, Evert-Jan Hoogerwerf, and Uwe Hummel, The Sharp Contrasts of Sumatra, History of Christianity in Indonesia, p 527-638 (Leiden: Brill, 2008).

Fr. Chrysostomos Manalu, Presbytera Elisabeth, Soteria, Johannes, and Angela

Met. Nektarios with students of St. Paulus Theological School

Trisagion at the grave of Johannes with his Eminence Nektarios of Hong Kong

The modern story of Orthodoxy in Indonesia starts with a Muslim Daniel Bambang Dwi Byantoro converting to Christianity and then, as a Protestant, embracing Orthodoxy.9 In 1983, Archimandrite Sotirios Trambas received him into the Church in Seoul, Korea. At that time, Daniel studied at a near-by evangelical theological seminary. In 1984, he visited Mt Athos, staying at Simonopetra. He immediately began translating the services into Bahasa Indonesian. As Fr. Sotirios Trambas reported in 1989, in a WCC publication:
An Indonesia priest-cum theologian is ready to undertake missionary work in Java as from June 1988. He has already translated the divine liturgy, vespers and matins. In the meantime, three other Indonesians are studying at the Theological School in Boston, Massachusetts. A church and missionary centre are needed to develop the mission. 10

In 1991, the State Department of Religion legally recognized Orthodoxy, albeit classified as Protestant.11 In the early 2000s, Archimandrite Daniel left the Ecumenical Patriarchate and joined ROCOR. His missionary work continues throughout Indonesia primarily in Java but also in other major islands such as Sulawesi and West Papua. As of 2013, the Russian mission in Indonesia has no official, legal presence in Sumatra.12 From its formation in 1996, the Metropolitanate of Hong Kong, under Nikitas (Lulias) and then Nektarios (Tilus) has taken leadership over Southeast Asia.13 In 2008, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople elevated the Singapore community to a Metropolitanate, dividing the Metropolitan of Hong Kong. The new Metropolitanate of Singapore and Southeast Asia includes lands from Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia to India, Sri Lanka, Maldives Islands, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan all the way to Pakistan and Afghanistan.14 In 2012, the Ecumenical Patriarch elevated Archimandrite Konstantine

The following information regarding Daniel Byantoro is largely taken from his essay, The One Apostolic Faith in the Context of Indonesian Culture, in Orthodoxy and Cultures: Inter-Orthodox Consultation on Gospel and Cultures, p 88-98. Ed, Ioan Sauca (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1996). 10 Sotirios Trambas, Sotirios Trambas, The Orthodox mission in Far East, Your will be done, p 205-209 (Geneva: WCC Pubns, 1989), 208. 11 Thomas Hulbert, Orthodox mission profile: Archimandrite Daniel Bambang Dwi Byantoro and the Indonesian mission, Road to Emmaus, 2 no 3 Sum 2001, 26.
12

According to Presbytera Elisabeth Manalu: [I]t is unknown for us if there is any activity of Russian Church in Sumatera. Fr. Chrysostomos actively participate [sic] on Christian fellowship here in north Sumatera, and never met anyone who might be as represented of Russian Church. As we know that any church in Indonesia should be registered at Indonesian Minister of Religion. E-mail correspondence, April 20, 2013. 13 In 1996, the Ecumenical Patriarchate founded a new Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and South East Asia, separating them from the Metropolitanate of New Zealand. 14 In Southeast Asia, the Orthodox presence has come about in three ways. While Russia Orthodox missionaries traveled east to China, Japan, and Alaska during the 18 th through 20th c, South Asia remained largely untouched by Byzantine Christianity. In the mid-20th c various Orthodox missionaries made their way to India. Priest-monk Fr. Athanasios (d. 1990) from Greece started a mission in West Bengal in 1981. Fr. Ignatios Sennis repaired and

(Tilus) the protosyngellos of the Metropolis of Hong Kong to Metropolitan of Singapore.15 However, the Metropolitan of Singapore does not have residency in Singapore [see Map 1, E] and, as of 2013, still resides in Hong Kong [H]. Greek Orthodox communities exist throughout Indonesia including communities in Jakarta [G] and Surabaya [J] on Java, Sulawesi [K], Bali [L], and throughout Sumatra [A-D].16 The Manalu Family Rev. Fr. Chrysostomos Manalu is the archepiscopal vicar for Indonesia. He focuses his ministry in Medan [A] as the director of St. Pauls Theological Academy and parish priest. Fr. Chrysostomos was born on the 20th of June, 1961 to Bona Manalu and Tamaria Aritonang. The paternal grandfather gave him the name Parluhutan, a Christian Batak word for a place of shelter. After his schooling, he left his home village in Northern Sumatra, Tarutung [see Map 2, C], and went to the Jakarta [G], the capital city of Indonesia on the island of Java. He worked at an express agency for a couple of years, before his boss volunteered to send him to the Evangelical Theological School, in Jogyakarta, Central Java. He graduated in 1986 and married his wife when she graduated the next year. Until early 1989, he served a protestant church there in Java. It would be through his theological studies, in particular his reading of early Christianity, that he became convinced that the original Church continued in the present time. His classmate now Fr. Yohanes Bambang C. Wicaksono17 told him of Daniel Bambang Dwi Byantoro who studied at Holy Cross in Brookline and had become Orthodox. Daniel sent them some materials about the faith. In 1989, then Fr. Daniel Byantoro received into the Church Parluhutan and Fina, who took the names Chrysostomos and Elisabeth. In 1991 the Metropolitan Dionysios of New Zealand sent Chrysostomos,
opened a church that had been built by Greek merchants in 1924. According to Trambas, the mid-twentieth century saw the Eastern Orthodox establish a small presence in Korea, Hong Kong, and India. Second, the Russians and Greeks established expatriate parishes, often first through their embassies. Taking Kuala Lumpur as an example, the Russian Embassy there holds monthly liturgies. Also, a fledgling Greek mission has emerged, albeit underground and off the radar of the government. The Orthodox presence in Malaysia extends from Singapore, which has two small but dynamic Orthodox communities one Greek and one Russian. The Russian parish of Singapore includes a small female monastery. The third and final avenue for Orthodox evangelization came through the conversion, education, and ordination of local clergy. This has been true in India, Korea, and dramatically in Indonesia. 15 Accessed April 25, 2013, http://www.omhksea.org/metropolis-of-singapore/ 16 This list and the accompanying map is not exhaustive of the Orthodox presence throughout Indonesia. More information about Orthodox throughout Sumatra may be gleaned from disparate online sites: http://ierapostoli.wordpress.com/2008/10/20/nias/; http://timotheoshutagalung.blogspot.com. 17 Fr. Yohanes serves communities in East Java [J] and Sulawesi [K]. For further information on his life and work, see http://fryohanesbambang.blogspot.com.

Map 1

Map 2

Orthodox Batak Wedding

Fr. Chrysostomos and Fr. Athanasios Manalu

Evangelismos, Sumbul

St. Ephraim, Sumbul

A mass baptism at St. Ephraim, Sumbul

Cliros at St Demetrius, Medan

Elisabeth, and their ten-month-old baby daughter, Sotiria, to the Thessaloniki for postgraduate studies at Aristotle University. Supported in scholarships by the Church of Greece, both he and his wife would graduate with Masters of Theology. In 1994 before he finished his studies, the Metropolitan of Arta ordained him a deacon and then a presbyter. For the next year he served at a parish forty kilometers outside Thessaloniki. In 1996, his time in Greece ended and he and his family were sent to serve at St. Andreas, the Cathedral of Wellington, New Zealand. Traveling back from Greece to New Zealand, Fr. Chrysostomos and his family stopped over in Indonesia. He visited his parents in his village, Tarutung, which is a six hour drive from Medan. His brother, now Fr. Athanasios, and his wife had already taught their parents and some other relatives about Eastern Orthodoxy. During his visit to his parents house, Fr. Chrysostomos baptized about thirty people, among them his seven living brothers and sisters, his father and mother (who took the names Constantine and Helen), and other close relatives. When he left for New Zealand, the flock remained under his brothers attention, but without a presbyter and the full liturgical services. After serving for two years in Wellington, Fr. Chrysostomos asked the metropolitan to give him a blessing to return to Sumatra, then under Metropolitan Nikitas (Lulias) of the newly established diocese of Hong Kong and all Southeast Asia. Although in some ways it was a homecoming in returning to Indonesia, Medan remained an unknown location for the family. It was strange city for Fr. Chrysostomos and his wife, but more so for their young children, who had grown up in Greece and New Zealand. They began holding Sunday liturgies at their rented house. After a few years, as their numbers increased. The community started an orphanage. When that closed, Fr. Chrysostomos incorporated the younger children into his own household and sent the older ones to distant relatives. As of 2013, the household consists of many more than just Fr. Chrysostomos, his wife, and two daughters. Some are orphans; some are distance relatives come from nearby villages to work and study in Medan. Others, older students traveling to study at the theological school, stay in the guest rooms. Johannes, the late son of Fr. Chrysostomos, died from a motorbike accident in 2009, at the age of thirteen. Presbytera Elisabeth was born on the 15th of July, 1964, to a Lutheran couple, Elia and Suzana Koameskh, on the Island of Rote, West Timor [M]. She is the third of five siblings. When, at the age of two, her father died, her mother dedicated Elisabeth to God;

Metropolitan Konstantine with the Manalu family, 2012

Helen Tamaria Aritonang (2011) the mother of Fr. Chrysostomos

Johannes Manalu (2009) at his paternal grandfathers funeral in 2009

andsofromherearliestofyearsshehadhopedofbecomingaLutheranminister.Many Pentecostalmissionariescametoherislandgrowingup,bothIndonesianandforeign.This heavilyinfluencedtheyouthculture,withanemphasisonprayermeetings,healings,and Biblestudies.Eventually,hertwoeldestbrotherswouldbecomepastorsofPentecostal churches.Shetoowouldpursueministry,attendingtheEvangelicalSchoolofTheology whereshemetherfuturehusband. SheteachesclassesonEnglish,Greek,andchurchhistoryatSt.Pauls.Shealsohas officialadvisoryrolesinalloftheFoundationsschools.In2009,shestartedtakingpartin IndonesianpoliticsastheregionalsecretaryoftheChristianParty,whichhas,asof2009, twelvelegislativerepresentatives.Partofherinvolvementspringsfromthehopeofgaining greateracceptanceofChristiansthroughoutIndonesia.Ina2011emailshestated,
Iwanttoteachmystudents,asayounggenerationofChristians,tobeawareofwhathappensin theircountry.Therearemanyaspectsofnationallifethat,iftheybearinmindthe proclamationsoftheGospel,willbringmuchtransformation.Politicsisgoodingoodhands.Its amediumtotouchotherpeople. 1

ThroughherpoliticalandeducationalworkshefunctionsasaliaisonbetweenOrthodox andProtestant,ChristianandMuslim. TheOrthodoxChurchesandInstitutionsthroughoutSumatra Fr.ChysostomosandFr.AthanasiosManaluservealloftheOrthodoxcommunities throughoutNorthSumatra.Duringa2012visittoMedan,MetropolitanKonstantine mentionedthepossibilityofordainingafewstudentsofFr.Chrysostomos. 2 Heassessed theneedatleast4otherpriestsandsetatentativedatefor2013.AsFr.Chrysostomos statedin2010,WehavemanycommunitieswithinterestintheOrthodoxfaith.Itishard tomeettheneedsofthemanymissionswehavethroughoutSumatra. 3 Fr.Athanasios studiedtheologyinEvangelicalSchoolinMedan.Asstatedabove,hefoundtheOrthodox ChurchthroughtheguidanceofFr.Chrysostomos.In1992,hestayedatamonasteryin Greeceandlearnticonographyfromnuns.Hisiconographycanbefoundinallofthe parishesthroughoutSumatra.Fr.ChrysostomosservestheparishinMedan[A],St Demetrius[A],withoverthreehundredbaptized.Fr.Athanasioslivesandservesthe
1 2

E-mail from Presbytera Elisabeth Manalu, May 15, 2011. E-mail from Presbytera Elisabeth Manalu, March 23, 2013. Met. Nektarios along with then Archimandrite Konstantine visited Medan in April of 2011. Accessed February 13, 2013 http://www.omhksea.org/2011/05/metropolitan-nektarios-visit-in-medansumatra-part-1/ 3 Interview with Fr. Chrysostomos Manalu with the author. October 16, 2010 in Medan, Indonesia.

. St Demetrius, Medan St Paulus Theological School, Office

Fr. Chyrsostomos teaching a class of protestant pastors

Students of St. Paulus

Graduating Class of 2012, St. Paulus

community in Tarutung [B], which has three separate communities with over one hundred baptized: Holy Resurrection, St. Eudorkia, and St. Nikolaos. Tarutung, the home of the Manalu family, is the seat of North Tapanuli Regency in Northern Sumatra, directly south of Lake Toba. Sumbul [C], a town Southeast of Medan and northeast of Tarutung, has two growing Orthodox parishes there, St Ephraim with over two hundred baptized and Evangelismos with over two hundred fifty. On Christmas of 2012, Fr. Chrysostomos baptized sixty-six catechumens.21 On Nias [D] an island off the west coast of Sumatra are two stable parishes, St. Paul with over two hundred baptized and Evangelismos with approximately one hundred fifty. Numerous other Batak communities throughout northern Sumatra have asked Fr. Chrysostomos and Fr. Athanasios to visit, teach, and start Orthodox parishes. (Map 2 also indicates the nearest Orthodox communities not in Sumatra: Metropolitan See of Singapore [E], the mission in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia [F], and the expanding Orthodox communities in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia [G]). The Orthodox community in Medan The Northern Sumatran city of Medan contains two million people, with another two million in the surrounding regency or county. This busy, polluted metropolis divides somewhat evenly between Christians and Muslims - the skyline as proof, with crosses competing with the Islamic domes. In contrast, the overall Sumatran population splits about 90% Muslim and 10% Christian. The Orthodox presence in Medan centers around the St. Paulus Theological School and the Church of St. Demetrius. The other three institutions include a grade school with an attached monastery, a more rural primary school, a hospital, and a computer institute. Kompleks Sekolah Tinggi Theologia Paulus The institutions in Medan all come under the legal umbrella of the Orthodox Foundation. The main complex includes an office, the church of St. Demetrius, a small dormitory, and the St. Paulus Theological School. The complex stands tucked off a busy street with its back to a creek and marshland. The St Paulus Theological School opened in 2005 as the center piece of the plan to establish an Orthodox presence in Medan. As of 2011, the school had 522 students and over 200 alumni. It operates like a mix between a Bible college and a seminary. Some of the students are young, college age, particularly

21

Accessed April 25, 2013, http://orthodoxmission.org.gr/2013/04/theotokos-hospital-is-ready/

Divine Liturgy at St. Demetrius, Medan, 2010

Sunday of Orthodoxy, 2013

those in the three-year program. Many, though, are active church leaders looking to continue their graduate studies. Most of the students originate from Medan itself but many come from smaller towns throughout Sumatra. About 15% of the students are Orthodox; the rest are Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist, and other Protestant denominations. The library lacks a solid collection of serious historical, doctrinal, and exegetical works. What little Orthodox literature they have is in Greek. The works in Bahasa come from Protestant translators and heavily emphasize an evangelical or reformed theology. The students do have access to parallel Greek/Bahasa Bibles. Through the many branches of the Orthodox Foundation in Medan, Fr. Chrysostomos works to foster inter-denominational and inter-religious dialogue. According to him,
Its a benefit to build mutual understanding, either among the Christians, or the other religious communities. Our teaching, though, is Orthodox in doctrine. The Protestants do not share our liturgical and spiritual life; they do share much of our Orthodox faith. We build on this and seek to fill the gaps.22

He is a prince his word of the Manalu clan of the Toba Batak tribe. As the first son of the first son of the first son, he has clan responsibilities that go beyond his ecclesiastical role. Every month he preaches at a protestant church with almost 700 attendees. The primary form of outreach comes through the classroom. Most of the students at St. Paulus are pastors and leaders of the Protestant Batak Churches. Fr. Chrysostomos also functions a supervisor to the Batak Theological Society, basically the youth group of theological school. According to Presbytera Elisabeth, at first, locals identified Fr. Chrysostomos as an ustadz, a teacher of Islam. After fifteen years in Medan, many of the religious leaders now identify him and the Orthodox, in general as the bridge to connect the Christian and Muslim.23 In such ways, he has familiarized the people in North Sumatra with Eastern Orthodoxy. Church of St Demetrius The building of St Demetrius blends the Byzantine and Indonesian the materials, the arrangement of the space, the lines and curves. The icon of the Theotokos with child has a round matriarchal presence, like many of the leading Indonesian ladies. The wood floors, many windows, and light paint created a gentle liturgical space. To the north, near

22 23

Interview with Fr. Chrysostomos Manalu with the author. October 16, 2010 in Medan, Indonesia. E-mail from Presbytera Elisabeth Manalu, March 23, 2013.

Hospital of the Theotokos, Medan, maternity ward and operating table,

Dormition of the Theotokos Monastery at St Sophia School, Medan

Academy of Management and Computers, Medan

the front by the iconostasis, the wood floor hides an adult size baptismal font. In the back stood sand boxes for candles in front of a large icon of St. Demetrius. The front of the church radiates bright colors greens, oranges, and blues with its red tiled, stone columned portico. During services, women stand on the north side, men on the south. The services are in Bahasa with touches of Greek and English. (For the communities in Nias and Tarutung, the people sing the services in their own local languages, Nias and Batak.) The dome of the church, the beard of priests, the clothes of nun, some of the chant strikes the Indonesian as similar to the cultural forms of Islam. For many, Orthodoxys most dramatic contrast with Islam and Protestantism would be the use of icons. Schools In 1999, Fr. Chrysostomos established the St. Sophia Orthodox School in Tanjung Anom, a village on the outskirts of Medan. This established the first institution of the Orthodox Foundation besides the parish of St. Demetrius. The school opened as a kindergarten for thirty-three children. As Presbytera Elisabeth tells the story:
In March, before the school year ended, parents and children pleaded with Fr. Chrysostomos to expand the school. Knowing that there were not enough funds, he told the children, parents, and teachers to pray. One week later, an Orthodox friend from Australia donated an amount of money for the school, sufficient to purchase their current grounds and built three room classrooms at once.24

As of 2013, St Sophia went through high school with thirty teachers, five staff members, and five hundred students. Behind the main courtyard, behind the new swimming pool, stands a small chapel. The chapel functions both for the school and for the small monastery located on campus. Mother Maria resides in this small monastery dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos. She returned from living in a monastery in Greece in 2009. Recently, two other Orthodox schools have been established in Northern Sumatra. St. Nikitas School, founded in 2003, is an elementary school located in an impoverished neighborhood of Medan. As of 2010, twelve teachers and three staff members served 350 students. As of 2013, fifteen teachers serve three hundred students. St. Nikoalas was founded in 2005 as part of the outreach to the devastated population of Nias Island after the 2004 tsunami. In 2010, fifteen teachers served one hundred fifty students. In 2013, the school decreased to ten teachers and ninety students. All three of the schools are Orthodox

24

E-mail from Presbytera Elisabeth Manalu, May 15, 2011.

in leadership, though many of the teachers are Protestant or Catholic. All three schools are officially recognized by the Ministry of Education. Rumah Sakit Umum Theotokos - Hospital General In a smaller neighborhood of Deli Serdang the regency surrounding Medan stands a small hospital, dedicated to the Theotokos. A prominent icon in the main entrance invokes her presence. According to the plaque, it opened on the 13th of February, 2010. As of October 2010, it had ten hospital rooms, nineteen beds, a pharmacy, and offices for the two doctors, four nurses, and administration. The doctors are a mixture of Protestant, Catholic, and Muslim. In 2011, the government recognized their new status as a hospital. Periodically, the hospital provides free services to the community. The hospital also provides discounts to the seminary students and church members. Academy of Management and Computers Founded in 2000, the Academy of Management and Computers provides three years of training in information technology and management with two hundred current students, twelve lecturers, and four staff. While the theology school develops the church, this school helps develop the employment opportunities of the people here in Medan. Remaining Questions How does the community harmonize or reconcile their culture with the ancient faith? For the past hundred fifty years, the Batak people have incorporated their culture into their Christianity. As Presbytera Elisabeth stated, Batak people are known in Indonesia as people who tightly hold their traditions. All the cycles of human life have cultural values.25 That said, many animistic practices remain alive in their society. It is a common practice to ask spirits for success (e.g. riches, health, position) or to punish others.26 It remains to be seen how the Eastern Orthodox liturgical, canonical, and spiritual practices will take shape in the new soil of Sumatra. There are three primary concerns of the future of the Orthodox community in Sumatra. First, the expanding communities need education. The process of taking ownership of the Orthodox heritage, while monumental, requires concerted effort and clear steps. Second, the humanitarian and education programs require outside funding.
25 26

E-mail from Presbytera Elisabeth Manalu, March 23, 2013. Batara Sihombing, Batak and Wealth: A Critical Study of Materialism in the Batak Churches in Indonesia , Mission Studies, 21 no 1 2004, p 25. C.f. Edward Nyhus, Encounter of Christianity and animism among the Toba Bataks of North Sumatra, South East Asia Journal of Theology, 10 no 2-3 O-Ja 1968-1969, p 33-52.

Communities and philanthropic societies in Australia and Greece have made significant contributions through financial donation and medical visits. Third, leaders need to emerge who share in the common vision already established. As Presbytera Elisabeth stated, we consider that north Sumatera has potential ground to land on [sic], but we need a good systematic ministry program as a whole.27 Part of this depends on the episcopal support and the ordination of more clergy. The future will be determined by the education, training, and inspiration of the present generation. This community in Sumatra forms a new chapter in the ongoing story of the Eastern Church.

27

E-mail from Presbytera Elisabeth Manalu, March 23, 2013.

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