East Java Academy
By Kweqlys Franklin Christian Satori
Kweqlys Franklin Christian Satori is an ordained minister serving in Indonesia. He has served for 12 years as a voluntary missionary, Bible teacher, and field pastor in East Java Conference. He is married to Rinny Weol, a teacher and headmaster. They are blessed with two children. Satori was a student in SLA-Purwodadi from 1996 to 2003. He and his wife have served SLA-Purwodadi from 2010 to 2012 as teachers. Currently, Franklin is studying in AIIAS.
First Published: September 8, 2022
East Java Academy, nationally known as Sekolah Lanjuntan Advent Purwodadi (SLA-Purwodadi), was registered as a boarding school operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the East Java Conference. It is located in Jalan Raya Purwodadi, regency of Pasuruan, East Java. This school was first located in Sukorejo, and then it moved to its current location.
SLA-Purwodadi accepts both male and female students from junior to senior high school. Since it is a boarding school, naturally, it has two dormitory buildings provided to accommodate students. Currently, SLA-Purwodadi has various options for either male or female dormitories in terms of room facility. Moreover, there are many students coming to SLA-Purwodadi from various places in Indonesia. Attending there increases student knowledge regarding the cultural diversity of Indonesia. During the academic year of 2018-2019, SLA-Purwodadi had 385 enrollees (96 junior high school and 289 senior high school students).1
Founding and History of the School
It was the necessity for a boarding school that inspired the leaders of East Java Mission to establish SLA-Purwodadi there. Leaders considered that, to build a good system of education, East Java also needed a boarding school to train men and women to be more disciplined and closer to God. To make their vision a reality, the leaders of East Java Mission, led by S. Ritonga, J. B. Th Umboh and E. H. Panjaitan2, tried their best to open a boarding school in Sukorejo. In the beginning, they used one of the rented houses belonging to an Adventist church member in Sukorejo as a place to operate this boarding school.3 On February 1, 1967, East Java Mission officially operated the boarding school in Sukorejo.4 The first president elected to lead this school was C. Kainde.
As the temporary place for SLA-Purwodadi, Sukorejo has become a historical place due to the formation of SLA-Purwodadi. Sukorejo is a village that is located 50 kilometers from the East Java Conference headquarters. At the time of opening, there were 24 students enrolled in this boarding school and living in this hostel.5 However, the leaders in East Java continued to try to find the best place for the teaching-learning process for a boarding school. Finally, the East Java Mission purchased a plot of land of 11.60 hectares.6 This new area is located 15 kilometers from the previous place, Sukorejo. Currently, SLA-Purwodadi is a cool, fresh, and beautiful area that is a comfortable place for students and teachers to live in.
The leaders of the East Java Mission, together with Ch. Dompas, who was elected as a school principal in SLA-Purwodadi from 1968 to 1974, have been actively involved in the initial building projects. From the first month of 1972 to September 1972, Ch. Dompas, East Java Mission leaders and the congregations were able to male and female dorms, a dining room, and an office building.7 Indeed, the work done by Ch. Dompas was not the final effort needed to make SLA-Purwodadi the best educational system in the East Java Conference. The leaders who continued the work of Ch. Dompas also contributed to the development of Purwodadi SLA, in terms of administration, education, and buildings development.
One of the best leaders of SLA-Purwodadi, who has carved the best history in constructing the buildings in SLA-Purwodadi, is E. T. Panjaitan. Under his leadership, SLA-Purwodadi built two dormitories (1989), a new architectural school (1991), a new dining room and library (1991), one additional female dormitory (1993), as well as five units of housing for the staff, a store, and a sports hall (1995).8 Not only that, after E. T. Panjaitan’s long period of serving in SLA-Purwodadi (from 1988 to 1999), the alumni of SLA-Purwodadi asked him to serve again as the principal in that school. Even though he had retired, E. T. Panjaitan willingly accepted this challenge and served in SLA-Purwodadi from May 2011 to July 2016. His works became a great blessing for SLA-Purwodadi and the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Hitherto, SLA-Purwodadi still continues to develop. Under the current service of David Maart, it is expected that SLA-Purwodadi will continue to grow and to willingly serve the church, the community, and the nation.
Historical Role of the School
From the school’s beginning, the leaders of East Java Mission and the teachers in SLA-Purwodadi had a vision to train not only Adventist young people but also those in other communities or religions in Indonesia. Until then, SLA-Purwodadi had not only been a blessing for its students but also for the community around SLA-Purwodadi. For instance, there are some people near the campus who are employed by SLA-Purwodadi as gardeners, school gatekeepers, and in other jobs. There are also many students who come from various religions in Indonesia. Therefore, the surrounding community is very happy with the existence of this school since this boarding school had not remade itself into a cloistral school. Moreover, SLA-Purwodadi is also known as a place with two big institutions. First, there is an orphanage foundation with the name Rumah Kasih Yapi Slapur.9 The purpose of this foundation is to help orphan children who want to continue their studies. The majority of the children in Yapi study in SLA-Purwodadi. Rumah Kasih Yapi Slapur has its own building and dormitory located on the SLA-Purwodadi campus. Therefore, SLA-Purwodadi had become a blessing for the children in Rumah Kasih Yapi Slapur. In the past, SLA-Purwodadi also hosted the Healing Way foundation. This was a health missionary program also located on the SLA-Purwodadi campus. The presence of these health missionaries has been a blessing not only for SLA-Purwodadi, but also for the surrounding community. Healing Way also had a program for serving the church and the community surrounding of SLA-Purwodadi.
As a bilingual campus, SLA-Purwodadi has attracted many students who can continue their studies in countries such as Singapore, Thailand, The Philippines, Australia, America, or other places that use English in their educational system. Moreover, its graduates had served the community as doctors, teachers, professors, nurses, IT technicians, accountants, and in many more professions. For the church, the alumni of SLA-Purwodadi have become pastors, teachers, professors, staff members, and leaders for the Seventh-day Adventist Church and its institutions. Additionally, there are a lot of alumni who voluntarily contributed to SLA-Purwodadi in its developments.
Vision, Mission and Goals
Vision: To have a character like Jesus Christ, excel in science and technology, be independent, and train students to be responsible for the environment.
Mission:
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To obtain an Adventist education that trains students to have faith in God and to serve others.
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To develop students’ abilities to be skillful in science and technology.
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To motivate students to be creative, outstanding, and independent.
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To keep the campus clean and beautiful.
Goals:
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To motivate students to access higher education.
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To achieve academic excellence.
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To maintain a balanced development of character.
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To train students to be good citizens.
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To nurture strong physical development and maintain healthy mental and spiritual growth.
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To train students to take responsibility for environmental preservation.10
List of Principals
C. Kainde (1967-1968); Ch. Dompas (1968-1974); August Ricky (1975); Mexico Pardosi (1975-1978); Ch. Dompas (1980-1985); R. B. Matahari (1986-1987); Edwin T. Panjaitan (1988-1999); Elly Waworundeng (2000-2001); R. S. Wewengkang (2001-2002); F. Losung (2003-2005); Jonathan W. S. Wagiran (2006-2008); Petrus Souisa (2008-April 2011); Edwin T. Panjaitan (May 2011-July 2016); David Maart (July 2016-present).11
Sources
Official website of SLA-Purwodadi: http://slapur.sch.id/.
Tambunan, Emil H. Gereja masehi advent hari ketujuh di Indonesia; sejarah perintisan dan pengembangannya. Indonesia, Jawa Barat: IPH, 1999.
Notes
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Glenn Bolang (English teacher in SLA-Purwodadi), interview by author, September 19, 2019.↩
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These three names are the leaders of East Java Mission in that era. See. Emil H. Tambunan, gereja masehi advent hari ketujuh di Indonesia; sejarah perintisah dan pengembangannya (Indonesia; jawa barat; IPH, 1999), 332↩
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Emil H. Tambunan, gereja masehi advent hari ketujuh di Indonesia; sejarah perintisah dan pengembangannya (Indonesia; jawa barat; IPH, 1999), 442.↩
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Official website of SLA-Purwodadi, http://slapur.sch.id/about/.↩
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Ibid.↩
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Ibid.; Emil H. Tambunan, gereja masehi advent hari ketujuh di Indonesia, 442.↩
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Ibid.↩
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Ibid., 443.↩
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The vision, mission, and goals of SLA-Purwodadi are officially displayed on the school’s website: http://slapur.sch.id/visi-misi-dan-tujuan/.↩
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Taken from the official website of SLA-Purwodadi, http://slapur.sch.id/about/.↩