Presbyterian Church in Ireland - Mission Overseas - INDONESIA: Former GMIH Moderator dies suddenly

17th June 2011

We regret to announce the death, from cancer, of Rev Agustinus Aesh, former Moderator of the Evangelical Christian Church in Halmahera (GMIH). He served the church during the bloody confrontation between Muslims and Christians in the Moluccas Islands in 1999-2004.

His courageous and visionary leadership was pivotal in helping the two communites in Halmahera to come together again after the conflict ended.

He suffered throat cancer in early 2010 but was successfully treated in Jakarta, returning home a year ago in relatively good health.

However, he became ill suddenly less than a week ago, and died last Wednesday morning (15th June) in GMIH’s Hospital in Tobelo, Halmahera.

Yesterday, Thursday 16th, his body was taken from the capital Tobelo back to his home village in Sahu in Western Halmahera for burial.

He leaves behind his widow, Rev Jemima Aesh-Daingah, and their two children.

Rev Prof James Haire, who with his wife, Mary, and family, served in Halmahera with Presbyterian Mission Overseas from 1972 to 1984, now lives in Australia but has been a regular visitor to GMIH in the intervening years. He says of Agustinus Aesh:

"He came to live with us soon after his baptism as an adult, following his conversion to the Christian faith from animism. He was from a chiefly family and lived in our home for five years, as he trained for the Christian ministry and gained his BTheol. 

He was like a son to us and we arranged his marriage, on behalf of his family. 

He initially served in two congregations, then went on to study in the Christian University in Tomohon, Sulawesi, where he gained his BD, and then in the Jakarta Theological Seminary, where he gained his MTheol. 

After congregational ministry he taught in the Halmahera Theological College, before becoming Moderator of the Evangelical Christian Church in Halmahera (GMIH) at the time of the inter-religious violence. 

During this time he showed great leadership, representing the needs of the Halmahera Christian community in advocacy with President Abdurrahman Wahid of Indonesia, at the United Nations in New York and Geneva, at the European Parliament in Strasburg, in the House of Lords and House of Commons in London, at the World Council of Churches in Geneva, and with Presbyterian and Reformed churches in various parts of the world.  

After his years as Moderator he became a Member of the Parliament of the North Molucca Islands, which include Halmahera. He then returned to teaching at the Halmahera Theological College.

He suffered throat cancer in early 2010 but was successfully treated in Jakarta, returning home a year ago in relatively good health."

Agustinus Aesh visited PCI for a few days in September 1999 just before the inter-religious conflict broke out in Halmahera. In April 2000, the then Moderator of PCI, Rev Dr John Lockington, his wife, Norma, Nigel Eves and Mervyn McCullagh met with Agustinus in Central Kalimantan, to hear first-hand about the conflict in the Moluccas.

On subsequent visits to Halmahera, representatives of PCI were able to meet with Agustinus and talk about his work as a politician, as he sought to represent the interests of the Christian community of the region in the local Provincial parliament.

His passing is a sad loss to all who knew him and counted him their friend. But also to the whole community - Christian and Muslim - in Halmahera and its neighbouring satellite islands, where he became known for his honesty, fairness and unending passion to see peace restored and broken relationships mended.

He was a man of God who was raised up for prophetic leadership at a critical time in the history of the beautiful Moluccas Islands (also known as the 'Spice Islands') of East Indonesia. He will be greatly missed.

We give thanks to God for every good memory of him, for a faithful servant of Christ and a passionate peacemaker. We remember all who grieve his passing, particularly his family and close friends, and pray that they will know the sustaining grace and comfort of our God at this difficult time.

More about: Evangelical Christian Church in Halmahera (GMIH) and its partnership with PCI.

Events | News & Information | Give | Go | Pray | Deputation