A Brief History of Nommensen

Dr. Ludwig Ingwer Nommensen was born in Nordstrand Island on , Schleswig-Holstein State, between Denmark and Germany on February 6, 1834. Supported by Rcheinische Mission Gesellschaft (RMG), in1861Nommensen sailed for Sumatra. In 1864 he was able to settle among the Toba Bataks in the valley of Silindung, Northern Sumatra. It was the beginning of a singular Christian career of outstanding self-denial and unfailing dedication. He preached the Gospel in word and deed among the Batak people of a territory still independent of Dutch colonial administration. Though in the beginning their behavior seemed strange to him in many ways, he respected their human dignity and recognized their inalienable right to their own convictions. He mastered t heir language and built bridges of trust.

Nommensen owed his outlook and convictions not only to his seminary training but also to the Lutheran revival movement in Schleswig-Holstein. Throughout his life he interpreted Christianity as "New Life," as taught by F. A. G. Tholuck (1799-1872) and A. Neander (1789-1850). Tholuck and Neander's theological and philosophical positions pervaded the teaching Nommensen received during his seminary years. In Sumatra he and his fellow missionaries explicated the New Life in every aspect of indigenous experience: daily life and order, custom, law, time, age, and rule. These key words represented the kerygmatic paradigm for their evangelistic outreach. Nommensen committed himself to see that New Life penetrated Batak life and culture.

The anthropocentric orientation of his theology led him to evangelize dialogically. He introduced instructions for baptism by posing questions about bliss, eternal life, and obedience to the triune God, rather than by starting with the creation story in Genesis and the people of Israel. His idea of an organically growing Christian life and ethos rested on unshakable trust in Christ. He led his dialogue partners to grasp the meaning of salvation, emphasizing the second coming of Christ. He communicated his theology and method to his fellow missionaries, instructing them for their communication with the Batak people: "Bear them on a priestly heart and preach the Word to them in season and out of season. Everyone who comes to you, you should look upon as being sent by the Lord, and devote as much time to him as is needed to show him the way of life." Nommensen emphasized that one must master the Batak language in order to "live and demonstrate one's life to the heathen and study their way of thinking."

Nommensen integrated the revival tradition of his early years in Germany into his daily theology. Central to his belief was the sovereignty of God, who has revealed himself in his living Word, Jesus Christ, "Lord and Savior of the world." By faith in the living Lord, Christians share in Christ's victory over sin, death, and Satan. Nommensen emphasized the Satan figure in the baptismal instructions and employed it in his teaching and preaching, thereby showing sensitivity to the supernatural sphere of life. His faith in the power of the incarnation (Phil. 2:5-11) led him to his view of human beings, who are enabled with the love of Christ to serve their fellow men and women. He taught the missionaries, "After one has come to understand the people and to be understood by them, one has to begin with the preaching of the Gospel in having a twofold work, namely to pull down the bulwark of Satan and to build up the house of truth." His conception of the church reflected his anthropological emphasis and res ulted in planting a truly "people's church" among the Batak. By example he demonstrated human solidarity in Christ. He realized this way of life by commissioning local elders and chiefs to "gossip the Gospel" in the village. This ministry of the laity reflected Nommensen's emphasis on the congregation as the gathered people of God under the Word of God. He practiced a contextual ecclesiology by using the customary law and structural elements of the people for the formation of a "people's church," as can be seen in the church constitutions of 1866 and 1881. The strong growth and coherence of the church, especially after the resistance of the traditionalists faded, tended to be accompanied by an uncritical allegiance to the customary law; sometimes it became almost the pivot of Christian living. Nevertheless, the indigenization of Batak Christianity has been regarded as "the secret of the growth and the prosperity of the Christian religion in the Batak land."

Nominensen made a decisive effort to gather the church along "three-self" principles. This approach was meant to help the church survive in case of persecution or the expulsion of European personnel. At the same time, Nommensen, in his paternalism and conservative social ethics, welcomed the colonial administration as the best way for development and progress. In 1904 he even proposed to the Dutch administration how to take possession of hitherto independent Batak territory, and how to divide the districts in the best interest of tribal boundaries.

Because of the growing success of the Batak Mission, Nommensen gained recognition and distinction in Europe. In 1893 he was made knight of the Royal Dutch Order of Orange Nassau; in 1904 the theological faculty of the University of Bonn conferred on him the honorary degree of doctor of theology. October 1911 saw two meaningful fiftieth anniversaries: the beginning of the Batak Mission (October 7, 1861) and Nommensen's ordination to the ministry (October 13, 1861). Moreover, in 1911 he was honored by the queen of Holland who conferred on him the Officer's Cross of the Order of Orange Nassau.

But Nommensen's legacy lies preeminently in Sumatra and in the Christian church among the Batak. By 1918, the year of his death, the Batak church was firmly established, with 34 pastors, 788 teacher-preachers, and 180,000 members. In addition, sixty European men and women of the Rhenish Mission served as coworkers with the Batak leadership. By virtue of their established Christian community, the Batak were ready to enter a new age. Nommensen translated Luther's Small Catechism, the New Testament in 1878, and several other works into Batak language and wrote hymns and a church order for the Batak church. By 1894 the entire Bible had been translated. Education was stressed, and many elementary schools were established in the villages. Batak mission society extended the mission's works among the people. Nommensen's impact therefore is not so much evident in a collection of writings, or with missionaries who followed his missionary methods; rather it is reflected in an indigenous Christian community that knows what it owes to his love and vision. In the early part of the twentieth century, the Batak church was the largest Protestant church in Southeast Asia. Several Batak Churches (HKBP) have also been built in USA, Europe, Australia, and several countries in Asia.

In 1954, long after the German mission society had left the island, Nommensen was remembered in the name of a new university, Nommensen University. And on the 150th anniversary of his birth, Nommensen was celebrated in a symposium about the meaning and ongoing relevance of his work for the churches in western Indonesia. This important event was sponsored in 1984 by the theological seminary of the Batak Church (HKBP).

Nommensen died on May 23, 1916. He was buried beside the graves of his wife, daughter, and other missionaries in Sigumpar Village, Toba Samosir Regency. He'd been living there since 1891 till the end of his life. Later on June 29, 1996, Pasombar Foundation restored his cemetry and bulild The Nommensen Memorial. The memorial monument is called Salib Kasih (Love's Cross) and used as an open church.

Although Nommensen has passed away, but his works live forever. He has showed what the true meaning of Love is through his faith and dedication to the Lord manifested in his works among the Batak people.

"To live or to die,
alow me to stay among this people for the expansion of your Gospel and your Kingdom. Amen!"