Islam
(87%) is the primary religion, with smaller proportions of Protestant Christianity
(6%), Roman Catholicism (3%), Hinduism (2%), and Buddhism (1%).
The
HKBP people in the Sumatra-Timur District mostly live in rural, agrarian conditions,
but there are a variety of social and economic milieus represented. About 30%
are small farmers living in rural villages. Another 30% work for wages on the
surrounding plantations producing tea, rubber, palm oil, and cocoa beans.
Facilities
and ministries:
Rostered
Personnel of the HKBP include the ordained pastors plus lay leaders who serve
as Preacher-Teachers, Deaconesses, and Biblewomen. Both the Preacher-Teachers
and the Biblewomen may lead worship and perform most other pastoral duties except
administering the sacraments and performing marriages.
The
HKBP operates a School for the Preacher-Teachers close to Taruntung. The HKBP
Deaconess School is located in Balige adjacent to the HKBP Hospital.
The HKBP
has a Youth Service Organization, the Pelaksana Pelayan Naposobulung, which is
roughly equivalent to our Lutheran Student Movement. The church operates a number
of parochial schools throughout their various districts. These schools have once
again become important after the economic collapse in Indonesia during the late
1990's, which diminished the budgets for state operated schools.
Elim
Orphanage is another agency operated by the HKBP. While the closely intertwined
family relationships of the Batak people tend to reduce the occurrence of orphans,
the church provides this safety net. This is an important ministry in a country
that lacks an effective foster care system run by the state. Elim is now receiving
orphans from the war in Aceh.
Two
Hospitals are operated by the HKBP, one 150-bed facility in Balige and another
on Samosir Island in Lake Toba, the heart of Batak culture. The Balige facility
is a teaching hospital for nurses.
The
HKBP Theological Seminary, located in Pematang Siantar, serves most of the Lutheran
and other Protestant churches in North Sumatra. A Theological Education by Extension
program based in Pematang Siantar provides theological education for congregational
leaders.
The
HKBP Nommensen University, is the largest Lutheran university in the world. In
the academic year 2001-2002, it had an enrollment of 7550 students. It has schools
of education, agriculture, economics, engineering, business administration, languages
and the arts.
3
significant challenges facing by the HKBP in the 21st century:
1. How to do mission and ministry faithfully and peacefully in a radically heterogeneous
culture?
2. How to faithfully address social and economic disparity among
the people of the HKBP and in surrounding society?
3. How to faithfully
relate to socio-economic developments (such as globalization, industrialization,
asianization, and sophisticated information technology) so that they become blessing
for all people?
Connections:
