Rebeka Moeljono is a graphic designer in the Great Lakes office of Mennonite Mission Network.  She is also a student at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Ind.

Return home transforms perceptions about Muslims

By Rebeka Moeljono

After eight years of living in the U.S., I finally had a chance to go back to my home in Indonesia. Only, it wasn’t a trip of choice, but of necessity. Due to problems with reapplying for my visa, I had to leave my job, seminary studies, apartment and sisters in Elkhart, Ind., and return to my hometown, Jepara, where I would work through my visa problem.

At first, I couldn’t understand why God was sending me back to Indonesia. Not that I didn’t want to go home, but I didn’t understand his timing. Everything was going so well for me in the U.S. Why did he want to send me back now?

I was also afraid of what I would find when I returned. After Sept. 11, nearly every report I had heard about Indonesia centered on Muslim extremists committing terrible acts of terrorism and persecution.

Adding to my worries was the fact that U.S. immigration policies would certainly be more difficult to work with now than when I originally came.

As I stepped off the plane and breathed in the Indonesian air, I realized I had forgotten what it was like to live in a tropical climate. I had also forgotten what it was like to live in a society where I wasn’t part of the majority religion.

David W. Shenk, veteran missionary and administrator with Eastern Mennonite Missions. Photo by Jim Bishop.

But while I was in Indonesia, God gave me opportunities to relate with Muslims in ways I never had before. David Shenk, an expert on Islam from the U.S., along with his wife Grace, came to Indonesia while I was there. Through them I had the chance to attend a seminar on Islam intended to help Christians understand Islam and the Muslim community in a deeper way, to equip the church leaders so they can build harmonious relationships with the Muslim community and to help Christians share their faith with Muslims.

I also had the privilege of taking the Shenks to visit several Islamic institutions. At first I was terrified about accompanying these westerners to Muslim leadership-training centers. What would the Muslims do? I had heard so many frightening things from the western media that I almost expected something terrible to happen.

I was completely wrong! They were all very friendly, and we were able to talk about some issues that have caused misunderstanding between Muslims and Christians. I began to understand that each person has a choice to make about what they will do with their experience and training. We visited one leader who had gone through the same Muslim leadership-training program, as had a man who is now one of the prominent terrorists in Indonesia.

“I know him,” the leader said, “and we have had the same training. But as you can see, even though we come from the same background, we have resulted in different kinds of people. I strongly disagree with what he is doing now.”

The encounters we had with Muslims during these visits were life changing for me. They helped destroy my prejudices about Muslims. My fears were transformed into compassion. Suddenly, my apprehension about going back to Indonesia seemed unreasonable to me. I realized that every Muslim wasn’t a terrorist or an evil person – a fear that I had picked up in the U.S.

While Indonesia has suffered much from extremist Muslim terrorist attacks, many of the conflicts are based on misunderstandings between Muslims and Christians. The resulting damage and wounds of these religious tensions are very deep.

Yet, because of Christ’s message, Christians in Indonesia are challenged to forgive and to love Muslims – and to understand them. They are called to view the problems from different perspectives and to understand them in different ways.

When churches begin to open their hearts and love Muslims as Jesus does, true transformation will start to happen. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12)

I became convicted that our life example is the first gospel that Muslims read. More often than not, good social relationships are the door for the good news of salvation!

Royandi Hutasoit, an Indonesian Evangelist, prays for one of the youth who committed his life to Jesus in Save the Youth, a revival meeting held in Kudus, Central Java, Indonesia. Hutasoit, who led the youth revival, is a presidential candidate for the Indonesian election that will be held in April 2004.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that the western media has done a great job publicizing the horrible things that have happened in Indonesia, but has failed to communicate the positive news about what is happening in the country – positive news that often outweighs the bad.

Indeed, there are many problems in Indonesia – no one can deny that. Political turmoil, religious persecution and poverty are all too common, but it’s also an exciting time for the church. God is working in incredible ways. Churches are growing, miracles are happening and revival is taking place in many different forms. I would never have discovered that if I hadn’t visited the country myself. I certainly would never have guessed it from what I had heard in the U.S.

Though I was extremely apprehensive about returning to Indonesia, God knew what he was doing. He used my visa problem to send me home for six months to experience what he is doing around the world, to change my perception about Muslim people and to understand the times we are living in.