Executive Summary

Jesus set a clear example and model of how to be a servant-leader. Biblical worldview of a leader is about servant-hood. On the other hand, the world’s concept of a leadership is based on tyranny, which exerts leadership through domination and sometimes fears. A leader with absolute power without an understanding of the concept of servant-hood most likely would lead a society into authoritarian regime. That is what had been happening in Indonesia for the most of its life after independence. An authoritarian regime had plunged the cultural realities in Indonesia are so full into downward spiral of hopelessness, injustice, and poverty in every segment of life, from politics, business, to education. The current national leaderships that come to power since the fall down of the New Order Regime has not been able improve the cultural condition. Corruptions at every level are still in existence; injustice, human rights violation, poverty, exploitation, religious persecution, and more are still part of the cultural realities. We wonder:

1. Can Indonesia be transformed?
2. Can a good leader bring a change?
3. Can the Biblical concept of servant leadership be applied in Indonesia, and the country experiences transformation?
4. What is a servant leader in Indonesia?

Those are some of the questions that will be wrestled and discussed in the upcoming TPM. A group of FICA’s staff went to Indonesia this past May. They went to Jakarta & West Kalimantan. They wanted to look into an opportunity of how to bring a region, such as West Kalimantan, from its current state to a place where people could pursue life at its fullness as God first intended to be. The findings are very interesting, although realities seem to indicate that transformation is almost impossible, yet at the same time, they saw what a godly leader could bring impact to a society. The realities are so full of disorders, yet godly leader could bring transformation.

For the past several years, FICA has been conducting TPM in Chicago. This year, the committee is trying to find a different alternative, if there is a better one. So soon we should be hearing from the working committee of the location, and it could very well be Chicago again. Yet TPM will be held on September 3 through 6.

TPM-17 is centered around interactions and discussions. Participants are expected to have active discussions with speakers and each other. It is not a retreat type of event, yet we spend a lot of times in prayer and worship, recognizing God’s presence and seeking His guidance. This is a very dynamic event with an active community in the mailing-list.

Background

Over the past few years, we have focused our attention over improving the life space of Indonesian people, a space that includes the right to live, to express ideas, to seek truth. Last year we looked into the idea of nationalism, which our Founding Fathers have emphasized very heavily in the creation of the nation. We examined whether nationalism is a Biblical concept or not. We examined a question – Is nationalism that spirit that makes people with different backgrounds commit not only to live together in harmony, but even further to build the nation together.

Is nationalism good enough to transform Indonesia? As a continuation of this journey and as an effort to answer that question about transformation, this year we like to look into leadership, and again build our understanding from the Biblical view. Indonesia is in real need of good servant leaders for transformation to take place. The cultural realities are so bleak, servant leaders are badly needed in Indonesia to serve and bring that transformation. Transformation is to take place in every sphere of life; therefore, servant leaders with different kind of callings are called to go back home to Indonesia and together to create transformation.

Let TPM-17 be a place where current and future leaders meet in unity, humility, and courage and give birth to fresh ideas and actions that could transform Indonesia. Therefore, the people could pursue life and truth could be embraced

Goals and Objectives

The goals of TPM-17 are as follows:

1. To understand the Biblical perspective of servant leadership, what it is to serve and to lead
2. To understand the cost of being a leader in Indonesia, the vision required, the skills needed, and the cost
3. To formulate our roles and set up an entry point back in Indonesia
4. To understand and analyze the current cultural realities of Indonesia

Invited Speakers

For this year TPM-17, we are inviting the following distinguished speakers:

1. Basuki Tjahja Purnama is currently positioned as a member of Komisi II DPR RI.
2. Sunny Tanuwidjaja currently works a researcher in the Department of Politics and Social Change at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Jakarta, Indonesia.
3. Darrow Miller is co-founder of the Disciple Nations Alliance and a featured author and teacher. For over 25 years, Darrow has been a popular conference speaker on topics that include Christianity and culture, apologetics, worldview, poverty, and the dignity of women. From 1981 to 2007 Darrow served with Food for the Hungry International (now FH association). Before joining FH, Darrow spent three years on staff at L’Abri Fellowship in Switzerland where he was discipled by Francis Schaeffer. Darrow has authored numerous studies, articles, Bible studies and books, including Discipling Nations: The Power of Truth to Transform Culture published by YWAM Publishing in 1998, Nurturing the Nations: Reclaiming the Dignity of Women for Building Healthy Cultures published by Authentic/Paternoster in 2008, and LifeWork: A Biblical Theology for What You Do Every Day published by YWAM Publishing in 2009.

We are still pursuing a speaker for theological/biblical topic. There are some candidates identified already, the committee is sorting through them at this moment.