A letter from Rebecca Young in Indonesia
June 2012
The graduating class of 2012 consisted of 35 undergraduates and 10 graduate students, seen here being photographed by their proud parents. June 9, 2012, Jakarta.
One of the most quoted Bible verses is the Great Commission, Jesus’ parting command to his disciples, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:19). In the Indonesian version of the Bible, the same verse is translated, “Go therefore and make students of all nations.” I like the Indonesian way of saying “students” because it reminds us what a disciple should be: someone who is in the process of learning, and therefore always studying and being open to finding out new ways to think about things. For those of us who are already learning what it means to follow him, Jesus asks us to go out and encourage other people to learn with us. Jesus doesn’t ask us to tell them what to do, mind you, but to invite them to become fellow students alongside us.
That’s why I love being a Presbyterian mission co-worker: I have the privilege of being a teacher, and through teaching I learn together with my students about how to follow Jesus. Combining mission work and education has been a long tradition in our Presbyterian heritage. I have an ancestor named John Thomson who came to the New World in 1705 as a missionary from Scotland. He started in Pennsylvania, then served in the Piedmont area of Virginia, and finally became the first missionary to go into western North Carolina. Along the way he laid the groundwork for two colleges, Hampden Sydney (Virginia) and Davidson (North Carolina).
Graduating student Frengky receives his diploma from Robert, the head of the Jakarta Seminary Board of Directors. June 9, 2012, Jakarta.
For these reasons and more, Saturday, June 9, 2012, was a very exciting day for me. It was graduation day at Jakarta Theological Seminary. The students graduating were the ones I have been with since they started at our school five years ago. They started studying the same semester I started teaching here, so we have been on a five-year journey of learning together.
By the way, just so you won’t be confused: seminary education in Indonesia is different from in the U.S. The students start by getting an undergraduate degree in theology. The degree takes five years. Then they do a two-year internship in a church before they become ordained.
Our seminary students come from a variety of denominations throughout Indonesia. There are students from the islands of Sumatra, Sulawesi, Kalimantan, Flores, Ambon, Papua, and even from Bali. Our chapel services are often enhanced by songs, artwork or dancing by students from these different ethnic groups and churches. Sometimes in the classroom I ask the students to pray in their own language at the opening or the closing of class time.
Becca with two graduating students, Erwin and Marchely. June 9, 2012, Jakarta.
The field that I teach in is “systematic theology,” which sounds complicated but really means I use both biblical theology (what the Bible says about God) and historical theology (what the church throughout history has said about God) and combine them to come up with ways to talk about God that are relevant to people today.
This past semester I taught five courses: (1) Introduction to Theology, (2) Liberation Theology, (3) Contextual Christology, (4) Current Issues Facing the Church, and (5) Theology and Film, with the following descriptions:
(1) The Introduction to Theology class is just what it sounds like: I teach second-year students about the basic beliefs of the church.
(2) In the Liberation Theology class I asked the students to help me teach, so each week a different student picked a subject that they wanted to teach about. They taught about the most pressing issues facing Indonesia, including poverty, migrant workers, domestic violence, government violence toward citizens, deforestation, and pluralism among religions.
(3) The Contextual Christology class is interesting because I ask the students to talk about how Jesus can be represented in images and stories from their own backgrounds and cultures. This semester we had students give presentations about Jesus in Chinese culture, symbolized by the dragon, and Jesus in the culture of eastern Indonesia, where the alligator is seen as a king figure.
(4) In the Current Issues class we talked about a variety of topics such as the church’s use of technology and the Internet, the shift of mainstream church members to non-denominational churches, the role of women in churches, the church and hospitality, the church and its relationship to the government, and the church’s responsibility for the environment.
(5) I taught the Theology and Film course as an elective in the late afternoon. We watched a variety of films and analyzed them for some theological or religious meaning. Some of the films we watched included Fiddler on the Roof, Of Gods and Men, The Adjustment Bureau, Chocolat, Bucket List, Seven Years in Tibet, and Bruce Almighty. We also watched some Indonesian films that deal with religious subjects.
Becca and Wendy Kakerissa, pastoral theology instructor, modeling the new graduation gowns for the seminary. June 9, 2012, Jakarta.
Over the past year I worked with two students who were writing their senior year thesis. One student, a woman named Nancy (who was born in 1981 and is named after Nancy Reagan), wrote her thesis about the issue of domestic violence and how Jesus can be an example for the respectful treatment of women. Another student, Adrian, wrote about how a better understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit can help the church be more effective in doing its three main tasks: worship, service and witness.
Working with these students has been a highlight of my work over the past five years. It is great to feel that through our classes my students and I have explored how we can help the people of Indonesia to understand how much God loves them. We have together sought to become students of Jesus in a lifetime of studying and being open to new ways that we can share God’s love with our neighbors here in Indonesia.
Thanks to each of you reading this newsletter for your prayers and support that enable me and so many other mission co-workers who work in education as part of the wider mission of the Presbyterian Church.
God bless you,
Becca
The 2012 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 189
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