Barbara Lawler and Amiel Nubaha from IofC Australia visited Indonesia from 2 - 9 February 2023, They spent time connecting with the IofC Indonesian team and did outreach in Bandung and Jakarta. Following is the reflection from Barabara Lawler.
"Amiel Nubaha and I returned on 10 February from an inspiring week of creative outreach and fellowship in Indonesia during which our statistician tells us we reached 450 people!
Before that, I had been participating in the UTSAV international IofC retreat in India and Amiel came from Australia to join the second event in Asia Plateau "Emergent Future - Rethinking our World Together".
Session with students of Mumtaza School
We were looked after in the best of true Indonesian hospitality from when we arrived on 2 February; collected from Jakarta airport by Irna Yugaswatie and Dinnie Hijrie Firdausi (Nonie) then on to meet their education training group, Generasi Cerdas Indonesia.
Siti Zaetun (Etun) had arranged for us to stay in a lovely home of her friends in Jakarta not far from the Mumtaza School where her son, Cyril attends. We enjoyed meeting her husband Bambang and second son, Faaeq.
Next day we were treated to a whole day's hospitality at Mumtaza School, in the morning with the junior High School on the theme "Education for Change - from personal to global" and the afternoon with the teachers, "Change Starts with Me - from personal to global" - very lively, positive, hope-giving sessions.
Etun made the most of her role on the PTA of the school and had the passion and initiative to hold these workshops in order to spread the message of IofC in a way that her friends and colleagues could really relate to it. It was valuable feedback that the school decided to give generously towards our transport and accommodation in Indonesia for which we were most grateful.
There is so much creative outreach and team development through IofC Indonesia, the Trust Building program and with schools and educators.
Though it is always an enjoyable delight to be and work with IofC Indonesian friends, it can also be challenging for me as a westerner and a representative of colonisers. In Bandung particularly, the remains of Dutch colonialism can be seen especially in the architecture. Bandung is also home to the Asia-Africa Museum where the first conference of the non-aligned movement took place in 1955, after most former colonies had become independent.
I realised from some conversations that the hypocrisy of the West has created mistrust which has spilled over to an undermining of confidence in democracy. The theory of Communism with its promise of equitable wealth sharing and equality in other ways seems enticing. Then you look at the practice in China and Russia and realise that without integrity, no system works. Democracy tends to create more peaceful ways of reconciling. It's important to separate democracy from the west and from the colonisers. After all, it was through parliamentary democracy that for instance, the slave trade was stopped. Indonesia's democracy stands alone, as was recognised in the 'Arab Spring' of 2010-12, due its effective transition from military dictatorship to democracy in 1998.
I found myself apologising for the hurt caused to Indonesia and regional neighbours by the White Australia policy in place until 1960s. Coming from Queensland we carry the additional wound of Aboriginal Protection legislation which put First Nations people in reserves away from their country and language and which formed the basis of Apartheid legislation in South Africa. We need to know the truth of our history in order to heal our history.
The Trust Building program has drawn media attention, particularly in Makassar Sulawesi and Bandung in West Java. IofC team itself is at a stage of growing their own families so a Family Camp was held last December, enjoyed by all - a wonderful way to include all generations in the journey with IofC.
IofC Indonesian team with Ibu Barbara and Amiel after sharing session for last day in Bandung
We were glad to join Huda at two events: One in Jakarta and one in Bandung to launch a new program 'Dialogue for Change' using newly developed cards which ask starter questions for dialogue - people to share their life journey and what is meaningful for them. In Bandung, we went deeply into aspects of family relationships as well as national and international relationships. This included Amiel's journey of healing from his Rwandan background and Australia currently coming to terms with its need for truth-telling and to heal history with its First Nations people.
A highlight was attending the wedding party of Abdul Mu'ti's son, Aqil. Pak Abdul spoke at a Melbourne IofC Conference in Melbourne in 2007. He has been General Secretary of Muhammadiyah, second biggest Muslim organisation in Indonesia and a good friend of IofC. Little did we know that we would be joined, for lunch, by 4,000 others, one of whom was the Ambassador for Ukraine to Indonesia with whom we were able to have a conversation.
One of Amiel's hopes was to meet the 7th Day Adventists in Bandung with whom Huda and Nenden work in the Trustbuilding program. That was a special time of fellowship with some of them connected with the Seventh Day Adventist University there.
It was my 18th visit to Indonesia and I was once again impressed by the ongoing commitment, passion and resilience of the IofC team led by Miftahul Huda, his wife, Nenden and Hayati, current EO for IofC Indonesia, as well as IofC friends like Etun, Umam, Irna and Pipit. We were most grateful for their care and that they are constantly exploring and acting on creative ideas to make IofC sustainable in Indonesia e.g. Inner Development programs for corporate and Government organisations and Nenden's School of Reconciliation.
They have similar challenges to not only IofC Australia but other teams around the world (as we learnt in UTSAV India), that is, transitioning of responsibility so that IofC grows and learning to address conflict from an approach that it is normal. It is not surprising that there is conflict between people who are passionate about IofC. It could be seen as a healthy sign. We all need to learn a different approach, no matter how long or short we've been with IofC - to respond rather than react - to be curious rather than to accuse - to have healing conversations based on "Change starts with me". We need to hear the truths of others because we simply don't have the whole truth by ourselves. In this way, we can make conflicts, not a weakness, but a strength to all we do.
I have been visiting Indonesia since 2003, and the dynamic warm-hearted creative wisdom of Indonesia has been refreshing every time. It was a special blessing to be able to share this experience with Amiel, discovering that many of his Rwandan family are Muslim, and to hear his story and journey of healing shared in Indonesia.
I have felt these past 20 years an ever-deepening vision for Indonesia's role as a peacemaker being the biggest Muslim country in the world, 250 million population with 90% Muslim, which does already build bridges of trust and friendship between the West and the Muslim world.
Indonesia is a powerhouse in many ways. Its GDP is now more than the sum of that of China and USA combined. As I said in my paper published in the Al-Wijdan Islamic Education Journal https://ejournal.uniramalang.ac.id/index.php/alwijdan/article/view/1946 , much is expected of Indonesia's leadership of ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) in this coming year - part of its role as a peacemaker.
Indonesia is one of Australia’s nearest, and biggest neighbours. We are very blessed that they are and need to learn much more about them, and vice versa, one way being to explore establishing cultural exchanges. Let's take this wonderful opportunity seriously."
Writer: Ibu Barbara Lawler, Mentor for IofC Indonesian team, Panel of Elders IofC International