I married Kasiani Lase in 2014. We have twins aged 4 years – a boy named Markel Hafide Sowua Ziliwu and a girl named Mirel Hagrasia Solai Ziliwu. They are in kindergarten now. I have two brothers and two sisters. They and their families are Christian and involved in church ministries in their congregation, where […]

I married Kasiani Lase in 2014. We have twins aged 4 years – a boy named Markel Hafide Sowua Ziliwu and a girl named Mirel Hagrasia Solai Ziliwu. They are in kindergarten now.

I have two brothers and two sisters. They and their families are Christian and involved in church ministries in their congregation, where they regularly go to Sunday service. My parents-in-law and extended family are also Christian. One of my brothers-in-law is a pastor in BNKP[1].

I was baptised as a baby and grew up in a Christian family. My great-grandfather was a teacher-preacher in a local congregation when missionaries were working in Indonesia. He accompanied and became a coworker for missionaries who worked among local people in my home village. Then one of his sons (my grandfather’s brother) became a pastor.

For Christians living in Nias, morning and evening devotions include hymns, Bible readings and prayers. When I was child, my father and mother led prayers every morning and evening. They were not able to read the Bible and lead hymns for us because they were illiterate. After I went to secondary school, I did the Bible reading and led the hymns because I could read. Then my father or mother prayed. Morning and evening devotions in the home are still a Christian tradition in Nias.

As a child, I went to Sunday School diligently until I was confirmed. I regularly went to Sunday service and was included in a group of youth in my local congregation. I loved attending and being involved in Bible study and was very involved in church activities.

When I was in senior high school, I liked to study science, so I had planned to study chemistry in university. Before finishing high school, I approached my parents and told them that I wanted to go to university to study chemistry. The university was in Medan, North Sumatra, and I therefore needed to leave my island and stay in the city to attend. My parents did not allow me to study in Medan. They said that we had no relatives who could keep an eye on me while I was living away from Nias. However, I understood the main reason they did not allow me to study was because they could not afford to send me to university in Medan.

In the middle of this pessimistic situation, one of my uncles visited me. He opened my mind and offered me another option. He suggested I study in the seminary to become a pastor. That was surprising to me because I had not thought of this. He gave me several reasons. One was that when I was in elementary school, my grandfather’s brother, who was a pastor, said that he thought I would make a good pastor. In my mind, I understood that becoming a pastor and doing pastoral ministry is very hard. It requires a special calling. However, I prayed to God that if he wanted to call me to become a pastor, let him work.

God then directed my steps to his way. I studied in Sundermann Theological Seminary in Nias for five years. During this study, God formed me to be his servant and proclaim his Word. In practical studies when I was sent to live among church members, I felt a strong calling from God to serve his people. Finally, in 2010, after graduating from seminary and finishing a vicariate ministry, I was ordained as a pastor of BNKP.

I served as a pastor in a local congregation for one year. Then in 2011, my church called me to continue my study at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Hong Kong to complete a Master of Arts in theological librarianship. This was a one-year program. After graduating, my church sent me to do ministry in Sundermann Theological Seminary in Nias as a lecturer of systematic theology and homiletics and the Head of Library.

In his grace, God has chosen me among believers to share the gospel through my ministry as a preacher and lecturer, to listen to his Word, live in reconciliation and enjoy the fellowship with our gracious God.

Your generous financial support will enable me to study Lutheran studies at Australian Lutheran College. As a Lutheran church, BNKP and Sundermann Theological Seminary need an expert in Lutheran theology, as we do not currently have someone who can teach this. BNKP, together with other Lutheran churches in Nias (including AMIN, ONKP and GNKP) and Indonesia are struggling to strengthen our Lutheran Identity among other believers and religions, even though we are Lutheran as per our Church Order (constitution). In Indonesia, most of the good seminaries have a Reformed background and the easily affordable seminaries have a Pentecostal background. Therefore, most of BNKP’s pastors have graduated from Reformed and Pentecostal seminaries.

After finishing my study at Australian Lutheran College, I will go back to Nias to be a preacher and teacher in Sundermann Theological Seminary, in BNKP and other Lutheran churches in Nias. Salvation as grace alone, in Christ alone, through faith alone, as witnessed in the Bible alone and for the glory of God alone, should be our main teaching as Lutheran churches in Nias.

Please pray God will use my study and ALC to empower and equip me in God’s mission for Nias and Indonesia.

[1] BNKP is acronym for Banua Niha Keriso Protestan in Nias language. Banua means village or communion, theologically it means church, Niha Keriso means Christian, and Protestan means Protestant.

If you would like to know more about opportunities to personally support a scholarship recipient in your congregation during their stay in Australia, or ways in which you can financially and prayerfully support LCA International Mission’s scholarship program, you are invited to phone Matt on (08) 8267 7300 or email matthew.anker@lca.org.au

Read more stories about LCA International Mission scholarships at https://www.lcamission.org.au/category/stories/scholarships/