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Fr. Daniel Byantoro to speak in Wenatchee about his conversion to Christianity from Islam

October 16, 2009 By

Fr. Daniel Byantoro will speak at Wenatchee First Assembly of God church in Wenatchee, WA on October 27th at 7pm in the fellowship hall.

Some background information about Fr. Daniel and the Church in Indonesia:

Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim country, with over 200 million Muslims who make up nearly 90% of the population. Yet its culture has been uniquely influenced over thousands of years by all of the world’s major religions. It is a country of vastly diverse ethnicities and religions, spread over an area almost as large as the US, with over 6,000 populated islands and 350 different languages.

Fr. Daniel Byantoro is a priest in the ancient Orthodox Christian Church, and was the first Indonesian Orthodox Christian in the current era. Under his leadership, the Indonesian Orthodox Church has grown over the last 20 years, but is still very small and insignificant relative to the overall culture. Fr. Daniel has had continuing dialog with Islam for his whole life. He has many Muslim friends, and a deep appreciation for the piety of devout Muslims, many of whom have encouraged and assisted him as he ministers to the Orthodox Christian community. He is lifelong student of the ways in which religion and culture interact.

Some of the insights that he will be sharing include:

In what ways are Christianity and Islam similar and different?
How does culture both reflect and influence religion?
How does the unique doctrine of the Trinity distinguish Christianity from Islam, and from other monotheistic religions?
How do cultural and historic differences influence the way Islam and Christianity are practiced?
How does the ancient Orthodox Christian faith speak directly to the unique cultural setting in Indonesia?

 
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Biography of Fr. (Archimandrite) Daniel Byantoro
Orthodox Priest; Evangelist; Missionary; Teacher
 
 
Fr. Daniel was born into a middle-class family in Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world. He was raised primarily by his maternal grandparents, who took great care to make sure that he received a complete religious education. Devout by nature, he studied the Qur’an, and accepted with great piety the teachings of Islam as they were passed on to him. As a Muslim, he opposed the teaching of Christianity, and was proud of his ability to win debates with Christians. He was nevertheless intrigued by the passages in the Qur’an that referred to Jesus, the son of Mary. One day during his evening Islamic prayers, Christ appeared to him in a miraculous and life-changing vision, similar to the experience St. Paul had on the road to Damascus. From that moment, Fr. Daniel’s life was radically and permanently altered.
 
Galvanized into action by this dramatic experience, Fr. Daniel sought to learn more from the only Christians he could find, despite tremendous cultural and family opposition, and in spite of grave personal danger. These devout believers arranged for his baptism taught him to love and obey Jesus Christ, and encouraged him to develop his natural gifts for teaching, preaching and evangelism. As he came to know the New Testament Scriptures, he began to develop an inner longing for a deeper spirituality which seemed to be lacking in the Protestant tradition. Eventually he went to Seoul, South Korea and entered a Protestant Seminary there. It was during this time, nearing graduation, that he came across a book standing alone on the shelf in a bookstore by Kallistos Ware that explained both the history and teachings of the Orthodox Church. Once again, his life was forever changed.
 
Discovering an Orthodox Church in Seoul, he began attending services and was immediately drawn to the richness of Orthodox piety and liturgy. He was instructed in the Orthodox faith by a loving Archimandrite (Soterios Trambas, who was later consecrated a Bishop and Metropolitan), and who brought him into the Orthodox Church. Full of enthusiasm, he began planning for the evangelization of Indonesia, and laying the foundations for the formation of an Indonesian Orthodox Church. However, since he was the only known Orthodox Christian in that nation of 250 million at the time of his conversion, Archimandrite Soterios did not want him to be left isolated in a hostile environment in Indonesia. Instead, he wanted him to obtain an Orthodox theological education and to learn personal spiritual discipline. Therefore, he sent him to Greece, where he studied through Apostoliki Diakonia and visited Mt. Athos. Then he was sent to the US, where he studied and graduated from Holy Cross seminary. In 1988 he was subsequently ordained to the priesthood by His Grace Bishop, (now Metropolitan) Maximos of Pittsburgh. Soon thereafter, he went back to Indonesia and vigorously began doing the work of an evangelist, church planter, teacher, and spiritual father. When his funds were depleted he returned to the US, where he labored to raise support for the Indonesian Orthodox Church.
 
Over the course of the last 20 years, God has richly blessed Fr. Daniel’s ministry, in Indonesia, in the US, and in numerous places around the world where he has been asked to travel and serve. Under his leadership, the Indonesian Orthodox Church has grown to its present size of over 20 clergy, approximately 30 local parishes and missions, and several thousand Orthodox Christians. Fr. Daniel carries a heavy burden as the senior priest and spiritual leader of this tiny Church. Being a Christian in Indonesia almost guarantees a permanent lower-class socio-economic status, as advancements and prestigious careers are reserved for professing Muslims. Yet this desperately poor and seemingly powerless Church has been richly blessed as more and more Indonesians want to learn more about Jesus Christ, and become part of His Body the Church.
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