Simorangkir, Amos (1929–2013)

By Michael Palar

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Michael Palar

First Published: June 7, 2022

Amos Simorangkir was an educator and administrator in Indonesia.

Early Life

Amos Simorangkir was born in Lempuyangan, Yogyakarta, on September 9, 1929.1 He was the fifth child of Yohannes Pangaluga Simorangkir and Emma Maria Lumbantobing. Yohanes was educated in Singapore to be a Bible worker of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and then served in various cities, including Yogyakarta, the place where Amos was born. Amos spent his childhood in various places, following where his father served, such as Padang; Simorangkir, Tarutung, Tigalingga, Karo; Lobu Harambir. In 1944 Yohanes served in the Tanah Karo area, where he contracted tuberculosis and died.2

Education and Marriage

Just before the Japanese occupation in 1943, the Adventist Church opened a boarding school in Sipogu, a rural area.3 Amos went to study in Sipogu and took a pre-school education. From 1946 to 1948 he attended an Adventist school in Tarutung to take the lower middle school from Grade 7 to 9. After he finished his study in Tarutung, he heard the news that a new school was opened by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Gadobangkong, West Java. He expressed his dream to study there, and to his surprise, his mother supported it. He described, “She immediately worked to mortgage her rice field to purchase my boat ticket to Java and set aside enough money for my school deposit.” It was a difficult time to travel in North Sumatra because one has to cross the line of demarcation between the territory or area controlled by the Indonesian government and the territory occupied by the Dutch Military government. At one checkpoint in Toba Lake, a Dutch soldier lifted his rifle to tell him to go back to the Indonesian side. He was not granted permission to pass, which means he could not continue his travel to fulfill his dream to study in Gadobangkong. But suddenly three boys appeared and suggested him to follow them through another way. After about half an hour, he reached the other side, exactly at the bus station in Parapat that would take him to continue his travel. On the bus, before leaving, a Dutch soldier checked and asked if there were people on the bus without a travel pass. Amos was scared, but a lady next to his seat, who apparently observed his situation, without saying a word opened her big scarf, pushed his head down on her lap, and covered it with her scarf until the engine started and the bus went on the way. It was one of the miraculous experiences that Amos had on that long trip to Gadobangkong.4

Amos then became a working student in his Upper Middle School from Grade 9 to12 at Gadobangkong. During vacation he worked as a colporteur to support his studies until he graduated in 1950. Then he stayed at Gadobangkong to continue his Junior College and completed it in 1952. Amos married Pastor Pasuhuk’s daughter, Anneke Pasuhuk, on June 30, 1955, in Naripan Church, Bandung. They were blessed with five children: Yvonne, Reimer, Elmore, Yolanda, and Anita.

In 1956 Amos was sent by the organization to continue his study at the Philippine Union College.5 Amos took a Bachelor of Science course and graduated in 1958.6 In 1962 he requested to study in the United States. Surprisingly, the church granted the proposal and sent him and his wife to Walla Walla College. They had to leave their children in Indonesia to be taken care of by the grandparents. Amos expressed that the two and half years of separation from the children was the most painful experience in his life. In the United States, he studied biology.

Another opportunity to study abroad came in 1974 when Amos was sent again by the church to study at Andrews University. He enrolled in Educational Administration and Supervision and finished the degree in 1978.7

Ministry

Amos started his denominational service in 1952 when he served as a teacher in North Sumatra Training School, Pematang Siantar, North Sumatra. Immediately after his wedding in 1955, he was sent to teach in North Celebes Training School, Kawangkoan, Northern Sulawesi. The couple stayed for only eight months because they were sent to the Philippine Union College to study.8

After finishing the degree, he was called to teach at Indonesia Union College (now Universitas Advent Indonesia or UNAI), Cisarua, Bandung from 1958 to 1961. Later, after coming back from Walla Walla College in 1964, he was appointed as the academic dean of the college for six years.9 In 1970 he was appointed the president of the Indonesia Union College.10 Initially, he humbly declined the position considering that he was not ready. However, the union leaders convinced Amos. Then he became the first Indonesian national to preside over the college since it started in 1929.11 He served in this capacity for four years and then he was sent to take doctoral studies at Andrews University, U.S.A.12

After his doctoral studies, Amos was appointed to be the president of the West Indonesia Union Mission.13 He had very strong leadership skills and built a strong management system.14 He was also remembered as a leader who was keen to develop local people to be good leaders.

In 1982 Amos was appointed to serve as a director of education in the Far Eastern Division.15 He served until 1987 and then resigned from the job. He disagreed with the salary structure that was applied to workers based on country of origin rather than by responsibility.

Later Life

Amos and his family moved to the United States. He applied for retirement on August 9, 1989, and it was approved by the Executive Committee of the Far Eastern Division on September 7, 1989.16 While in the United States, he tried various jobs; then in 1993 he was appointed as the co-pastor at the Loma Linda Indonesian SDA Church and retired in 2000. Amos Simorangkir passed away on June 27, 2013, and was buried in San Bernardino.17

Contribution

Amos Simorangkir empowered both students and his coworkers and introduced to them the initiatives that he learned from his graduate studies abroad. He applied the principles he learned outside his country to develop his country’s education system. He used his voice to promote equality among the denominational workers.

Sources

“Autobiography of Amos Simorangkir.” Unpublished manuscript. A copy in the author’s private collection.

“Gone to Andrews.” Far Eastern Division Outlook, November 1974.

“Indonesian Studies School Administration.” Far Eastern Division Outlook, April 1976.

“Indonesia Union College Serves Java, Sumatra.” Far Eastern Division Outlook, August- September 1970.

“Our Students Abroad.” Far Eastern Division Outlook, January 1957.

Schmidt, I. E. “Traveling in Sumatra.” ARH, October 13, 1927.

Seventh-Day Adventist Yearbook, 1971.

Simurangkir, Amos. “Analysis of the Attitude of the Constituents of Indonesia Union College Toward the Absence of Government Academic Recognition of the College” (Doctoral dissertation). Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan.

“Simorangkir, Amos.” Service Record, Southern Asia-Pacific Division Archives, Silang, Cavite, the Philippines.

Simorangkir, Amos Certification of Vital Record of State of California, Department of Public Health, County of San Bernardino.

Sitompul, Gladys. “Overseas Students Graduate.” Far Eastern Division Outlook, April 1958.

Notes

  1. Amos Simorangkir’s Service Record, Southern Asia-Pacific Division Archives.

  2. Autobiography of Amos Simorangkir, Manuscript, 3.

  3. I. E. Schmidt, “Traveling in Sumatra,” ARH, October 13, 1927,

  4. Autobiography of Amos Simorangkir (unpublished manuscript, a copy in the author’s private collection). 4.

  5. “Our Students Abroad,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, January 1957, 8.

  6. Gladys Sitompul, “Overseas Students Graduate,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, April 1958, 15.

  7. Amos Simurangkir, “Analysis of the Attitude of the Constituents of Indonesia Union College Toward the Absence of Government Academic Recognition of the College” (Doctoral dissertation), Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan.

  8. “Our Students Abroad.”

  9. “Indonesian Studies School Administration,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, April 1976, 3.

  10. Seventh-Day Adventist Yearbook (1971).

  11. “Indonesia Union College Serves Java, Sumatra,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, August-September 1970, 10-11.

  12. “Gone to Andrews,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, November 1974, 3.

  13. Amos Simorangkir’s Service Record.

  14. Burman Aritonang, interview by author, October 10, 2018.

  15. Minutes of Meeting, General Conference Committee, November 5, 1981.

  16. Amos Simorangkir’s Service Record.

  17. Amos Simorangkir, Certification of Vital Record of State of California, Department of Public Health, County of San Bernardino.

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Palar, Michael. "Simorangkir, Amos (1929–2013)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. June 07, 2022. Accessed February 19, 2025. https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=9ASP.

Palar, Michael. "Simorangkir, Amos (1929–2013)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. June 07, 2022. Date of access February 19, 2025, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=9ASP.

Palar, Michael (2022, June 07). Simorangkir, Amos (1929–2013). Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. Retrieved February 19, 2025, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=9ASP.