Recipe for Religious Harmony in Tempur Jepara Village

Jepara: Muslims in Tempur Village, Keling District, Sidoarjo, East Java, are the majority of the villages population. In this village on the slope of Mount Muria, there are no more than 200 Christians.
 
Pastor of Javanese Mennonite Church (GITJ) in Tempur Village, Suwadi, revealed, the beginning of when Christianity entered the village. In 1984, an elementary school teacher named Poniyah was sent to teach in the coffee-producing village.  Now, Poniyah accompanies Suwadi's life as a wife.
 
"At first I was opposed to the presence of the religion, because I was a teacher of the Quran (Islam).  However, in 1988 I followed (changed Christianity).  From there it started, "said Suwadi on Saturday, December 21, 2019.
 
Converting to Christianity did not tamper with his relations with his brothers in Tempur Village.  Even his older brother, Giran, is the Chairman of the Takmir Nurul Hikmah Mosque.

"The mosque and the church are like brothers and sisters, in the mosque my brother is the chairman, while I am in the chairman of the church. We get along well, there is no friction, "said Suwadi.
 
According to him, the recipe for harmony among religious adherents in Tempur is to love and humanize.  It was believed to be a strong glue of tolerance between the two peoples.
 
“My wife (Poniyah) had a heart problem, just yesterday she was being treated.  The ones who prayed were kiai-kiai.  When Mrs. Poniyah returned from the hospital, Muslimat women came to the house to pray.  And vice versa, minorities are protected," said Suwadi.
 
Meanwhile, the caretaker of Nurul Hikmah Mosque, Abu Abdilah, gave an example, a form of harmony among other believers.  One of them is the use of places of worship.
 
When Eid prayers, worshipers who do not have a place in the mosque will take advantage of the church porch.  Likewise during Christmas celebrations. Christians who have no place in the church make use of the foyer of the mosque.
 
"Then if there are Christians affected by the disaster, Muslims, yes, pray for them and Vice versa, "said Abdilah.
 
Physically, Abdilah added, the form of inter-communal harmony was demonstrated by the establishment of the Nurul Hikmah Mosque which faced the Tempur Village GITJ.  The two places of worship are only separated by a 2.5 meter wide residential alley.
 
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