Jenan Taylor
8 April 2024
Two Balinese church leaders have been encouraged to try new ideas for ministering to people in need after their visit to Melbourne Anglican churches.
The Reverends Dr Ni Luh Suartini and Wayan Mariasa from Bali’s Christian Protestant Church visited churches to learn about their work helping people with disabilities and those in need.
Dr Suartini said it was important that churches worked together in following Jesus’ call to be community role models and care for disadvantaged people.
The visitors said they also hoped to help initiate an exchange program between churches in Melbourne and Bali to better connect Anglicans to Christians in Indonesia.
Dr Suartini said it was important churches worked together in following Jesus’s call to be role models for the community and care for all in need.
All Saints’ vicar the Reverend Kuncoro Rusman said it was an opportunity to learn how the churches in one of Australia’s closest neighbouring countries worked.
Read more: ‘Our role is to deal with suffering now’: Pacific churches leader
“It’s true that Indonesia has the biggest Muslim community in the world, and only 10 per cent are Christian, but that makes about 26 million of them,” Mr Rusman said.
“Bali is mostly Hindu, but there is also a big church community there, and establishing these connections is a chance to get closer with that Christian family. They – Christians, Hindus and Muslims – live harmoniously. We can learn a lot from that.”
He said Dr Suartini worked closely with people imprisoned in Bali’s Kerobokan jail, and it could be a chance for Anglican clergy to reach Australians languishing there.
Mr Mariasa said he and Dr Suartini had learned a great deal about how Melbourne’s Anglican churches ministered to people struggling, and those with disabilities.
He said it was one of many things they were taking back to Bali as sometimes church services there weren’t accessible to people who lived at the margins.
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