Indonesian Saints

By David Mitchell

It’s about 9:45 Sunday morning in Solo, 585 kilometers southeast of Indonesia’s capital city of Djakarta. Brother Suwarno leaves his home and gets on his bicycle. Three of his seven children get on the bicycle with him. Three other children balance on another bicycle pedaled by big brother Andi. They are going to Sunday School. After he has taught the Gospel Doctrine class, Brother Suwarno will attend priesthood meeting for ten minutes or so and then return home in time to bicycle his wife to sacrament meeting.

Approximately 600 kilometers to the west, in Bandung, Brother and Sister Dapalangga and their four children hire a small passenger vehicle for the ride to church. Brother Dapalangga is the president of the Bandung Branch.

In Djakarta, Sister Hermin and her two younger sons ride a bus to church. Her oldest son rides his bicycle, taking shortcuts, and gets to church first.

All converts to the Church, the Suwarnos, the Dapalanggas, and the Hermins are typical of the mere handful of four thousand Latter-day Saints in a nation of 187 million people.

The Church is relatively new in Indonesia, which is a collection of some thirteen thousand islands lying along the equator between the Asian mainland and Australia. The main island of Java, one of the most densely populated areas in the world, is home to the Saints in three districts and seventeen branches.

Small Beginnings

The first branch was organized in Djakarta in February 1970, one month after missionaries from the Singapore Mission arrived in the predominantly Islamic nation. The Church was officially recognized in August 1970. Over the next few years the membership grew, more branches were organized, the Book of Mormon was published in Indonesian, and native missionaries were called to serve. Then missionary work ran into difficulties, proselyting was restricted by the government, and the mission was discontinued in January 1981. However, native missionaries quietly continued in their efforts. In 1985, a new mission opened under the direction of President Effian Kadarusman, an Indonesian. A new mission home was dedicated in July 1988, but no foreign missionaries have been allowed into the country since November 1988.

In July 1989, the Indonesian Mission office was closed once more. Now missionary work is again under the direction of the Singapore Mission. At present, some sixty native missionaries share the gospel message under the supervision of President Piet Hien Tandiman, a counselor in the Singapore Mission presidency who lives in Djakarta.

President Tandiman, a retired government official, was working in a law office in 1970 when he met Latter-day Saint attorneys applying for government recognition of the Church. At their invitation, he accepted the missionary discussions. He was affected by the conduct of the missionaries and their teachings and the fellowshipping he received. “These made a deep impression upon me, an impression that stayed with me and helped me remain active in those early years of my membership,” he says. President Tandiman’s wife and six children also accepted the gospel, and he baptized them. His daughter is now married and has a daughter of her own. Four sons have served missions in Indonesia, and a fifth son is looking forward to a mission call.

One year after his baptism, Brother Tandiman was called as president of the Djakarta Branch, then later as the West Java District president.

Reaching out to All

Supervising the missionary effort, President Tandiman sees the need for the missionaries and the members to reach out more to all levels of society in Indonesia. “Most of our members are from the lower incomes,” he says. “We need to strengthen the Church base with a greater spectrum of members.”

As in any growing area of the Church, there is a need to better fellowship and retain new members in Indonesia. “Sometimes, just getting to church meetings can be a challenge. Many members live some distance away from the meetinghouses, and public transportation can be costly for a large family on a low income,” says President Tandiman. “But I think if people want to go to Church, they will find some way to get there. This is a test of their faith.”

Support and Strength

Faith in Jesus Christ and good works shine like beacons in the lives of the Indonesian Saints. Brother Suwarno of Solo faced a challenge to his newly found faith when he lost a seven-year-old daughter to a tragic accident just two weeks after he joined the Church in December 1977.

“In those days I was a tailor. I was always very busy and couldn’t spend time with my family. On the day of the accident, I was busy getting something ready for a customer, and had left my daughter unattended. Somehow she tipped over a small kerosene burner that was alight on the table. The spilled oil caught fire, and flames spread to her hair and then down her dress. I burned my hands as I frantically removed her dress. I took her to the hospital, where she died eight days later.

“The missionaries and the members of the branch came to the hospital and to our home to offer their help. One of the members spent many hours with me at the hospital every night. I could not forget nor disregard what he and the other members did for me. It was their support and strength that helped me in those early days of my membership.

“The fellowshipping and the genuine concern of the members eventually helped my wife decide to join the Church. She was baptized in 1979. Our children have been baptized as they have become old enough.

“At the time I came into the Church, I was trying to decide how I could improve myself and the life of my family. I started taking English-language classes that the missionaries offered, and eventually I was able to pass a government test. Now I have a better position as a tourist guide.”

Sometimes, says Brother Suwarno, being a Latter-day Saint in an Islamic society is not easy. “When my son was in junior high school, his teacher was very strict and told him not to follow the teachings of the Church. But my son conducted himself the way he should, and everything was all right. I tell my family, ‘Regardless of what happens, remember who you are and live up to the standards of the Church.’”

Upholding the Standards

To help maintain those standards, two of Brother and Sister Suwarno’s children attended an early morning seminary class taught by Sister Endang Prihatini. Sister Endang, now thirty-five, was one of the missionaries who visited the Suwarnos at the time they lost their daughter. She had been introduced to the Church by Latter-day Saint friends. When Sister Endang asked for something to read, “They gave me a pamphlet that outlined the plan of salvation. I became very interested. I asked my friends if I could join the Church. Of course, they were very happy to hear that. They said if I wanted to learn about the Church, they would have the elders come to my home. I first got permission from my father, and the missionaries came and presented the gospel to us.

“My father and my brother also listened to the discussions. I was baptized in March 1974. A month later, my father was baptized; and a month after that, two of my brothers were baptized. Later on, my mother was baptized, and my other brothers and sisters were baptized when they reached the age of eight. Out of nine children, five of us so far have served missions in Indonesia.

“I was one of the first native sister missionaries to be called. I served eighteen months as a welfare missionary. One of my companions was Mary Ellen Edmunds, who is now associate director of training at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah. She would teach me English every morning by saying such things as ‘This is a wall,’ ‘Drop your pen,’ ‘Pick it up.’”

Sister Endang now works full-time for the Church Educational System, teaching three seminary classes with a total of forty-five students from four branches. She also teaches three institute classes for young married couples, returned missionaries, and college students. She also serves as the district’s Single Adult president.

As with many young women in the Church, Sister Endang has faced the challenge of being single. “It’s not a challenge for me now,” she says. “You see, a few years ago, when I was about thirty, I was unhappy that I was not married. One day I said to my Heavenly Father, ‘Lord, I do everything I am supposed to do. Why am I not married to a good man, a priesthood holder?’ Deep in my heart I felt him say to me something like, ‘Endang, you have a lot of things to be thankful for.’ And then he reminded me of the many blessings that I have received, especially the knowledge of the gospel.

“In addition to that experience, I have been comforted by my patriarchal blessing, which tells me I will meet the man who will ask me to go to the temple to be married. I am sure that the Lord will give me that chance if I will always stay close to him. So I don’t worry about being single anymore.

“I just know the Lord will watch over me if I live according to the standards of the Church.”

Joy in the Struggle

Upholding the standards of the Church is a daily goal for Sister Hermin of the Djakarta Selatan Branch, who has had to support her three boys alone. She was an inactive member of a Protestant church when a Latter-day Saint relative asked her if she would like to hear the gospel message.

“Her question reminded me of something that had happened ten years earlier when I was twenty years old,” says Sister Hermin. “I had asked my mother then where I could learn of the gospel of Jesus Christ. My mother had told me to be patient because the day would come, she said, when one or two people would come to my home to teach me the gospel.

“I was baptized a member of the Church in December 1985, three months after I first met the missionaries. I was married by then and had one son, Mindo. He and my husband later joined the Church.”

Eventually, a second son, Nando, was born, who joined the Church when he was old enough. Their third child, a daughter, died when she was a year old.

Losing a struggle with alcohol, Sister Hermin’s husband was unable to support his family and fell away from the Church. Sister Hermin became the family provider by selling watermelon from a street cart—something she still does. Her husband died in 1989, while she was expecting their third son, Martin.

With her three boys, she lives in a small, two-room shack sandwiched between some dilapidated shops at the edge of a busy road. She supplements her income by renting out her small home in another part of the neighborhood.

Striving to make the shack livable and a haven from the noisy world outside is a challenge. Once, a section of the shack collapsed, but her branch president helped her make repairs.

“The branch members are always available to help me if I need it,” she says. “But my greatest help comes from being active in the Church. I enjoy the lesson material, and I appreciate the spiritual education that the boys receive. My boys have been through some hard times, but their attitude toward life is good because of our activity in the Church. And family home evening isn’t just one day a week with us. We get together almost every night and read the scriptures and sing together.

“I know from experience that whenever I feel sad or troubled, if I read the scriptures and sing some hymns, my burden will be lifted, and I will be happy again.”

“God Cared for Me”

The gospel and the happiness it can bring are shared by President and Sister Yohanes Depalangga and their family in Bandung.

Brother Dapalangga was born into a Christian family. His father was a minister in a Protestant church. His grandfather had been the first native minister on their home island of Sumba. But his family’s religious beliefs did not fit “with my inner feelings, my conscience. Consequently, I was considered an unruly boy as I constantly challenged those beliefs. I attended a Christian university, and later a Muslim university, but I found no satisfaction when it came to religion.”

Many years later, as a married man living in Bandung, he saw two Latter-day Saint missionaries walking along the street.

“I was impressed with their appearance and especially with their name tags, which publicly declared they represented a Christian church. Most Christians I knew were reluctant to publicize their faith.”

After questioning the missionaries, he invited them to his home. Over the next few weeks, the missionaries taught Brother Dapalangga and his wife.

“Some of the things they taught were so new to us,” says Brother Dapalangga. “It was the first time we had heard of the Savior appearing on the American continent, the first time we had heard of the plan of salvation. For a time, I decided to avoid seeing the missionaries because I was afraid they were teaching false doctrine. But they persisted, even waiting hours for me to come home.

“Eventually, I decided that I should listen to all that the missionaries had to say and then make up my mind if it was the truth. They gave me a copy of the Book of Mormon, and I spent the best part of a week doing nothing but reading and pondering its contents.

“As I began to read, there seemed to be some kind of force telling me it was not true. But I fought against that feeling and prayed that I might be able to complete the book.

“Over a period of time, I prayed often that I might know if the Book of Mormon was true and if the missionaries were the Lord’s servants.

“One night, as I slept, I felt the Lord tell me to delay no longer. He told me the Book of Mormon was true and the missionaries were truly his servants. He told me I should take my wife and family to church, something we hadn’t done because we didn’t feel worthy to go.

“This was a special spiritual moment for me. Even now I want to cry as I remember feeling the love of God for me. I felt he cared for me, a man who had nothing, a man who had no great hope for the future. But I know now that the Lord has always taken care of me and my family. He has always watched over us, as he watches over all his children.

“I woke my wife and told her of my experience. She was impressed, as I was, that this was the answer to our prayers.”

From that moment on, the Dapalangga family absorbed the gospel teachings and attended church—but there was a six-month delay before their baptism in 1984. “We had lost our marriage certificate, and the missionaries would not baptize us without proof of our marriage in 1973. Finally we got a copy from a government office.”

President Dapalangga’s family in Sumba has welcomed his involvement in a Christian church. “My father came to visit me and asked me lots of questions. Finally, he told me that he believed the Church was true, but he could not bring himself to break away from his church or his congregation. He took home with him a Book of Mormon, and he uses it to teach the youth. He has sent a number of boys to stay with us so that we can teach them the gospel. Some of the boys have been baptized.”

From the time they accepted the gospel, the Dapalanggas have been active in the Bandung Branch. Within a year of his baptism, Brother Dapalangga was called to serve as second counselor in the branch presidency. He was called to be branch president in 1987. Sister Tini Dapalangga has been active in Relief Society as president and as a counselor in another presidency.

Through their various callings, President and Sister Dapalangga have had the opportunity to share in the challenges and problems that branch members have experienced. “But,” they agree, “even the most difficult problem can be overcome through prayer and a willingness to do the Lord’s work.”

President Dapalangga shares spiritual advice and scriptural knowledge not only with the branch members, but also with everyone who buys products from his sidewalk medicine stall. He tells his customers that the medicine may help them, but the Lord and his ways are the best “medicine” of all.

In addition to medicines, President Dapalangga also sells snakes—live ones. “I get the snakes from snake catchers or farmers in the central part of Java, where there are many cobras. People like to eat the meat and use the skins. They also like the snake oil as a salve for aches and pains.”

Even though they handle snakes, the Dapalanggas are wise enough to stay away from the poisonous fangs. In the same way, says President Dapalangga, “we strive to stay away from iniquity by living the gospel and building our spiritual strength.

“We should believe in the Lord with our whole heart and not depend upon our own understanding. If we accept the Lord and all his ways, he will lead us in the path we should go. I know from personal experience that this church is led by revelation, and we can have revelation in our own lives, too.”

Photography by David Mitchell

Brother Suwarno prepares to bicycle to church in Djakarta with three of his children. Three others ride on a bicycle pedaled by their big brother.

When he can relax from supervising the missionary work in Indonesia, President Piet Hien Tandiman enjoys playing the violin. Converts to the Church, he and Sister Tandiman have seen four sons serve missions.

The Tukimin family of Solo sells bakso (meatballs) from this handcart. Two Latter-day Saint missionaries regularly stopped by the cart. One day Brother Tukimin asked them what they did. That initial question led to the family’s baptism. Brother Tukimin currently serves as a counselor in the Sunday School presidency. From left: Sarwono, Supono, Sariyati (on stool), Sariyani, Sister and Brother Tukimin. Not pictured are two other children, Sarsono and Triyono.

Told of a new and “false” church that had arrived in Solo, Thomas Suwondo was intrigued enough to attend its meetings. He and his wife took the missionary discussions and were baptized in 1978. They and their children are now members of the Banjarsari Branch. Brother Suwondo is a tailor and also a private tutor of mathematics and other school subjects. He was tutoring away from home when this photograph was taken. Sister Suwondo, second from left, is seen here with five of her seven children. Suharno, standing at left, is a nephew.

A single parent supporting herself and three sons, Sister Hermin of the Djakarta Selatan Branch finds her greatest help comes from being active in the Church, reading the scriptures, and singing hymns.

One of the first native sister missionaries called to serve in Indonesia, Sister Endang Prihatini (second from left), now enjoys teaching seminary and institute classes in Solo.

President of the Djakarta District since May 1990, President Toegono Wirjodihardjo was baptized in 1973 with his wife, four children, and a nephew. He constantly encourages the members of his district to be obedient to the teachings of the Church. “Happiness in the family, in the Church, and in the community will come only through obedience to and faith in Jesus Christ,” he says. “We need to be obedient, and we need to be living examples of the gospel so that we may become a light unto the world.”

Brother Subandriyo was born and raised in Solo. At the completion of his schooling, he moved to Djakarta. He was baptized in 1977 at nineteen. Following an Indonesian mission, he went to work for a corporation, where he eventually found employment for a young lady, Steffie, who was returning from her mission. They married in July 1985. Now Brother Subandriyo is physical facilities manager and office coordinator for the Church in Djakarta. He serves as a counselor in the Djakarta District presidency. Sister Subandriyo is branch Primary president. From left: Steffie holding Ezra, with Jaredita, Mahonri, and Brother Subandriyo.

In 1970, Hansking Ishar was the first convert to the Church in Bandung, when full-time missionaries served as the branch presidency. Despite remarks by family members and friends that the Church’s teachings were “nonsense,” Brother Ishar felt a strong inner urge to be baptized. Within a few months of his baptism, he was called to be branch clerk, Mutual president, and Sunday School teacher—all at the same time. Brother Ishar supports himself by working as an architect, a translator, an illustrator, and a writer.

Born into a Christian family, President Yohanes Dapalangga, seen with his wife and children, found no satisfaction in religion until he met the Latter-day Saint missionaries.