Today in the Mission Yearbook - Human trafficking victim supported by PC(USA) prayers and gifts receives first family visit in four years

There’s reason for optimism that Mary Jane Veloso will eventually gain her freedom

October 13, 2023

In recent days, Mary Jane Veloso, second from right, got to see family 

and supporters who were allowed to visit her at the Indonesian prison

 where she’s being held. (Contributed photo)

A recent visit by family and supporters to an Indonesian prison sparked renewed optimism that Mary Jane Veloso, a domestic worker and trafficking victim who at one time faced a death sentence may eventually secure her release.

In 2010, Veloso unwittingly carried 2.6 kilos of heroin into Indonesia in luggage provided to her by individuals who had recruited her to work in Malaysia. She was caught by airport security and denied knowing about the drugs but was subsequently sentenced to die in front of a firing squad for the alleged crime. On April 29, 2015, she was granted a literal “11th hour” stay of execution thanks in part by pleas from then-Philippine President Benigno Aquino, ostensibly so that she could testify in the trial of one of her alleged traffickers who had surrendered to authorities the day before.

Earlier this year, Veloso reunited with her family for the first time in four years. Her parents and two sons were able to visit her for two days in the Indonesian facility where she is being held. Also accompanying the family were representatives from Migrante International, a Filipino human rights advocacy group, her lawyers, Bishop Nonie Francisco from the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP), the Philippine embassy in Jakarta and the Department of Foreign Affairs Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs. Much of their efforts centered on meeting with Indonesian government officials and human rights organizations to appeal for their support toward a presidential clemency that would free Veloso.

Celia Veloso, Mary Jane’s mother, offered this statement via a newspaper article: “Our family is very happy. After a long time, we were able to hug Mary Jane. She saw her two sons who are already young men. When they saw their mother, they did not want to let go of her, always kissing and hugging her.”

Joanne Concepcion, chairperson for Migrante International, notes that pressure and advocacy from human rights organizations around the world were instrumental in granting Mary Jane a reprieve from her death sentence. Letters from Filipino and international supporters, including former Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, expressed support and advocated for her release during this time. In April of this year, just days before Indonesia’s Women Emancipation Day, more than 175 organizations wrote separate letters of support urging freedom for Mary Jane.

“The global campaign calling for clemency mobilized thousands of people and the contributions of Indonesian human rights advocates were instrumental in granting Mary Jane a temporary reprieve. The last-minute actions taken on the part of the Philippine president can be attributed to pressure from the global campaign,” said Concepcion.

Mary Jane Veloso’s supporters and family have kept up efforts to 

get her freed from the Indonesian prison where she’s spent the past 

13 years. (Contributed photo)

In 2020, the two Filipinos who recruited Veloso were convicted of large-scale illegal recruitment. The guilty verdict handed down against them would seemingly prove Veloso’s innocence and at the time there was hope their conviction would result in justice for Veloso. However, three years have passed, and she remains in a Yogyakarta, Indonesia women’s prison.

The most expeditious path for Veloso’s freedom would come from a clemency decree by Indonesian President Joko Widodo. However, last year when asked by Philippine President Bongbong Marcos Jr. to “re-examine” Veloso’s case, Widodo responded they already gave her a “postponement” of her sentence.

What is the outlook for Veloso’s immediate future? Migrante International has continued to lobby the Philippine president in asking the Indonesian government for a pardon. Concepcion says Veloso’s future lies in her eventual ability to testify against her recruiters.

“In our dialogues with Indonesian human rights institutions and the Ministry for Women Empowerment, we learned that the Indonesian government is awaiting the results of the legal case against Mary Jane’s recruiters who are charged with human trafficking,” Concepcion said. “If they are held accountable, this would provide an even stronger legal basis for Mary Jane’s innocence and victimization. However, as a key witness to this case, Mary Jane has still yet to provide her testimony and the Philippine government must accelerate the process, including its cooperation with the Indonesian government, to make this possible.”

Scott O’Neill, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Today’s Focus: Mary Jane Veloso, human trafficking victim in Indonesia

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Ronnika Muhammad, Payroll Specialist, Administrative Services Group (A Corp)
Jacquelyn Muir, Manager, Client & Admin Services, Presbyterian Foundation

Let us pray

Triune God, may your Spirit grow in us, so that in our transformation our communities may know your transformation. Speak to our hearts that we may know your pain over our brokenness, heed your call, and bear the fullness of your joy, which no one can take away. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - A PC(USA) partner in Indonesia helps provide interreligious understanding and education

The Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies also works at community engagement and research

January 16, 2023

The Executive Board of the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies, a partner of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). (Contributed photo)

The Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies is a consortium of three universities — the Universitas Gadjah Mada (a non-confessional state-owned university), Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Kalijaga (a state-owned Islamic university) and Universitas Kristen Duta Wacana (a private Christian university) — all located in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

ICRS is a unique and interfaith educational institution that provides an upstream solution to interreligious understanding, social justice, gender issues and ecology through education, research activities and community engagement. Besides providing doctoral education on interreligious studies, ICRS has initiated numerous research projects and community engagements. 

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has been a close partner of ICRS since its establishment. Professor Bernard “Bernie” Adeney-Risakotta of the PC(USA) was the first director of ICRS. The PC(USA)’s Synod of the Covenant once invited me to be part of the Mission to the USA program, exchanging experiences between Indonesian churches and the United States.

The PC(USA) supported one student in the past and two in the current academic year. One of them was finalizing his dissertation project on the hospital as an interfaith space, and one other was preparing for her comprehensive examination. 

The pandemic drove ICRS to refocus and adapt, manifested in several adjustments and initiatives. Among others, it was momentum for realizing a digital-based learning system through a Fabo-based MOOC (Massive Open Online Course). MOOC is a platform for ICRS to provide outreach to larger audiences, particularly non-specialists, to learn and update their knowledge about several crucial religious issues.

Leonard Chrysostomos Epafras

The current one is the Executive Course on Islam and Religious Pluralism in Indonesia, which has trained more than 30 Indonesian and foreign diplomats and religious instructors. Other prepared courses include the topics of Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB), Religious Literacy, and Religion and Ecology. Online community engagements included training for the Extension Officers for Religion (penyuluh agama) on ecology and the protection of peatland, working with a government agency that mobilizes local religious leaders to participate in conservation. 

The pandemic accelerated research activities as well. Five research projects under the rubric Religion and Covid dealt with women, vaccines, religious freedom, social media and apocalypticism. The outcome of the projects materialized in several publications, including “Virus, Humanity, and God: Interreligious Reflection on Pandemic” (Indonesian, 2020), “Limitations of Freedom of Religion or Belief during the COVID-19 Pandemic” (English, 2020), “Varieties of Religion and Ecology: Dispatches from Indonesia” (English, 2021), “Co-Designing Sustainable, Just and Smart Urban Living” (English, 2022), and “The Politics of Religious Moderation and Freedom: A Critical Assessment” (Indonesian, 2022). The publications can be seen here.

Since 2021, ICRS has been involved in several other collaborative research projects, such as the eco-pesantren project (pesantren is an Islamic boarding school) with the National University of Jakarta, FoRB projects with the Communion of Churches in Indonesia and with the National Research and Innovation Agency. 

As a highly multicultural and multi-religious country, ICRS manifests itself as a host for students from 18 ethnic groups and diverse religious affiliations. Since its inception in 2006, ICRS has become a learning space for students from 18 countries. As of 2022, 57 ICRS alumni served society in Indonesia and abroad as academics, researchers, religious leaders, business professionals and a lawmaker. 

Eventually, the fruit of 16 years of hard work, according to World University Rankings 2022, ICRS (along with the Master program of Religious Studies, from the Center for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies) ranked 47th on the subject of Theology, Divinity & Religious Studies, through Universitas Gadjah Mada, as the host of ICRS and CRCS. ICRS appoints two adjunct professors, Michael Northcott (working on Christian ethics and ecology) and Frans Wijsen (discourse analysis and interreligious studies), to work closely with our students and to shape curriculum development. 

The effect of pandemic disruption might cast a long shadow. ICRS learned the hard lesson to reinvent itself and to hold tighter with friends and colleagues, such as the PC(USA), to face the still uncertain post-pandemic era. We envisioned the opportunities to grow further in this new situation, such as the more extensive use of digital technology in administration, academic development and community engagement, which continues and further develops even as the pandemic has receded. We believe the spirit of cooperation and friendship will endure the crisis. 

Leonard Chrysostomos Epafras of the ICRS for Mission Crossroads

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Dayna Oliver, Mission Associate III, International Program Administration, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Elizabeth Olker, Associate, Gender & Racial Justice, Racial Equity & Women’s Intercultural Ministries, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

Gracious and loving God, grant that our hearts may be filled with joy for the gifts you have given us and may our voices join the chorus of the saints in all ages who declare the wonders of your blessings. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Fair trade co-op lifts Indonesians out of poverty

By confessing the story of a racist gift, a Cincinnati congregation takes the first step in dismantling structural racism

August 20, 2021

Mission co-worker Dr. Farsijana Adeney-Risakotta helped create the House of Authentic Sense. (Photo by Kathy Melvin)

Economic partnerships open the door for cooperation between Christians and Muslims through the House of Authentic Sense (HAS), Indonesia’s only fair trade co-op. Like many countries, Indonesia needs development projects that are designed to empower society, especially women, minorities and disabled communities.   

HAS was created in 2015 with the goal of becoming a social entrepreneurial unit that enlists Indonesian villagers, both farmers and artists, to create, market and sell products that help communities overcome poverty and achieve social equality.

Mission co-worker Dr. Farsijana Adeney-Risakotta was instrumental in the creation of HAS and serves with PC(USA)’s Indonesian church partners at Duta Wacana Christian University (DWCU), where she connects the Christian academic community with economically challenged Muslim and Christian communities in the surrounding area. Economic empowerment is a door for cooperation between academics and villagers and between Christians and Muslims.

In connection with the university’s goal of empowerment, Adeney-Risakotta was asked to organize DWCU’s human resources to establish a Center for Studies of Development and Social Transformation (CSDST). In addition to teaching graduate students in the social entrepreneurship program, she organizes lecturers and helps students research and empower social entrepreneurship in the surrounding communities.

In 2018, the HAS Foundation and DWCU received a $46,000 grant from Presbyterian Women to strengthen the capacity and independence of the HAS Co-op and increase the production quality of HAS Co-op members. This led to the co-op being certified as a fair trade organization and acceptance as a member of Indonesia Fair Trade Forum.

Despite the pandemic, during 2020 the HAS Co-op successfully navigated the complex process of applying for certification as a fair trade organization. With the new designation, HAS Co-op members can market their products both in Indonesia and abroad as fair trade. Fair trade status certifies that the products were produced in ways that are fair to the workers, healthy, transparent and ecological. It also certifies that most of the profits go to the workers who produced them rather than to large international corporations.

While sheltering in place in the U.S. during the pandemic, Adeney-Risakotta brought co-op products to be evaluated for potential sale through PC(USA) churches and individuals.

Selling the Indonesian village handicrafts, food and drinks in the U.S. has the potential to strengthen product quality and help the villagers achieve a decent standard of living, continuing their journey to self-sufficiency and independence.

HAS offers handicrafts such as hand-painted batik patterns on wooden (teak) coffee mugs, teacups, herbal mugs and egg cups. Textiles include Mother Wahadah’s handmade batik and Mother Winarsih “Jumputan” fabrics (tie-dye). The co-op also sells chocolate with various flavors such as chili, orange, coffee and green tea, 80% dark chocolate bars and granola nuts from Wondis, a new co-op member.  Coffee- and tea-flavored chocolate bars are processed using Sister Mar’s Mocha Chocolate and Ki Suko’s green tea. Another new co-op member is a group of disabled teenagers who produce handcrafted batik tote-bags, pillowcases, table runners, scarfs, clothes and cosmetic bags.

Through the co-op, members can learn the necessary skills to manage their businesses and ensure quality control. Small- or medium-sized enterprises that create processed food products are taught how to get the necessary health permits to ensure their products are safe and ready to send to the marketplaces. All co-op products must be packaged with environmentally friendly materials instead of plastics. Members are encouraged to recycle; the co-op runs a recycling store where members can exchange recycled trash for basic food supplies. At the annual members meeting, members receive a bonus of up to 2.5% of the total value of the food supplies they have received by trading in their recycled trash. All members may add a “peace label” to their products in addition to the “fair trade” certification to indicate that Muslims, Christians and people of other faiths cooperate with one another in creating their products and are working together for economic justice and peace.

Kathy Melvin, Director of Mission Communications, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff

Eva Slayton, Mission Specialist, 1001 New Worshiping Communities, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Adam Slutzky, Directory, Project Delivery, Strategic Planning & Execution, Board of Pensions

Let us pray

God of love, we give thanks for the vision of small groups of people all over the world who dream big dreams and work hard to realize them. Inspire us with their witness, that we too may join hands to make your world a safe and healthy place for all. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - COVID-19 continues to rise in Indonesia

Christian-Muslim co-op provides food and employment

January 24, 2021

Mission co-worker Farsijana Adeney-Risakotta follows all health protocols daily. (Contributed photo)

The COVID-19 pandemic is growing rapidly in Indonesia, which has one of the highest number of coronavirus cases in Asia. But with fewer than 100,000, the total number of confirmed cases is still relatively small compared to those in the United States.

The real numbers may be much higher, according to mission co-worker Farsijana Adeney-Risakotta, who has served in there since 2003.

In April, Adeney-Risakotta and her husband, former mission co-worker Bernie, who retired in 2019, chose to shelter-in-place rather than travel to be with family in California, where the virus is raging.

Farsijana teaches at Duta Wacana Christian University, helping prepare Christian leaders to serve the church in the world’s largest Muslim country. While collaborating on developing a peace studies program, she also heads the Indonesian Women’s Coalition (KPI) in the province. KPI is a predominantly Muslim group that seeks to empower women and children.

She is the founder and director of the House of Authentic Sense (HAS), a community- based cooperative of village entrepreneurs from throughout the province of Yogyakarta. As a grassroots organization that practices principles of economic justice, the HAS Co-op is a place where community members help each other build businesses and save money. It brings together Muslims, Christians and people of diverse economic and educational backgrounds to collaborate in grassroots poverty elimination and advocacy for a just and peaceful society.

Through the co-op, community members learn skills and build businesses around food processing, batik making, goat milk processing, organic tea cultivation and more. Particularly in smaller villages with limited opportunities for steady employment, microenterprises provide women and men with livelihoods.

As in many countries, in Indonesia many people go hungry if they are not able to work, keeping the government from issuing a total lockdown. The Saudi government did forbid the annual Hajj pilgrimage to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. All but urgent travel is now forbidden in Indonesia. Wearing masks in public places is mandatory, social distancing is encouraged and large gatherings are forbidden. Schools and universities are all online.

During the pandemic, HAS collaborated with the Center for Studies of Development and Social Transformation (CSDST) at the university to purchase member products, including rice, tea, coffee, soy sauce, snacks and other food, to make up packages of basic supplies for co-op members to be delivered at the end of Ramadan, the traditional month of fasting.

“The fasting month was special for me this year because I fasted along with my Muslim friends as a sign of solidarity and concern as we struggle to understand what is happening in our broken world,” Adeney-Risakotta said. “COVID-19 teaches us about solidarity and cooperating to help each other so we can transform the frustration of having to stay home into satisfaction of knowing we are producing quality products that will feed many families.”

During Ramadan, Adeney-Risakotta said HAS also organized virtual discussions about the meaning of Ramadan and the celebration of the ascension of Jesus Christ. The ascension of Christ is a national holiday in Indonesia that this year came at the end of Ramadan. HAS involved a network of mutually supportive institutions including Sunan Kalijaga Islamic Boarding School, the Center for Security and Peace Studies at Gadjah Mada University and CSDST at Duta Wacana Christian University.

HAS has been especially important to its members during the pandemic. Just ask Suko Hadi. The co-op stepped in to buy his tea at a time when there were no buyers because long-distance transportation was shut down. Young premium shoots of tea must be constantly picked to avoid damage to the plant. The pickers are economically challenged residents around the village of Pagerharjo. Picking tea is their only means of earning money to feed their families. The co-op also gave Hadi a small loan to keep his business afloat during the pandemic.

 Give to the Peace & Global Witness Offering to support the peace and reconciliation work of church partners through World Mission.

Kathy Melvin, Director of Mission Communications, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for: 

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff

Suzan Cantrell, Presbyterian Mission Agency
James Carey, Presbyterian Foundation

Let us pray:

Lord Jesus, give us strength to follow your call to provide for the needs of people. Help us to remember that man does not live on bread alone, but on the Word of God. Take us to places unfamiliar and to the people whom you know and love. Amen.