The mission of God to all creation : empowering the local people in Kalimantan for ecomission in dialogue with Reformed churches in America
Résumé
Primarily, this thesis discusses the mission of the church in ecojustice responsibility as a means to praise and to glorify God and to improve the human prosperity. This ecological mission must be seen as Missio Dei and a way to present the Kingdom of God. Therefore, the ecomission of the churches is a concrete service and biotic witness that God in Jesus Christ is the Lord, Creator, Liberator, and Redeemer to all of the good creation. John 3: 16 said this is God's world; God sent his Son Jesus Christ into the world (cosmos) because he loves it so much. It is also the way to affirm that in Christ all things are made and all things will be held in Christ (Col 1: 15-17).
To build and understand this ecomission perspective, the causes and consequences of ecological problems in Kalimantan, Indonesia, which relate to aspects of injustice embedded in social, political, cultural and economic life, are presented as the primary problematic statements of this thesis. Then, the biblical affirmations on ecojustice and the ecclesiastical perspectives of Reformed churches in America are studied and assessed to find the primary and contextual principles of ecomissio11 which are employed to analyze and solve these ecological problems. These principles are also employed as the groundwork for ecornission of Kalimantan Evangelical Church and churches that as yet have no ecornission perspective. Based on the community context (local people), current challenges of ecological problems in Kalimantan, biblical affirmations, and assessments of Reformed churches in America, empowerment is argued to be the best approach to overcome the ecological problems and to improve the living standard of local people in Kalimantan. Empowerment is the most rnissional, fundamental and contextual need for the church ·s mission in Kalimantan. Therefore, this ecomission thesis may aid pastors and other congregational leaders who sense that the real and significant challenge of mission is in ecological problems. This may also be used profitably by local leaders, who have experienced the ecological injustice, and who want to explore the foundational issues of ecojustice economically and to actively pa11icipate in liberation and empowerment.