world news
Pastor Andrew Brunson desires return to Turkey despite imprisonment; thanks USCIRF
Even after being imprisoned for two years, Pastor Andrew Brunson is hoping to return to Turkey.
Convinced of God’s love for the Turkish people,
At a small gathering in the Senate Welcome Center at the Capitol Wednesday, the North Carolina pastor who was jailed in Turkey for two years thanked the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom for their tireless work to secure his release. It was especially encouraging, he said, to hear from those who visited him while in prison that the U.S. government had not forgotten him.
“I don’t know how many countries have this kind of emphasis on religious freedom, not just in their own country but trying to advocate for it around the world. I think this is something very unusual, very admirable,” about the United States, Brunson said.
Brunson’s wife, Noreen, also thanked USCIRF staff, saying, “We’re aware that not all stories end the way ours did, so just keep up your work.”
“And we have to give glory to God,” she added.
Commissioners who were present include: Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council; Gayle Manchin, vice chair of the commission, an educator and the wife of U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.; Gary Bauer, president of American Values; Nadine Maenza, founding executive director of Patriot Voices; along with USCIRF’s newest member, Anurima Bhargava, a civil rights attorney and founder of Anthem of Us.
“I think there is going to be more difficulty for the church in Turkey,” Brunson added.
“There are more restrictions coming right now. There have been a number of missionaries who have been deported from the country. There has been a real dampening effect on the Church; in some ways because a lot of what the [Turkish] media put out about me, which was government supported or initiated, which was painting a very negative picture of Christians, through me, saying, for example, that I’m a terrorist or that Christians support terrorist groups and we want to divide the country,” Brunson added.
But the truth is the opposite, he said, emphasizing that Christians are praying for their nation and desire to be a blessing to their country.
While Christians are undoubtedly facing increased opposition from their government, much of the hostility is directed toward the Fethullah Gülen movement, a transnational Islamic social movement inspired by the teachings of Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish imam who has lived in the U.S. since 1999, Brunson noted.
Brunson often shared a cell with people who were accused of being part of that movement and as far as he could tell they were innocent of the charges against them and were not involved in any activity that would undermine the state.
“I have many friends in prison in Turkey now who should not be in prison. Many families have been destroyed,” he said.
Yet despite his ordeal, Brunson maintains that he loves the Turkish people, and that God sent them to that nation 25 years ago.
“If we could we would go back, but USCIRF probably doesn’t want us to go back,” he said, eliciting laughs.
“We would love to go back, we love the people, because we believe God loves the people there. And we want to show God’s love to them. … Some day we hope the conditions will be right for us to go back.”
Perkins praised the couple for rallying the nation around the important principle of international religious freedom. “we were excited and yet there was this sort of trepidation.”
“Throughout these two years that he’d been in prison there would be these moments that you thought ‘Oh, we’ve progressed a couple of steps’ and then it was to no avail.”
When Brunson was put on house arrest they were encouraged because they thought it meant he would soon be released. That did not turn out to be true, and the disappointment was compounded by fear that rogue people in the country could harm him while he was on house arrest.
“When he was really released, I think everyone just held their breath until he was on that plane and out of their airspace,” Manchin said.
“If I was feeling that way, I can only imagine how they [Brunson’s family] felt having these ups and down through these two years.”
Manchin stressed that religious freedom is an important American right even for those who practice no religion.
“What I would say to these individuals is that you live in country where you don’t have to practice a religion. You can be vocal about a nonbelief. And there are many countries that you would go to that you would not be given that right,” she replied, when asked about how USCIRF plans to promote its cause in a country where self-described “nones” — those who do not identify with any particular religious affiliation — are rising.
Other nations care what the U.S. thinks and want to try to prove that they are better, she added. That USCIRF continues to home in on prisoners that are being held unjustly — because of their religious beliefs — is important human rights work regardless of one’s religious views or lack thereof, she said. Manchin is now advocating for a prisoner being held captive in Iran for his spiritual beliefs.
Brunson, who was freed in October, famously prayed for President Trump in the Oval Office days after returning to the United States. He is presently working on a book about his experiences which will be published in the fall.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom is a federal government commission created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. USCIRF commissioners are appointed by the president and the leadership of both political parties in the Senate and the House of Representatives.
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ക്രിസ്തുവിനെ കാട്ടികൊടുക്കുവാൻ ഉപവാസത്തിലൂടെ നൂറുകണക്കിന് കൊലപാതകങ്ങൾ നടത്തിയ പാസ്റ്റർ പോൾ മക്കൻസിക്ക് 200 വർഷം തടവുശിക്ഷ
നെയ്റോബി:യേശു ക്രിസ്തുവിനെ നേരിൽ കാണിയ്ക്കാമെന്ന് പറഞ്ഞു നൂറു കണക്കിന് വിശ്വാസികളെ കൊല നടത്തിയ ഈ സംഭവം കെനിയയിൽ ആണ് നടന്നത്.യേശുവിനെ കാണിച്ചുനൽകാമെന്ന് അവകാശപ്പെട്ട് അനുയായികളെ ഉപവസിപ്പിച്ചു കൊലപ്പെടുത്തിയ പാസ്റ്റർ പോൾ മക്കൻസിക്ക് 200 വർഷത്തെ തടവുശിക്ഷയാണ് കെനിയൻ കോടതി വിധിച്ചത്.
ഗുഡ് ന്യൂസ് ഇന്റർനാഷണൽ ചർച്ച് തലവനായ പോൾ മക്കൻസിയെയാണ് 200 വർഷത്തെ തടവ് ശിക്ഷയ്ക്ക് വിധിച്ചത്.യേശുവിനെ കാണാനായി ലോകം അവസാനിക്കുന്നതിന് മുമ്പ് മരണം വരെ ഉപവസിക്കാനാണ് പാസ്റ്റർ അനുയായികളോട് ആവശ്യപ്പെട്ടിരുന്നത്. കെനിയയുടെ തെക്കുകിഴക്കൻ ഭാഗത്തുള്ള കിലിഫി കൗണ്ടിയിലെ മക്കെൻസി പള്ളിയിൽ നിന്ന് 15 ഇടവകക്കാരെ പൊലീസ് രക്ഷപ്പെടുത്തിയപ്പോഴാണ് സംഭവം പുറം ലോകമറിഞ്ഞത്. ഇയാളുടെ ആരാധന സ്ഥലത്തിന് പരിസരത്തെ വനമേഖലയിൽ നടത്തിയ പരിശോധനയിൽ 400ലേറെ കുഴിമാടങ്ങളും കണ്ടെത്തിയിരുന്നു. മൊംബാസ ഹൈക്കോടതിയാണ് പോൾ മക്കെൻസിയെ 200 വർഷത്തെ തടവുശിക്ഷയ്ക്ക് വിധിച്ചത്. ഇയാളുടെ നിർദ്ദേശം അക്ഷരാർത്ഥത്തിൽ പാലിച്ചതിനേ തുടർന്ന് 190 കുട്ടികളും ഒരു മുതിർന്ന വ്യക്തിയും ഉൾപ്പെടെ 191 പേരെ ദാരുണമായി മരണപ്പെട്ടിരുന്നു. പട്ടിണിക്കിട്ട് കൊലപ്പെടുത്തിയതിന് 100 വർഷവും നേരിട്ടുള്ള കൊലപാതകങ്ങൾക്ക് 100 വർഷവും വീതമാണ് ജസ്റ്റിസ് ഡയാന കവേദ്സ ശിക്ഷ വിധിച്ചത്.
കിഴക്കൻ കെനിയയിലെ ശാഖാഹോള വനത്തിൽ അഞ്ഞൂറിലധികം ആളുകളുടെ മൃതദേഹങ്ങൾ ആഴമില്ലാത്ത കുഴികളിൽ തള്ളിയ നിലയിലും ചിലത് ശ്വാസം മുട്ടിച്ചും മർദ്ദിച്ചും കൊല്ലപ്പെട്ട നിലയിലുമാണ് പോലീസ് കണ്ടെത്തിയത്. ദിവസങ്ങളോളം പട്ടിണി കിടന്ന കുട്ടികൾ ഭക്ഷണം മോഷ്ടിക്കാൻ ശ്രമിച്ചപ്പോൾ അവരെ ക്രൂരമായി മർദ്ദിക്കുകയും മുറികളിൽ പൂട്ടിയിട്ട് മരണത്തിന് വിട്ടുകൊടുക്കുകയുമായിരുന്നുവെന്ന് അന്വേഷണസംഘം കോടതിയിൽ തെളിയിച്ചു.2017 മുതൽ പോലീസ് നിരീക്ഷണത്തിലായിരുന്ന മക്കെൻസി 2019ൽ തന്റെ പള്ളി അടച്ചുപൂട്ടിയതിനെ തുടർന്നാണ് അനുയായികളുമായി കാട്ടിലേക്ക് മാറിയത്.
പാസ്റ്ററാവുന്നതിന് മുൻപ് ടാക്സി ഡ്രൈവറായ മക്കെൻസി കുട്ടികളെ സ്കൂളിൽ അയക്കുന്നതിനെയും രോഗികൾ ആശുപത്രിയിൽ ചികിത്സ തേടുന്നതിനെയും എതിർത്തിരുന്നു. ഉപവാസം അനുഷ്ഠിക്കാനുള്ള നിർദ്ദേശത്തെ ആരെങ്കിലും എതിർത്താൽ അവരെ അടിച്ച് സ്വർഗത്തിലേക്ക് കൊണ്ടു പോകാനായിരുന്നു മക്കെൻസി അനുയായികൾക്ക് നൽകിയ നിർദ്ദേശം. വനത്തിനുള്ളിലെ ആരാധനാക്രമത്തെ വിവാഹങ്ങൾ എന്നാണ് വിളിച്ചിരുന്നത്. ഗർഭിണിയായ ഒരു സ്ത്രീക്ക് നവജാത ശിശുവിനെ മുലയൂട്ടുന്നതിൽ നിന്ന് ഇയാൾ വിലക്കിയിരുന്നു, പിന്നീട് 12 ദിവസത്തിന് ശേഷം കുഞ്ഞ് മരിച്ചെന്നും റിപ്പോർട്ടിൽ പറയുന്നു. മരണം വരെ ഉപവസിക്കാനും മക്കളെ പിന്തുടരാനുമായിരുന്നു അമ്മയ്ക്ക് മക്കെൻസി നൽകിയ ഉപദേശം.
2003 -ലാണ് മക്കെൻസി ഗുഡ് ന്യൂസ് ഇന്റർനാഷണൽ മിനിസ്ട്രീസ് സ്ഥാപിക്കുന്നത്. അടുത്ത 16 വർഷത്തിനുള്ളിൽ, കെനിയയിലുടനീളമുള്ള സഭയുടെ ശാഖകളിലേക്ക് ആയിരക്കണക്കിന് അനുയായികളെ ആകർഷിക്കുന്ന തരത്തിൽ സഭ ജനപ്രീതി നേടി. മെക്കൻസിയുടെ സഭ ടൈംസ് ടിവി എന്ന പേരിൽ ഒരു ടെലിവിഷൻ സ്റ്റേഷൻ നടത്തിയിരുന്നു, മക്കെൻസിയുടെ പ്രസംഗങ്ങളാണ് പ്രധാനമായും പ്രക്ഷേപണം ചെയ്തിരുന്നത്.യേശുവിന്റെ പേര് പറഞ്ഞു കോടികളുടെ പണത്തട്ടിപ്പും കൊലപാതകങ്ങളും ലോകത്തു പല ഭാഗങ്ങളിലും നടന്നു വരുന്നത് ഓരോന്നായി പിടിക്കപെടുകയാണ്. കെനിയയിൽ നടന്ന ഈ സംഭവം അങ്ങേയറ്റം വിശ്വസനത്തിന്റെ പേരിൽ നടന്ന ഹീനമായ പ്രവർത്തങ്ങളിൽ ഒന്നാണ്.
Sources:expressherald
A court in Kenya has sentenced Paul Mackenzie to 200 years in prison for the murders of 190 children and an adult. He told them to starve themselves to death as part of his apocalyptic religious cult.
Kenyan religious sect leader Paul Mackenzie was sentenced to 200 years in prison on Friday, at the culmination of a trial following the discovery of hundreds of corpses in the woods.
A self-proclaimed pastor and longstanding leader of a new age Christian apocalyptic cult called the Good News International Church, Mackenzie was convicted in October of 191 counts of murder in the deaths of one adult and 190 children.
Justice Diana Kavedza said the sentence was comprised of 100 years for 183 counts of murder by starvation and another 100 years for eight counts of murder by direct homicide.
He could have faced the death penalty, which is still technically on the books in Kenya.
However, like several countries that have kept capital punishment in their legal code but stopped actually using it, Kenya has not executed anybody since 1987.
What was the case about?
While the charges against Mackenzie pertained to 191 deaths, some 400 people were found dead in what became known as the “Shakahola Forest Massacre.” Mackenzie’s so-called church had been operating since 2003, based in the coastal town of Malindi.
Mackenzie had denied the charges, saying that he did not force the cult followers to starve.
A total of 28 accomplices were given various prison sentences for their roles in the deaths.
They included guards who enforced his fasting directives and gravediggers who helped conceal the dead in shallow graves. They all denied the charges, except for one who pleaded guilty and asked for leniency.
Among them was Mackenzie’s assistant “pastor,” Smart Mwakalama, who was sentenced to 160 years.
Judge Kavedza dismissed the argument from some of the accused that the fact they had lost their own children altered the nature of their involvement in the deaths of others.
More than 60 of the bodies were positively identified and reburied by their relatives, but many of the remains were so decomposed that they could not be identified or claimed.
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ന്യൂ ടെസ്റ്റ്മെൻ്റ് ചർച്ച് (ടിപിഎം) മിഡിൽ ഈസ്റ്റ് സെൻ്റർ വാർഷിക കൺവെൻഷൻ നവംബർ 12 മുതൽ ദുബായിൽ
ദുബായ്: ന്യൂ ടെസ്റ്റമെൻ്റ് ചർച്ച് (ടിപിഎം) മിഡിൽ ഈസ്റ്റ് സെൻ്റർ വാർഷിക കൺവെൻഷൻ നവംബർ 12 (വ്യാഴം) മുതൽ 15 (ഞായർ) വരെ ദുബായ് സ്റ്റേഡിയം മെട്രോ സ്റ്റേഷനു അടുത്തുള്ള ഇൻഡോർ സ്റ്റേഡിയത്തിലുള്ള ഷബാബ് അൽ അഹലി ക്ലബിൽ വെച്ച് നടക്കും.
വ്യാഴം വൈകിട്ട് 6.45 ന് സഭയുടെ പ്രധാന പാസ്റ്റർ പ്രാർത്ഥനയോടെ കൺവൻഷൻ ആരംഭിക്കും. ദിവസവും രാവിലെ 9 നും വൈകിട്ട് 6.45 നും സുവിശേഷ യോഗങ്ങൾ നടക്കും.
വെള്ളി ഉച്ചകഴിഞ്ഞ് മൂന്നിന് കാത്തിരിപ്പ് യോഗവും അധ്യാപകരുടെ യോഗവും ശനി ഉച്ചകഴിഞ്ഞ് മൂന്നിന് കാത്തിരിപ്പ് യോഗവും യുവജനങ്ങൾക്കായുള്ള യോഗവും ഇതേ ഹാളിൽ വെച്ച് നടക്കും.
കൺവൻഷന് സഭയുടെ പ്രധാന ശുശ്രൂഷകർ നേതൃത്വം നൽകും. എല്ലാ യോഗങ്ങളിലും രോഗികൾക്കായി പ്രത്യക പ്രാർത്ഥന ഉണ്ടായിരിക്കും. ഞായർ രാവിലെ 9 നു തുടങ്ങുന്ന സംയുക്ത ആരാധനയോടെ പ്രസ്തുത കൺവൻഷന് വിരാമം കുറിക്കും.
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2033-നകം 30,000 മിഷനറിമാരെ അയക്കാൻ ഇന്തോനേഷ്യ
ന്യൂയോർക്ക്: ആഗോള സുവിശേഷ പ്രവർത്തനത്തിനായി വലിയൊരു മുന്നേറ്റത്തിന് ഇന്തോനേഷ്യ ഒരുങ്ങുന്നു. 2033-നകം 30,000 മിഷനറിമാരെ മറ്റ് രാജ്യങ്ങളിലേക്ക് അയക്കുക എന്നതാണ് നേതാക്കൾ മുന്നോട്ട് വെച്ചിരിക്കുന്ന വലിയ ലക്ഷ്യം.
ഇന്തോനേഷ്യൻ അലയൻസ് ഫോർ വേൾഡ് മിഷൻ (ALUSIA) ചെയർമാൻ ഡോ. ബാംബാങ് ബുഡിജാന്റോ ആണ് ഈ സംരംഭത്തിന് നേതൃത്വം നൽകുന്നത്. 2023-ൽ സ്ഥാപിതമായ ഈ കൂട്ടായ്മ, യേശുവിന്റെ സന്ദേശം ഇന്തോനേഷ്യയുടെ അതിർത്തിക്കപ്പുറം എത്തിക്കുക എന്ന പൊതു കാഴ്ചപ്പാടോടെ സഭകളെയും മിഷൻ സംഘടനകളെയും ഒന്നിപ്പിക്കുന്നു.
ന്യൂയോർക്കിലും ഫിലാഡൽഫിയയിലും ഇന്തോനേഷ്യൻ പാസ്റ്റർമാരുമായി നടത്തിയ കൂടിക്കാഴ്ചകളിൽ, തങ്ങൾക്ക് ലഭിച്ച അനുഗ്രഹങ്ങൾ പങ്കുവെക്കാൻ ഇന്തോനേഷ്യയ്ക്ക് ഉത്തരവാദിത്തമുണ്ടെന്ന് ബുഡിജാന്റോ ഊന്നിപ്പറഞ്ഞു. “നമ്മൾ മറ്റ് രാജ്യങ്ങളോട് കടപ്പെട്ടിരിക്കുന്നു. ഒരു പ്രത്യേക ഉദ്ദേശത്തോടെയാണ് ദൈവം ഇന്തോനേഷ്യയെ വലിയ ഉണർവ് കൊണ്ട് അനുഗ്രഹിച്ചത്” എന്ന് അദ്ദേഹം പറഞ്ഞു.1534-ൽ മലുക്കു ദ്വീപുകളിൽ ആദ്യ മിഷനറിമാർ എത്തിയതു മുതൽ സുവിശേഷം പ്രചരിപ്പിക്കുന്നതിൽ ഇന്തോനേഷ്യയ്ക്ക് നീണ്ട ചരിത്രമുണ്ട്. ഇന്ന് രാജ്യത്ത് ഏകദേശം 3 കോടി വിശ്വാസികളുണ്ട്.
രാജ്യത്തുടനീളം വളർന്നുവരുന്ന പ്രാർത്ഥനാ പ്രസ്ഥാനത്തെക്കുറിച്ചും അദ്ദേഹം എടുത്തുപറഞ്ഞു. 534 നഗരങ്ങളിൽ “Tower of Prayer” എന്നറിയപ്പെടുന്ന 24 മണിക്കൂർ പ്രാർത്ഥനാ സംരംഭങ്ങൾ നടക്കുന്നുണ്ടെന്ന് അദ്ദേഹം അറിയിച്ചു. സംഖ്യകൾക്കപ്പുറം ആത്മാക്കളെയും സമൂഹങ്ങളെയും നേടിയെടുക്കുക എന്നതാണ് ഇന്തോനേഷ്യൻ നേതാക്കളുടെ ദർശനം.
Sources:maruppacha
For nearly five centuries, the story of Christianity in Indonesia has largely been one of arrival: missionaries came to the archipelago, and churches grew from their work. A coalition of Indonesian churches and mission organizations now aims to reverse that direction, with the goal of seeing 30,000 Indonesian missionaries serving other nations by 2033.
The effort is coordinated by ALUSIA, the Indonesian Alliance for World Mission, formed in 2023. This month, its chair, Dr. Bambang Budijanto, who is also general secretary of the Asia Evangelical Alliance, met with Indonesian diaspora pastors in New York and Philadelphia. The meetings were the first in a planned series of gatherings with Indonesian churches abroad.
The U.S. meetings are one part of a larger strategy. Budijanto traces its roots through decades of revival, persecution and prayer in Indonesia, and through earlier attempts to build a sending movement.
“If we dream it alone, it will not happen,” Budijanto told Christian Daily International in an interview on the sidelines of the New York event. “If many people dream together, it could happen.”
A debt to other nations
The first missionaries reached the Maluku Islands, in what is now eastern Indonesia, in 1534. Budijanto noted that the first missionary died about a year after arriving.
The 500th anniversary of that arrival falls in 2034, one year after ALUSIA’s target date. Budijanto said he hopes that by then Indonesia will be recognized as a significant mission force in its own right.
Indonesia received the gospel from others, and today it has about 30 million Christians. “We owe other nations,” he said. When describing ALUSIA’s purpose, he pointed to the biblical image of the beautiful feet of those who bring good news.
Budijanto recounted Indonesia’s history of revival and considers it as preparation for sending. He pointed first to the 1965 revival in Soe, on the island of Timor. Mel Tari described it in his books “Like a Mighty Wind” and “The Gentle Breeze of Jesus,” including reports of miracles and of believers who carried the movement to other places.
In the 1970s, revival spread among the Dayak people of Borneo. In the late 1970s and 1980s it reached Indonesia’s major cities. By 1984, Budijanto said, Jakarta alone had more than 5,000 prayer groups.
“God blessed Indonesia with a lot of revival for a purpose. That’s how I read it,” he said. “We are blessed to bless others.”
He also sees a warning in the more recent data. Church growth in Indonesia has plateaued, and he believes the two are connected. “If you continue to be selfish, then the blessing will stop,” he said.
Prayer for persecution, so the Church would unite
In the 1980s, Budijanto worked as a translator for Brother Andrew, the founder of Open Doors, during his visits to Indonesia. On one visit, Brother Andrew walked to the village where Budijanto lived, because there was no road access.
At the time, Budijanto said, Indonesia’s churches were divided and often competing with one another. He recalled that at one pastors’ conference, Brother Andrew asked those present to pray that God would send persecution, so that the Church would be united.
In the years that followed, Indonesia went through waves of anti-Christian violence. Budijanto said more than 500 churches were burned and many people died, including in the conflict between Muslims and Christians in Maluku.
“But then the church united,” he said.
A national prayer movement also took shape during that period. Budijanto said it began in 1991, with seven coordinators who met monthly and held prayer gatherings in different provinces. Today, more than 500 Indonesian cities, 534 by his count, maintain 24-hour prayer in what participants call “towers of prayer.” The model has spread to Myanmar and other countries, and Indonesians have played a significant role in global prayer networks.
Asked what Indonesia might contribute to the global Church, Budijanto pointed to that movement. “Maybe that’s the prayer movement,” he said, describing it as the effort that has been sustained over many years.
Earlier attempts stalled, ‘but now is the time’
The idea of Indonesia as a sending nation is not new. Since the 1970s, Budijanto said, church leaders have expressed the desire repeatedly, but none of the efforts took hold. “It’s like starting and then stalling again, stopping again, dying again,” he said.
One of those efforts grew out of the prayer movement. Soon after it began, Budijanto said, interest in mission increased, and a mission initiative was formed in 1992. He was given the task of building a training center.
That work took him to Europe. Thousands of Indonesian students were studying in the Netherlands and Germany on government scholarships, and many had become Christians. When they returned home, many could not find work that matched their training, and they left again for the Middle East or Australia.
Around the same time, Brother Andrew sent Budijanto to Israel. Budijanto said strangers there would ask where he was from and then assume he was Muslim. To him, this showed that an Indonesian identity could open doors across the Middle East.
He concluded that Indonesian graduates with European degrees could serve in the region with relative ease. From 1992 to 2002, he ran a five-week summer mission school in the Netherlands, working with Fuller Seminary. The initiative also tried to send two missionaries to China.
The organization did not last. “I think we were not mature enough to work together,” Budijanto said. “But now is the time, I think.”
A kairos moment for the Indonesian Church
In 2023, Budijanto invited leaders from about 14 Indonesian organizations that already had experience sending missionaries abroad. He said all of them agreed on one point: “This is the right time, this is the right moment, this is the kairos of God.”
The group met again in Bandung to define its vision and how its members would work together. It registered ALUSIA as a legal association in Indonesia, with a general assembly of members as its highest authority, a structure Budijanto compared to that of the World Evangelical Alliance. A soft launch in Jakarta drew about 50 church leaders, along with leaders of mission organizations from abroad. ALUSIA then commissioned baseline research with Bilangan Research and launched nationally at a conference in Bali.
After the launch, Budijanto said, churches and organizations that had been hesitant began to approach the alliance. A second national conference followed in Jakarta. In 2026, ALUSIA moved to regional conferences in provinces including Central Java and North Sumatra, and more are planned for additional cities.
The alliance describes its role as a catalyst with three tasks. The first is to activate churches, which Budijanto called “the primary carrier of the global mission.” The second is to connect them with each other and with the wider global Church. The third is to provide resources, including research data and training tools.
From 800 to 30,000: ‘not easy, but doable’
The baseline is modest. In 2020, Budijanto said, Indonesia had about 800 missionaries, and more than half of them were serving Indonesian communities abroad rather than people of other nations.
The target of 30,000 by 2033 amounts to about 0.1% of Indonesia’s roughly 30 million Christians. “It’s not easy, but it’s doable,” he said.
Budijanto acknowledged that missionaries are hard to count today, because people may serve as professionals, migrant workers or in other roles. For that reason, ALUSIA treats 30,000 as an aspiration. It measures progress by the number of churches that become missional.
Its goal is for at least 20% of Indonesia’s churches to meet that standard. Budijanto referred to government data listing about 73,000 officially recognized church buildings, which belong to Protestant denominations, not including Catholic churches. He estimates the total is closer to 100,000 when congregations meeting in shops and other spaces are included.
ALUSIA has proposed five indicators of a missional church: giving to global mission; sending people, or taking part in sending them; praying for global mission; building mission capacity through training or programs; and collaborating with other churches or organizations. A church that meets four of the five would qualify as a missional church following this definition.
Budijanto said many churches also join the alliance for its data, which they otherwise lack.
The 30,000 figure has also spread beyond ALUSIA, Budijanto noted, pointing to at least four other Indonesian networks that have adopted the same number. He also heard of an Indonesian church leader at a mission conference in Vietnam who spoke of sending 30,000. “This is a common aspiration that we have,” he said. “It doesn’t belong to any organization, but to Indonesia.”
Who counts as a missionary
ALUSIA defines mission by intent and discipleship, not geography. Budijanto said the work must be rooted in the Great Commission, intentionally helping people move from being far from Christ to “knowing Christ, growing in Christ, becoming like Christ.”
Under the alliance’s definition, a missionary is any Indonesian, living anywhere in the world, who intentionally reaches out to and disciples people who do not hold an Indonesian passport.
That work can take place inside Indonesia. As an example, Budijanto cited a Russian community in Bali, formed by people who left Russia after the war began to avoid being drafted. Indonesians who move to Bali to reach that community count as missionaries under ALUSIA’s definition.
The key, he said, is intention. Contact with people of other nations has to be purposeful, not incidental.
‘With numbers comes responsibility’
Budijanto pointed to Indonesia’s cultural diversity as a strength for cross-cultural mission. He contrasted it with South Korea, which he said has sent about 30,000 missionaries despite being largely monocultural.
He often brings Korean colleagues to Indonesian mission conferences. He said they tell Indonesian audiences that growing up among many cultures prepares them to adapt abroad, something Korean missionaries have had to learn. “You are so privileged. You are so prepared by God,” he recalled them saying.
He also cited the size of the Church. Over the past two decades, Budijanto said, significant church growth has come mainly in Africa and Asia. Within Asia, the growth has been concentrated in Southeast and South Asia, where Indonesia’s church may be the strongest by numbers. “With numbers comes responsibility,” he said.
The largest obstacle, in his view, has been mindset. After a long colonial history, many Indonesian Christians came to see themselves as recipients who could not take the lead. Over the past two years, he said, he has seen that begin to change as churches move from contributing to taking initiative.
Generosity is another asset. Indonesia ranked first in a global generosity index for four years, Budijanto noted. The data he cited also showed a gap between giving and other forms of engagement. About 60% contribute financially to global mission, but only about 30% preach on it from the pulpit and about 16% pray for it.
The diaspora as ‘low-hanging fruit’
ALUSIA sees Indonesian churches abroad as its most immediate opportunity. More than 500 Indonesian diaspora congregations exist worldwide, and more than half of them are in the United States. Budijanto calls them “the low-hanging fruit.”
Many of these churches serve only Indonesians, he said, and many are losing their second generation. He believes a new focus could help revive them. “We are here not for Indonesian people, but to prepare Indonesian people to become missionaries for other people,” he said.
That is why ALUSIA chose New York and Philadelphia for its first diaspora meetings. Budijanto said the place where a movement launches shapes its impact. He noted that people from about 120 nations live in a single area of Queens, which is where ALUSIA held the event that day. Churches there do not need to travel far to reach other nations. “This is mission training as well,” he said. He described Philadelphia as historically important for the United States and home to a larger number of Indonesian churches.
More meetings are planned. ALUSIA intends to hold gatherings in two California cities in November, and pastors in Dallas have asked for a stop in Texas. Meetings in Sydney and Melbourne are planned for next year. Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, all home to significant Indonesian communities, are also on the agenda.
Toward a global gathering
The next major step is planned for the first week of October 2027. ALUSIA plans to hold the first conference to bring together Indonesian missionaries from around the world, including those in the diaspora. The venue has not been decided, and Bali, Singapore and Malaysia are under consideration.
Budijanto hopes participants will form an association of Indonesian missionaries there, so that they have “a voice” and a community.
The alliance’s longer horizon remains 2033, when it hopes to celebrate 30,000 Indonesians serving other nations. Over the past two years, the alliance has spread quickly and found wide acceptance, Budijanto said. He believes this is a sign that the timing is right.
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