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Evangelical Christian Church in Halmahera (GMIH)

The Evangelical Christian Church in Halmahera - Gereja Masehi Injili di Halmahera (GMIH) – represents about half the population on the Island of Halmahera. It has around 160,000 members in 380 congregations and 27 presbyteries; and 480 ministers and unordained assistants in active service.

GMIH Pastors' Conference, Tobelo GMIH follows a Presbyterial-Synodal model of church governance, with a Synod Council leadership team elected every five years by the church’s Synodal General Assembly. The administrative team, headed by the Moderator, oversees the implementation of the Synod’s five yearly plan through the various commissions of the church.

GMIH may be described as Reformed in its theology, and Presbyterian in its church government. It has a very strong emphasis on mission.

GMIH's Theological College (STT), which is in Tobelo on Halmahera (it was formerly on Ternate), primarily trains men and women for the ordained ministry, and has 15 faculty staff and around 200 students.

History

Christianity in its Catholic form arrived in the area in 1521, and in fact the first Theological College was erected on the Island of Ternate around 1525. It was in the Galela area of Halmahera that probably the first Christians were baptised in the 1520's. Francis Xavier worked in the area in 1546 and 1547.

However, because of strife between the Portuguese and Muslim Sultans of Tenate, culminating in the killing of one of the Sultans by the Portuguese, there was a violent reaction against Christians. This resulted in the virtual wiping out of Christianity late in the sixteenth century. So the first Christian martyrs in Indonesia were also from Galela in Halmahera. There remained a small community of Christians on the Island of Tenate and these all became Presbyterians once the Dutch ousted the Portuguese at the beginning of the seventeenth century.

Early morning in Halmahera A new beginning came in 1866, when the Utrecht Mission Union (Utrechtsche Zendings- Vereeniging) from the Netherlands Reformed Church (Nederlandse Hervormde Kerk) began work. The events surrounding this beginning are fascinating. Four Dutch missionaries were on their journey to join other missionaries in their work in Dutch New Guinea. On their way they met a Halmaheran Christian named Moli. He appealed to the four to begin mission work on Halmahera. They reported back to the Mission’s Headquarters in Holland, and in this the Mission heard a “Macedonian Call” (as in Acts 16: 6 - 12). Three of them, Hendrik van Dijken, T. F. Klaassen and A. de Bode, then were set aside to begin the work in Halmahera. Van Dijken was the leader of the group and they set up their work at Galela in eastern Halmahera. Work was slow and painstaking. The first baptisms took place in 1874 at Duma, Galela, when the first church was also dedicated.

The growth of the church came after 1900, when a new missionary method was applied. People were baptised in groups particularly under the influence of the missionary Anton Hueting. This rapid growth began in Tobelo in 1898 and developed rapidly throughout the islands from 1900.

Pupils in animated discussion at GMIH-run secondary school in Tobelo The Japanese invaded Halmahera in 1942, when all the missionaries were interned. They left in September 1944, when General Douglas Macarthur led the Allied advance. During this period of Occupation the Church grew very fast.

The Church became an independent self-governing church on 6th June 1949 and has seen consistent growth ever since.

On the history see further in James Haire, The Character and Theological Struggle of the Church in Halmahera, Indonesia, 1941-1979. (Studien zur interkulturellen Geschichte des Christentums, Band 26). Frankfurt-am-Main und Bern: Lang, 1981.

Area served by GMIH

GMIH serves in the Province of the North Moluccas (Maluku Utara), in Eastern Indonesia. Its centre of focus is on the Island of Halmahera (meaning “Mother Island” in a number of the local languages), but it also serves on the surrounding islands of Ternate, Morotai, Bacan and Obi as well as a number of other, smaller islands.

On Halmahera, about 50% of the population is Christian, and about 50% Muslim. The Christian population is very largely Presbyterian.

Indonesian (bahasa Indonesia) is spoken throughout most of the Church’s area. However, around ten local languages (not dialects) are also spoken. Parts of the Bible have been translated into most of them.

Vision and Mission

The graves in the village of Duma of those who were massacred on the same day, 19 June 2000 The background to GMIH's current vision and mission lies in its recent experience.

Beginning in late 1999 and lasting until 2003, Halmahera experienced widespread violence and bloodshed for almost four years. Muslims and Christians, stirred up by forces from outside the region, engaged in communal violence. Many people died on both sides and many more became refugees in other parts of Indonesia. In many parts of Halmahera, Christian communities suffered systematic attacks.

In the village of Duma, where the first baptisms had taken place in 1974, a very large part of the Christian community was killed. Many of those who fled, subsequently drowned when a heavily overloaded ferry, with over 600 people on board, sank at sea while on passage from Halmahera to Manado in NE Sulawesi, to the west.

Since 2004, the Church’s main focus has been on restoring community life, and rebuilding ruined villages and churches.

In 2007, the Church’s Synodal General Assembly elected a new leadership team for a five-year term, and against this background adopted a mission statement: “to create the Evangelical Christian Church in Halmahera as a fully independent church”. It also agreed to church-wide strategies in relation to theology; economics and the environment; human resources; information and communications; and organisation.

Areas of Ministry (Leadership, Structure, Boards/Committees)

The Evangelical Christian Church in Halmahera has a traditional Reformed and Presbyterian structure, of a Synod, 27 Presbyteries and 380 congregations, served by 480 Mimisters and unordained assistants.

In addition, its areas of ministry include:

Theological Education: The Church opened its own Theological College on 28th January 1968. The College, which primarily trains men and women for the ordained ministry, has 15 faculty staff and over 200 students. In addition, it sends candidates for oprdination to the theological faculties in Jakarta, Salatiga, Yogyakarta, Makassar and Tomohon.
Primary and Secondary Education: The Church operates around one hundred primary and secondary schools, mainly village primary schools, around the islands.
Higher Education: The Church is in the process of setting up its own University.
Health Care: The Church operates its own hospital, the Bethesda Hospital in Tobelo, and about ten clinics around the islands.
Lay and Congregational Training: The Church has a number of teams who travel around the islands, giving training to congregations in congregational development and growth.
Community Development: Especially since the end of the violence, there has been much work throughout the Church in developing community health and agricultural programs, with grants also being provided by overseas aid agencies.
Worship: The Church has produced, and continues to produce, its own worship resources.

Partnership Links

GMIH works in partnership with the following churches and mission organisations:

The Protestant Church in the Netherlands (PKN)
The Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI)
The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA)
Mission 21 (formerly The Basel Mission)
The Mission of the Reformed Churches in South-West Germany (SOAM)

In addition, GMIH is a member of the following Church Alliances:

World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC)
World Council of Churches (WCC)
Christian Conference of Asia (CCA)
Communion of Churches in Indonesia (CCI/PGI)

GMIH's links with PCI

At PCI's General Assembly of 1970, it was resolved:

“To authorise the Board of Missions to respond to requests from Reformed Churches in Indonesia by calling men and women to serve with them…and, in general, to do our utmost to forward the Kingdom of Christ in Indonesia, in partnership with the Churches and missions concerned”.

Rev Prof James Haire preaching on a visit to GMIH in Halmahera In October 1972, James and Mary Haire arrived in Halmahera. This was the beginning of our partnership with the Evangelical Christian Church in Halmahera (GMIH). In December that year, James and Mary were both ordained as ministers of the Halmahera Church, of which they remain until the present time. In 1974, James also became a Minister of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.

The Haires served with GMIH for 12 years, first on the island of Ternate and later in Tobelo on Halmahera. During this time they lectured in GMIH's Theological College (James also acting for a period as Principal), and also acted as lay trainers and advisors to the Synod. Since 1985, when they moved to Australia, James has visited Halmahera every year, lecturing in the Theological College, which is now located in Tobelo in the North of Halmahera. Their two daughters were brought up on Halmahera.

The Presbyterian Church in Ireland has also expressed its partnership with the Evangelical Christian Church in Halmahera through the support of GMIH's Theological College with scholarships for staff and students and the building of the men’s dormitory; through support of GMIH's outreach and lay training programmes; the provision of boats to assist the Church's ministry in remote areas that are only accessible from the sea; and in the building of a guest house.

In the past decade, two Moderators of GMIH have visited PCI. During the period of the violence in Halmahera (1999 – 2003) the then Moderator, Rev Agustinus Aesh (himself a convert to Christianity), visited Ireland.

The prayer support and practical help given by PCI at this time, meant a great deal to him and GMIH's leadership, as they sought to lobby the British and Irish Parliaments and the European Commission to raise with the Indonesian authorities the international community's concerns over the situation in the Moluccas islands at that time.

GMIH Moderator, Rev Leo Duan, addressing PCI's General Assembly in Belfast, June 2006 In June 2006, three members of GMIH's Synod leadership team, including the then Moderator, Rev Leo Duan, visited PCI's General Assembly.