Minute for Mission: World Interfaith Harmony Week begins Feb. 1

February 1, 2024

World Interfaith Harmony Week is observed every year by the United Nations during the first week of February. It was unanimously adopted by the U.N. in 2010 and is based on the pioneering work of The Common Word initiative, which began in 2007. According to the website, the initiative “called for Muslim and Christian leaders to engage in a dialogue based on two common fundamental religious Commandments; Love of God, and Love of the Neighbour, without nevertheless compromising any of their own religious tenets.”

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission co-workers who serve in Muslim-majority countries are faithfully fulfilling this call to live in harmony with those of other faith backgrounds. For example, Farsijana Adeney-Risakotta teaches in the Master of Management in Social Entrepreneurship program at Duta Wacana Christian University in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. She is also the founder and director of the House of Authentic Sense, a community-based cooperative comprised of village entrepreneurs from throughout the province. She works closely with Christians and Muslims helping them collaborate in grassroots poverty elimination and advocacy for a just and peaceful society. She highlights these accomplishments in her quarterly Mission Connections letters.

In her latest letter, Farsijana writes:

Mrs. Endang, a member of the House of Authentic Sense (Griya Jati Rasa), held a plate containing a bouquet of jasmine and woven dry leaves. She danced softly inviting the audience to follow her to the side yard where the “Rumah Adiluhung” would be inaugurated. “Rumah” means house. “Adiluhung” comes from the Javanese words “adi,” which means high, and “luhung or luhur,” which means noble or glorious. It is hoped that this noble house will produce and exhibit member products to solve societal problems. I had previously sprinkled water on the new building as a sign of blessing. Then Mrs. Endang and I held up strands of woven leaves and a garland of jasmine, which were cut by Mrs. Linda, Mrs. Istiatun and the head of the co-op, Ustad Beni.

This ceremony took place on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023, when the co-op officially moved to occupy two rooms in the house Bernie and I built more than 20 years ago that we named Pondok Tali Rasa and is situated in the middle of a Muslim community. For almost 10 years, the Griya Jati Rasa Foundation rented two store houses next door to our house to be used as a workspace and gallery from the co-op.

The Rumah Adiluhung is a new building, a pavilion built in the corner of the empty area of Pondok Tali Rasa specifically to be used by the co-op as a room for repacking products and a gallery for displaying the products of its members. Previously, every time a repacking activity was carried out, the kitchen island of Pondok Tali Rasa was cleaned according to the exacting standards of the Health Service. This allowed the kitchen island to be repurposed according to halal standards and to be used as a product repacking station. The co-op has received permission to repack tea and coffee products produced by its members. Repacking products allows cooperatives to sell their products directly to consumers. Sales of the “Griya Jati Rasa” brand are made online or through direct sales in malls.

On this occasion, there was also a soft launching of “Taman Kopi and Teh Adiluhung,” which will market coffee and tea products as drinks to be consumed by the co-op members and the wider community. The sales hours are when the co-op staff work from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. I also added one “milk” product, namely “yogurt” and “salad” with various choices of carbohydrate and protein toppings that can be purchased. Offering milk products, namely yogurt, has been carried out to answer the provincial government’s challenge to cooperatives to help reduce stunting problems in children whose height for their age is below the WHO child growth standards median. Surprisingly, it is not only happening among residents who live in poverty areas in Yogyakarta but also among the educated and rich young people in the regency of Sleman where the co-op office is located.

Opening a coffee and tea venue with special sales of yogurt and salad packages is expected to attract young people to start consuming dairy products as a source of vitamin B12 and nutritious vegetables with a variety of carbohydrate and protein toppings. For the opening of the new venue, I cooked the milk and fermented it for eight hours to create yogurt and prepared the ingredients for the salad by cleaning it properly so that it was safe to consume raw.

Mrs. Setyo Hastuti, a government official supervising co-ops and small enterprise businesses, gave a speech at the activity and appreciated the culinary products produced by co-op members. She hopes that offering cooked items at prices that students can afford will attract students. Muhammad Husein, a business faculty student from Yogyakarta State University who is doing an internship at the co-op, attended the event. Husein was very enthusiastic about preparing a social media story about the event.

It is hoped that the community will be able to enjoy the sales of products from the Adiluhung coffee and tea venue regularly beginning in October. With Wi-Fi access in the area of the pavilion and its park, students can connect to the internet while enjoying the beverages and food. The members who attended the inauguration sampled coffee, tea, yogurt and salad. They are optimistic that the co-op can contribute to overcoming nutritional deficiencies in the younger generation and can lead to healthier babies being born.

To read more about Farsijana’s work with partners in Indonesia, visit pcusa.org/bernie-and-farsijana-adeney-risakotta.

Stephanie Caudill, Associate for Resources and Promotion in World Mission, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Today’s Focus: World Interfaith Harmony Week begins Feb. 1

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Cheryl Barnes, Mission co-worker serving in Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, World Mission, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Rebecca Barnes, Coordinator, Presbyterian Hunger Program, Compassion, Peace & Justice, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

Gracious God, we are grateful for our Muslim brothers and sisters who express their faith through acts of kindness and service to their neighbors. Through interfaith works, we can share your love to all peoples. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - World Interfaith Harmony Week

Faith confirmed by faith expressed

February 1, 2022

Farsijana Adeney-Riskaotta’s sister delivered the box to our neighbor. (provided)

Indonesia is a nation consisting of tribes with cultural and religious diversity. In Java, where I live, the majority of the people are Muslim.

When my mother died at the age of 81 on Nov. 3, 2021, young women in the village made flower arrangements called “rencong” at the front of our house. Before the coffin was lifted up, they put the rencong on top of the crate.

While we were worshiping as Christians, Muslim sisters and brothers were present until the end. Then the village head released my mother with his Islamic prayers to Allah so that the burial went well.

The five daily prayer calls echoed by speaker in Arabic from the mosque. The whole village could hear it. The sign of prayer arrived. Muslims can pray at home or in the mosque.

My faith is confirmed because of the faith expressed by Muslim sisters and brothers. I am also allowed to express Christ’s kindness, love and salvation to us.

As is the tradition here, 40 days after my mother was called by God, we made a meal consisting of rice, vegetables, meat, crackers, cakes and fruit, which was distributed to neighbors. We wrote on a piece of paper a quote from God’s word from Romans 11:33–36. This paper was placed in the box.

“How great is the riches of God! How great is His wisdom and knowledge! Who can investigate His decisions? Who can understand the ways He works? God created everything. Everything comes from God and is for God. Praise be to God forever and ever. Amen.”

Together, Christian and Muslim neighbors delivered boxes of food to the neighbors who were present at my mother’s funeral. Sending food is sending prayers as the word of God, the word of Allah, as both Indonesian Muslim and Christian addresses to God.

Farsijana Adeney-Risakotta, Mission Co-Worker serving in Indonesia, World Mission, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Farsijana Adeney-Riskaotta is the founder and director of the House of Authentic Sense (HAS), a community-based cooperative comprised 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. To learn more about her ministry, visit presbyterianmission.org/ministries/missionconnections/drs-bernard-and-farsijana-adeney-risakotta.

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff

Donna Jackson, Editor, Presbyterians Today
Susan Jackson-Dowd, Executive Director, Presbyterian Women

Let us pray

God of all nations, we thank you for your divine wisdom and knowledge. For you created the heavens and the Earth and everything on it. We are grateful for our Muslim brothers and sisters who express their faith through acts of kindness and service to their neighbors. Through interfaith works, we can share your love to all peoples. Amen.

Minute for Mission: World Interfaith Harmony week begins

Interfaith peace-building perseveres

February 1, 2021

“Starting the conversation — who am I? Who are you? What are our common concerns? Steps on the journey toward discovering our common humanity.”

From October 2019 through the beginning of 2021 and for the foreseeable future, Lebanon continues to navigate its way through four simultaneous crises that compound the challenges faced by all who live here: political corruption; economic collapse; COVID-19 and the resulting health-care crisis; and recovering from the Beirut Port blast of Aug. 4, 2020. These crises have left young adults in Lebanon without hope for their future. No employment possibilities mean no capacity to marry and start a family. In this context, it has been easy to withdraw into one’s own community and to blame others, whoever they may be.

Into this chaotic mix, Michele Daccache, on staff with PC(USA) partner Forum for Development, Culture and Dialogue (FDCD), experienced a spark of hope. He and fellow colleagues from FDCD had invited 19 young women and men from the religiously conservative Christian and Muslim rural communities in northeast Lebanon to participate in a social cohesion workshop during November 2020. Many of these young adults between the ages of 18–22 had never been outside of the Bekaa Valley before, and some not even out of their towns. Their understanding of others different from themselves had been developed based on their parents’ and grandparents’ biases — compounded by current events. When the workshop started, he said, many of these young adults were barely able to be in the same room with each other — that is how deep their prejudices ran.

Over the course of a week, participants were invited to consider their identity, beliefs and values as citizens of Lebanon. They listened to each other share their stories and discovered common ground and a recognition of their common humanity. They explored the different perspectives each brought to the workshop. And then they traveled to the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli to hear from two ex-fighters — each of whom led local militias engaged in bitter, violent battles for several years in the city. As they heard the testimony of how these fighters ended up pursuing peace between their respective constituencies, they were inspired to pursue similar peace-building work in their own communities. Teams made up of members from communities once opposed to each other are developing those projects now — focused on economic development projects — to spark hope for a sustainable future.

Rev. Elmarie E.R. Parker, PC(USA) Regional Liaison to Iraq, Syria, Lebanon

Let us join in prayer for: 

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff

Stephanie Caudill, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Judy Chan, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray:

Holy God who calls us to love kindness, do justice and walk humbly with you, please fill these young people with your own courage to build just-peace in their communities. Inspire our imaginations to pursue such work in our own communities. Amen.