“Mister Joe, would you pray for me? I want to be a missionary.”
I heard these words on my recent trip to Indonesia, September 7-23, 2024. I had been invited to teach at two Indonesian Mennonite seminaries, where the average age of students is 19 years old.
As I reflected on my experience, the earnestness of these youth rose to the top of my mind. At Sekolah Tinggi Teologi (STT) Sangkakala (Sangkakala Theological College), an undergraduate institution of Jemaat Kristen Indonesia (Christian Congregation in Indonesia, JKI) in Salatiga, Java, I heard their passion in the songs that roused me to each day’s dawning. In Indonesia, a Muslim-majority country where the call to prayer is broadcast from every corner of every city, the trumpet blast (the meaning of the word, Sangkakala)—awakens these Jesus followers each morning.
“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning” (Psalm 92:1-2a NRSV).
I witnessed this earnestness in the testimony of a JKI pastor who runs a missionary-training school in another part of the Indonesian archipelago. He spoke of a former student, a 27-year-old single woman, patiently living the love of Jesus as a tentmaker in a Muslim village far from her home. The pastor described her commitment to incarnational mission: living with people, receiving hospitality, seeking the well-being of the community, ready to talk about Christ when invited.
“But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15 NIV).
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As I taught in class, I saw a hunger for knowledge in the students’ eyes. I heard a thirst for understanding in their questions. One wanted to know about my own experiences of the Holy Spirit. Another wanted to know why the church was growing in the global south but shrinking in the north. One wanted to probe Christian attitudes toward political involvement and military service. Another wanted to know if the contrast between Mary Magdalene’s faith through hearing and Thomas’s faith through seeing had something to do with gender (John 20:16, 27-29). One wanted to discuss a finer point of Christology (the church’s teaching about the person and work of Christ). Another wanted to discuss whether the wearing of amulets by people on his home island was compatible with faith in Christ.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:6 NRSV).
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Through this youthful earnestness, I witnessed a willingness to lead. At Sekolah Tinggi Agama Kristen Wiyata Wacana (Wiyata Wacana Christian College of Religion, STAKWW), the seminary of Gereja Injili di Tanah Jawa (Evangelical Church of Java, GITJ) in Pati, Java, preparing for ministry was as much about doing as studying. Students lent their musical talents to local congregations. They traveled with their instructor, my host, on weekends to serve churches and promote the school. At both schools I visited, professors and chaplains invested their whole lives in students. Paul’s words to the Thessalonians describe the kind of leadership formation I observed in Indonesia:
“So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us” (1 Thessalonians 2:8 NRSV).
The Apostle Paul once told Timothy, a young missionary colleague, “Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12 NRSV). For two weeks in September, I saw youth in Indonesia doing just that.