Aldo Siahaan, Philadelphia Praise Center
siahaan22@gmail.com
Pastors, leaders and activists from Church of the Brethren, Mennonite, Brethren in ChristQuaker and congregations from around the world came together in December in Solo, Indonesia. Participants came from as far as Australia, Japan, India and the United States. The theme for the conference was “Peace In Our Land: In the Asian Context of Religious Pluralism, Poverty and Injustice.”
On the opening day of the conference, Mesach Krisetya, from the Indonesian Mennonite conference Gereja Kristen Muria Indonesia (GKMI) , challenged participants to sacrifice our comfort and wealth for others who are existing in less fortunate situtations than our own. Basing his theme on Isaiah 2:1-5, he asked us, “What do you bring before God, war-ship or worship?”
One testimony about poverty in India–where the big issue is mass suicide, especially by women, because they don’t know the answer to their financial problems–became a difficult and engaging topic in group discussion. One group asked, “How can we as Christians be a community of love and practice the economics of love in a global economy?”
Not only did we hear from many speakers, we also allowed God to speak to us. We sang and knelt down together in prayer, and tried to hear God’s voice.
After a few days of meetings we went to Surakarta Palace, located in the city of Solo, and had a chance to meet with the siblings of the sultan, or king, of Indonesia. We planted a Sawo Kecik tree seed in the palace garden, symbolizing planting the virtues for gaining peace. The king replaced the trees surrounding the palace with this kind of tree as a symbolic work to share the openness, calling on all religions to plant their virtues and goodness in the earth.
One of the messages from this conference was that of St. Francis of Assisi, who said, “If you desire peace with your lips, make sure it is written first in your heart.”
Do we truly love our enemies? Do we pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:43-44)? Sometimes I wonder: what is peace if I know there are so many people killed by gun violence?
What is peace if I know many Christians are being persecuted? What is peace if I know so many of my Indonesian friends in Philadelphia live in fear because of their immigration status? Sometimes I feel helpless.
One day God reminded me of a story from the Gospel about a boy who had five loaves of bread and two fish, who gave everything without asking any questions. He did his part and God did God’s part by multiplying it. What God wants from me is just to give everything that I have to make peace and have peace with others, especially those who need it most. It is like God is saying to me, “Aldo, you do your part, full-hearted and trust me, I’ll do My part.” I thank God for my helplessness.
The opinions expressed in articles posted on Mosaic’s website are those of the author and may not reflect the official policy of Mosaic Conference. Mosaic is a large conference, crossing ethnicities, geographies, generations, theologies, and politics. Each person can only speak for themselves; no one can represent “the conference.” May God give us the grace to hear what the Spirit is speaking to us through people with whom we disagree and the humility and courage to love one another even when those disagreements can’t be bridged.