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A letter from Bernie Adeney-Risakotta serving in Indonesia
November 2014 - Back to Work
Dear Family, Friends and Colleagues,
What is it like to come back to work in Indonesia after a glorious year in Boston? Frankly speaking, I was worried. Boston was like a dream. We loved it. In November 2013 we had a horrific accident and Farsijana had a long period of recovery from two fractured vertebrae, but even that gave us extra freedom to slow down and heal our souls as well as our bodies. Farsijana healed beautifully and created deep meaning and art out of her suffering. But I wondered how we would adjust to going back to “normal” work in Indonesia.
We needn’t have worried. As we stepped off the airplane and felt the humid heat sweep over us, we knew we were home. The lush green tropics, soaring volcanoes, beautiful beaches, ringing calls to prayer, smells of spicy sweet food, and the roar of kamikaze students on their motorbikes are part of our soul. We call our house Pondok Tali Rasa. That means a home where people are woven together in their “rasa” (feeling, thought, taste and senses). It has been a place of grace, where Muslims and Christians from areas of violent conflict have found peace and reconciliation. Our home became a community center for empowering women and children, promoting art and creativity, serving the basic needs of hundreds of victims of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, and fostering deep discussion between people of different cultures and religions about the problems facing Indonesian society.
Like most human families we have also faced tragedies of death, serious illness, conflict and broken relationships. I’m reminded of the saying, “Physician, heal yourself.” Our families, communities and world are broken beyond our meager abilities to heal. In Isaiah 6:5 the prophet laments: “Woe is me, I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips: for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts.” Then an angel took a burning coal from the altar and touched it to his lips saying, “… your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.” We are not competent physicians to heal the world, but only witnesses of the power and grace of God. Our neighbors are also witnesses to us of God’s mercy in their lives. Leonard Cohen writes: “Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering; there’s a crack, a crack in everything; that’s how the light gets in. That’s how the light gets in.” Pray that through the many cracks in this world God’s light will come shining through.
One ray of light that gives many Indonesians hope is the election of Joko Widodo (Jokowi) as President of Indonesia. In spite of formidable opposition from powerful members of the older political, military, business and religious elites, Jokowi won the direct election. Jokowi gives promise to lead the country in directions that prioritize education, promote religious tolerance, protect the human rights of minorities, combat corruption, prioritize the needs of the poor, enforce protection of the environment, encourage gender equality and strengthen democratic institutions. He is one of the most impressive world leaders currently in power, the elected president of the largest Muslim population and the fourth largest nation on earth. Please pray for him as he faces immense problems and heavy opposition.
Farsijana and I are assigned by the PC(USA) to teach at Duta Wacana Christian University (DWCU), training leaders for Indonesian church and society. After several years helping build graduate programs in theology at DWCU, I was “loaned” to Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) to help begin the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS). ICRS is the world’s first consortium of leading national Muslim and Christian universities that co-sponsor a doctoral program that shapes religious leaders trained to work across religious boundaries to address common problems. The program attracts doctoral students from 13 different countries as well as from all over Indonesia. Currently I am working with a three-year ICRS research project on the role of religion in public policy in Southeast Asia. The project includes universities from 8 countries in Southeast Asia plus the U.S.A. The first year focused on how countries like Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar (Burma) manage relationships between religious majorities and minorities. The second year is now focusing on how the different countries regulate sexual and gender relationships. The third year will focus on how the countries manage religion in the public sphere (including the Internet).
In connection with research on religion, public policy and gender relations, Farsijana and I went to Kalimantan (Borneo) for a workshop at an Islamic institute. Although South Kalimantan has spectacular wealth from natural resources, it also has very low educational levels and one of the highest rates of child marriage, divorce and polygamy. We talked with judges, professors and Muslim feminist activists who are dealing with very different problems related to the oppression of women from the problems faced in more cosmopolitan Yogyakarta. After the workshop Farsijana and I went hiking and rafting through the mountains to visit some isolated Dyak villages. One village was not so isolated after all, since they made a cement, roller coaster–like path down the mountain. An unexpectedly wild motorcycle ride through the jungle and down the mountain convinced me that Farsijana’s back is really healed!
At DWCU Farsijana is now assigned to help develop a new Master’s of Peace Studies program. Partly through her efforts, the program already has government approval and is off and running. It employs creative means to teach conflict resolution and peacemaking to both Christian and Muslim leaders. Farsijana finished her two-term maximum as regional head of the Indonesian Women’s Coalition (KPI). Since she turned over the leadership of KPI to others she has had time to invest her considerable energy in a new venture called Griya Jati Rasa. This organization pulls together activists, academics and government officials in a number of projects to empower five villages. Each of the villages excels in different ways. One shows excellence in marketing local products to achieve economic prosperity. Another is exemplary for its management of waste and ecological awareness. Another has developed excellent educational institutions. Another is effective in managing religious diversity and living in harmony. Yet another shows strength in preserving cultural resources and mobilizing local wisdom in facing rapid social change. Griya Jati Rasa works with government officials to encourage the strengths of these villages and help them learn from each other. In this way these villages can become exemplary models for villages all over Indonesia.
We are thankful to the PC(USA) and you who make our work possible. Without the gifts and prayers of many people we would not be able to carry on. We pray for you as you pray for us, knowing that it is God who works in all of us to do his good pleasure (Phil. 2:13).
Salam hangat,
Bernie and Farsijana Adeney-Risakotta
baryogya@gmail.com
The 2014 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 227
The 2015 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 239
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