I had the privilege of serving the

I had the privilege of serving the Parish of St. Anthony in Jalan Hayam Wuruk Medan from the year 1972 until 1983. It was by sheer Providence of God that I landed in Indonesia because I had never even imagined that I would come to Indonesia as a missionary and spend more than 30 years living and doing my mission work in the archdiocese of Medan. As an Indian Jesuit student, I volunteered to go and do mission work in Malaysia after my philosophical studies in India and actually I did my Pastoral year in Kuala Lumpur in 1966-1967. But due to new immigration laws I could not stay in Malaysia for long and so my Superior sent me to Indonesia to do my theological studies in the hope that after my priestly Ordinations I could return to Malaysia to do the mission work. Unfortunately I was not able to go back there and instead God chose Indonesia as my mission land. Truly “our ways are not God’s ways”.

Now I shall try to narrate here briefly about Hayam Wuruk parish that I know and share my life experience how God had led me during those 12 long years as I was laboring there.

I first landed in Indonesia in May 1967 and right away started learning bahasa Indonesia in Jakarta in preparation for my theology in St. Paul’s Major Seminary in Jogyakarta. While I was doing my theology in Jogjakarta I happened to read about the archdiocese of Medan and the concentration of Indian migrants living there. So with my superior’s permission I visited Medan in December 1968 to spend my major holidays and I was warmly welcomed by Mgr. van den Hurk OFMCap., the then archbishop of Medan. I was allowed to stay in Hayam Wuruk Parish for three weeks in the company of two Capuchin Fathers, Pastor Timmermans and Pastor Maximus Brans. Several of the Indian Catholic community of Kampung Kristen came to greet and introduce themselves. And was the first time I came in contact with St. Anthony Parish in Jalan Hayam Wuruk.

As for the background of the origin of the Indian Community in Medan or for the birth of Hayam Wuruk Parish, there is very little documentation available. However, there are some oral traditions about the history of the Tamilians who lived and worked in plantation in and around Deli Serdang already in the late 19th century who seemed to have formed the nucleus for the birth of Paroki Hayam Wuruk. According to the elders of the Indian community some of these families were brought directly from South India – Pandichery and Tamilnadu by the French but others seemed to have come from Penang, Malaysia after having worked there for some time.

Among those Indians were several catholic families employed by a French company in Deli Tobacco Plantation in Sei Sekambing area on the outskirts of Medan Town. As part of their spiritual care the company had provided a chapel where the catholic families could meet and have their religious services conducted in their mother tongue (Tamil) on Sundays. Occasional visit of some priest from Pondichery to celebrate Holy Mass in Tamil brought them great joy.

During that period North Sumatera was closed to Catholic Church by the Dutch Colonial law and so protestant flourished in many parts of North Sumatera. It was only in early 20th century Mgr. Brans OFMCap., the prefect Apostolic of Padang was allowed to have his residence in Madan and with that came the dawn of Catholic mission activities to North Sumatera.

Father Ferdinandus van Loon OFMCap., who arrived in Medan from Holland on August 20, 1912 was asked to look after the religious needs of the Tamil Community and was eventually appointed Pastor for the care of the Tamil Catholic scattered in the plantations. In order to be effective in his apostolate, he stated learning Tamil Language and went to Penang to improve his Tamil in 1913. After spending several months in Penang he returned to Medan at the end of July 1913 and gave his heart and soul to the care of his beloved flock. After serving the Tamil Catholic families scattered in plantations for some Pastor van Loon tried to establish a mission station in Medan town by bringing as many Tamil Catholic families from the plantations and to provide education to their children. Thanks to Mgr. Brans and the Capuchin provincial a piece of land was bought in Petisah between Jl. Mojopahit and Sriwijaya. It is on this piece of land that the families were settled, a chapel and a small residence for the priest were constructed in 1914.

In March 1915 a semi permanent Primary School was built and opened with 52 Tamil children. As he could not handle single handed the increasing number of Indian Catholic he appealed for some sisters to help him in managing the school and the boarding school. Hence at the request of Mgr. Brans, 6 Dutch sisters from the Congregation of St. Joseph van Amersfoot arrived in Medan on 28th January 1931 to assist Father van Loon in his mission. They were to work among the Indians looking after the school and the children at the boarding.

The school also functioned as the church for liturgy until a new church (which is the present parish church, dedicated to St. Anthony) was built and blessed on a Sunday in November 14, 1915 and after a year parish house was added in church complex in October 1916.

With the establishment of the Tamil Church in Hayam Wuruk, the town of Medan had three churches in all, namely :
1. The cathedral in Jalan Pemuda
2. The church of Christ the King in Jl. Hakka, now known as Jl. Merapi
3. The church of St. Anthony in Jl. Hayam Wuruk
These were known, at that time, as the church for Europeans, Chinese church and Tamil church respectively in its functional aspect because Dutch, Chinese and Tamil Language were used, besides Latin, as the liturgical languages during the services. But in the course of time this distinction disappeared as people of mixed races and language began to enter these parishes. What was started as a small Mission Station for the Indian community in early 20th century, the parish of Hayam Wuruk has became a big parish of mixed races, and languages of Tamils, Chinese, Bataks and Javanese. In early seventies it comprised of several substations like, Sei Sekambing, Sunggal, Padang Bulan and Sei Agul.

After this brief flash back on the historical development of Hayam Wuruk Parish, I wish to continue my narrations of my life in the parish of Hayam Wuruk.

Soon after my Priestly Ordination in December 27, 1970 and after completing my theological studies in India I tried to enter Malaysia to do my mission work. But I was denied visa to Malaysia and so my dream of becoming a missionary in Malaysia started to vanish. It was at that time the Archbishop of Medan, Mgr. van Den Hurk, contacted my Superior and obtained permission so that I could go to work in his archdiocese of Medan, so in May 1972 I came to Medan and started my priestly life as assistant pastor in Hayam Wuruk Parish in the company of Fr. Timmermans and Fr. Brans I was given a special mandate by the Archbishop to serve the Indian community in my pastoral duties.

After the death of Fr. Van Loon, the Indians living in Medan in general and the Catholics of Kampung Christian in particular felt like the sheep without a shepherd. So my arrival seemed to raise their hope for a better future.

At the beginning of my pastoral work every thing went along smoothly with full cooperation from the people of Kampung Kristen. But when I noticed that the Tamil Catholic community was backward in almost every respect – economic, educational, religious and social – in comparison with other Indians in Medan I wanted to bring about a radical change in the Kampung Kristen. As a first step a project for the educational of the children was planned because only a handful of them had done their Junior High School. Since education would help bring about a change in their get to mentality, and open up better future for the children and give them self respect, I constructed a multipurpose two-storey building in Jalan Mataram, Medan under the name Lembaga Pendidikan Sosial Karya Dharma in December 1973, with the blessing of the archbishop and the support and cooperation of some well to do Indians in Medan. Karya Dharma building served as a Primary School as well as the centre for social and cultural activities for the people of Kampung Kristen for some years.

Karya Dharma School has done great service to hundreds of Indian children and after more than 25 years of its service the school was given over to the management of Yayasan Don Bosco and if functioning now under the name of SD St. Thomas V/VI Jalan Mataram, Medan. I feel happy and even proud that many alumni of Karya Dharma had gone up to Senior High and even Universty and now are employed in good position in many parts of our country.

Hasil (Bahasa Indonesia) 1:

I had the privilege of serving the Parish of St. Anthony in Jalan Hayam Wuruk Medan from the year 1972 until 1983. It was by sheer Providence of God that I landed in Indonesia because I had never even imagined that I would come to Indonesia as a missionary and spend more than 30 years living and doing my mission work in the archdiocese of Medan. As an Indian Jesuit student, I volunteered to go and do mission work in Malaysia after my philosophical studies in India and actually I did my Pastoral year in Kuala Lumpur in 1966-1967. But due to new immigration laws I could not stay in Malaysia for long and so my Superior sent me to Indonesia to do my theological studies in the hope that after my priestly Ordinations I could return to Malaysia to do the mission work. Unfortunately I was not able to go back there and instead God chose Indonesia as my mission land. Truly “our ways are not God’s ways”.Now I shall try to narrate here briefly about Hayam Wuruk parish that I know and share my life experience how God had led me during those 12 long years as I was laboring there.I first landed in Indonesia in May 1967 and right away started learning bahasa Indonesia in Jakarta in preparation for my theology in St. Paul’s Major Seminary in Jogyakarta. While I was doing my theology in Jogjakarta I happened to read about the archdiocese of Medan and the concentration of Indian migrants living there. So with my superior’s permission I visited Medan in December 1968 to spend my major holidays and I was warmly welcomed by Mgr. van den Hurk OFMCap., the then archbishop of Medan. I was allowed to stay in Hayam Wuruk Parish for three weeks in the company of two Capuchin Fathers, Pastor Timmermans and Pastor Maximus Brans. Several of the Indian Catholic community of Kampung Kristen came to greet and introduce themselves. And was the first time I came in contact with St. Anthony Parish in Jalan Hayam Wuruk.As for the background of the origin of the Indian Community in Medan or for the birth of Hayam Wuruk Parish, there is very little documentation available. However, there are some oral traditions about the history of the Tamilians who lived and worked in plantation in and around Deli Serdang already in the late 19th century who seemed to have formed the nucleus for the birth of Paroki Hayam Wuruk. According to the elders of the Indian community some of these families were brought directly from South India – Pandichery and Tamilnadu by the French but others seemed to have come from Penang, Malaysia after having worked there for some time. Di antara orang Indian adalah keluarga Katolik beberapa yang dipekerjakan oleh sebuah perusahaan Prancis di Deli perkebunan tembakau di Sei Sekambing daerah di pinggiran kota Medan. Sebagai bagian dari kerohanian perusahaan telah memberikan sebuah Kapel mana keluarga Katolik dapat bertemu dan memiliki layanan keagamaan mereka dilakukan dalam bahasa ibu mereka (Tamil) pada hari Minggu. Sesekali kunjungan beberapa imam dari Pondichery untuk merayakan misa kudus Tamil membawa mereka sukacita.Selama periode itu Sumatera Utara ditutup untuk Gereja Katolik oleh hukum kolonial Belanda dan begitu Protestan berkembang di banyak bagian di Sumatera Utara. Itu hanya di awal abad 20 Mgr. Bran OFMCap., apostolik prefek Padang diizinkan untuk memiliki kediamannya di Madan dan dengan yang datang fajar misi Katolik kegiatan ke Sumatera Utara. Father Ferdinandus van Loon OFMCap., who arrived in Medan from Holland on August 20, 1912 was asked to look after the religious needs of the Tamil Community and was eventually appointed Pastor for the care of the Tamil Catholic scattered in the plantations. In order to be effective in his apostolate, he stated learning Tamil Language and went to Penang to improve his Tamil in 1913. After spending several months in Penang he returned to Medan at the end of July 1913 and gave his heart and soul to the care of his beloved flock. After serving the Tamil Catholic families scattered in plantations for some Pastor van Loon tried to establish a mission station in Medan town by bringing as many Tamil Catholic families from the plantations and to provide education to their children. Thanks to Mgr. Brans and the Capuchin provincial a piece of land was bought in Petisah between Jl. Mojopahit and Sriwijaya. It is on this piece of land that the families were settled, a chapel and a small residence for the priest were constructed in 1914.In March 1915 a semi permanent Primary School was built and opened with 52 Tamil children. As he could not handle single handed the increasing number of Indian Catholic he appealed for some sisters to help him in managing the school and the boarding school. Hence at the request of Mgr. Brans, 6 Dutch sisters from the Congregation of St. Joseph van Amersfoot arrived in Medan on 28th January 1931 to assist Father van Loon in his mission. They were to work among the Indians looking after the school and the children at the boarding. The school also functioned as the church for liturgy until a new church (which is the present parish church, dedicated to St. Anthony) was built and blessed on a Sunday in November 14, 1915 and after a year parish house was added in church complex in October 1916.With the establishment of the Tamil Church in Hayam Wuruk, the town of Medan had three churches in all, namely : 1. The cathedral in Jalan Pemuda2. The church of Christ the King in Jl. Hakka, now known as Jl. Merapi3. The church of St. Anthony in Jl. Hayam WurukThese were known, at that time, as the church for Europeans, Chinese church and Tamil church respectively in its functional aspect because Dutch, Chinese and Tamil Language were used, besides Latin, as the liturgical languages during the services. But in the course of time this distinction disappeared as people of mixed races and language began to enter these parishes. What was started as a small Mission Station for the Indian community in early 20th century, the parish of Hayam Wuruk has became a big parish of mixed races, and languages of Tamils, Chinese, Bataks and Javanese. In early seventies it comprised of several substations like, Sei Sekambing, Sunggal, Padang Bulan and Sei Agul.After this brief flash back on the historical development of Hayam Wuruk Parish, I wish to continue my narrations of my life in the parish of Hayam Wuruk.Soon after my Priestly Ordination in December 27, 1970 and after completing my theological studies in India I tried to enter Malaysia to do my mission work. But I was denied visa to Malaysia and so my dream of becoming a missionary in Malaysia started to vanish. It was at that time the Archbishop of Medan, Mgr. van Den Hurk, contacted my Superior and obtained permission so that I could go to work in his archdiocese of Medan, so in May 1972 I came to Medan and started my priestly life as assistant pastor in Hayam Wuruk Parish in the company of Fr. Timmermans and Fr. Brans I was given a special mandate by the Archbishop to serve the Indian community in my pastoral duties.After the death of Fr. Van Loon, the Indians living in Medan in general and the Catholics of Kampung Christian in particular felt like the sheep without a shepherd. So my arrival seemed to raise their hope for a better future.At the beginning of my pastoral work every thing went along smoothly with full cooperation from the people of Kampung Kristen. But when I noticed that the Tamil Catholic community was backward in almost every respect – economic, educational, religious and social – in comparison with other Indians in Medan I wanted to bring about a radical change in the Kampung Kristen. As a first step a project for the educational of the children was planned because only a handful of them had done their Junior High School. Since education would help bring about a change in their get to mentality, and open up better future for the children and give them self respect, I constructed a multipurpose two-storey building in Jalan Mataram, Medan under the name Lembaga Pendidikan Sosial Karya Dharma in December 1973, with the blessing of the archbishop and the support and cooperation of some well to do Indians in Medan. Karya Dharma building served as a Primary School as well as the centre for social and cultural activities for the people of Kampung Kristen for some years. Karya Dharma School has done great service to hundreds of Indian children and after more than 25 years of its service the school was given over to the management of Yayasan Don Bosco and if functioning now under the name of SD St. Thomas V/VI Jalan Mataram, Medan. I feel happy and even proud that many alumni of Karya Dharma had gone up to Senior High and even Universty and now are employed in good position in many parts of our country.