Sumual, Mindert A. (1909–1988)
By Welner Agus Sandy
Welner Agus Sandy (M.A. in Religion, AIIAS) served as a pastor in East Kalimantan from 2001 until 2005. He was a departmental director of the regional office of East Kalimantan Mission from 2006 to 2016 and as executive secretary from 2017 to 2021. Now he is president of East Kalimantan Mission.
First Published: October 6, 2022
Mindert Albert Sumual was a pioneer Adventist church worker in Indonesia.
Early Life, Education and Marriage
Mindert Albert Sumual was born in Manado, North Sulawesi, on February 27, 1909. 1 He spent his childhood years there until he finished high school in the city of Manado. There are no available written records and only very limited information regarding Sumual’s educational attainment. He married Maria Martha Musak on December 18, 1935, in Manado. Maria Martha was born on March 3, 1918. The couple was blessed with only one child, a son named Rentje Sumual, who was born on September 17, 1947, in Manado.2
Ministry
Sumual started his denominational service as a literature evangelist in North Sulawesi from April 1937 to March 1942. He sold religious books in Balikpapan and Samarinda. He served in the same mission field as a Bible worker from March 1942 until May 1950.3
He then served as an assistant pastor, from June 1950 to June 1952, then helped in Kalimantan as a church pastor from July 1952 to April 1953.4 He was ordained in Manado City, North Sulawesi, as a gospel minister on June 12, 1952.5
The arrival of Sumual from Manado to Balikpapan in 1950 as a gospel teacher paved the way for the spread of God’s Word in the locality and other far-flung areas of the region. He worked along along the Mahakam River and up to Barong Tongkok, West Kutai. Sumual and his wife conducted a 30-night Bible Study series in Barong Tongkok-upper Mahakam River, at Samuel Soleman’s house, a non-Adventist–in fact, a Pentecostal pastor. At the close of the Bible Study series, eight souls were baptized including Samuel Soleman and his wife.6 After the cottage meetings, the new converts were organized and entrusted to a group leader who would take care and nurture the new believers.
In 1956 another convert, Siel Stekanggen, was baptized in Samarinda. As a government official, he was greatly influential in spreading the Word of God. Early member of the Samarinda congregation included M. A. Sumual, Mrs. Sumual, Jorry Sumual, Rentje Sumual, Jumadi, Mrs, Jumadi, Mr. and Mrs. Siong, Mr. and Mrs. Tamin, Joni, Antung, Paulus Gansa, and a Filipino young man. This group became the core members when, later, the Ongko Asa Church was established 12 kilometers away from Barong Tongkok. Many years later, in 1975, a new school was established in Ongko Asa to accommodate the children from nearby community and also as center for evangelism.”7
Sumual served South Kalimantan as district pastor from May 1953 until the end of 1960. The following year, he was appointed as the president of South Kalimantan mission. He served in this capacity until January 1966.8 In February of 1966, he was assigned to work as district pastor in West Java, until his retirement at the end of 1969. He served the denomination for 32 years and eight months.9
Later Life
After his retirement in 1970, he settled in West Java, his last place of service. It was sad that he did not enjoy his retirement days for he felt ill shortly. He had a surgery performed in an attempt to help, but he did not live long after the procedure. Mindert Albert Sumual passed away on December 22, 1988, at the age of 61 years old. He served the denomination for a total 33 years and four months. His wife Maria Martha died on October 24, 2008. 10
Contribution
Mindert A. Sumual was a local pioneer of the Adventist work in Samarinda, Balikpapan, East Kalimantan. Also, he was among the first pastors to open new fields or congregations in the interior of the Mahakam River, namely in Melak and Barong Tongkok, West Kutai Regency, East Kalimantan at year 1950. Pastor M. A. Sumual had been the Regional Chairperson of Kalimantan, when the Regional Office was in the city of Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan in 1961-1966. 11
Sources
Bradley, W. P. “Land of Great Rivers.” ARH, January 21, 1954.
Indonesia Adventist Church Bulletin. Indonesia Publishing House, May 1961.
Retirement Beneficiary Update for Mindert Albert Sumual, Southern-Asia Pacific Archives, Silang, Cavite, the Phillippines.
Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association. Various years. https://www.adventistyearbook.org/.
Tambunan, Emil. H. The History of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Indonesia. Indonesia Publishing House, November 1999.
Worker’s Service Record of Mindert Albert Sumual. Southern- Asia Pacific Division Archives, Silang, Cavite, the Phillippines.
Notes
-
Worker’s Service Record of Mindert Albert Sumual, Southern-Asia Pacific Division Archives.↩
-
Ibid.↩
-
W. P. Bradley, “Land of Great Rivers,” ARH, January 21, 1954, 18.↩
-
Emil H Tambunan, The History of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Indonesia, published by Indonesia Publishing House, November 1999, 346.↩
-
Ibid.↩
-
Indonesia Adventist Church Bulletin (Indonesia Publishing House, May 1961), 80; Tambunan, 342.↩
-
Ibid.↩
-
Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, 1962, 101; Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, 1965, 1966, 139.↩
-
Retirement Beneficiary Update for Mindert Albert Sumual, Southern-Asia Pacific Archives.↩
-
Tambunan, 343.↩
-
Personal Worker’s Service Record of Mindert Albert Sumual.↩