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Nelson G. Hutauruk

Photo courtesy of Daulath V. Hutauruk.

Hutauruk, Nelson Gamaliel (1926–1995)

By Haldeman Beno Tampubolon

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Haldeman Beno Tampubolon is an ordained minister serving in Indonesia. He has served the Adventist Church for 17 years as a voluntary missionary and field pastor in Jakarta Local Conference, West Indonesia Union Mission. He is married to Heflin Ersa Hartuty. They are blessed with one son. He is currently doing graduate studies at the Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies (AIIAS), Philippines, as of this writing.

First Published: January 11, 2021

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Nelson Gamaliel Hutauruk served the Church as a teacher, pastor, and administrator. He was the president of the West Indonesia Union Mission from 1971 to 1976.

Early Life

He was born in Singapore on Wednesday, February 17, 1926.1 He was the third son of Justin Hutauruk and Jenny L. Tobing. Justin Hutauruk served as the director of Evangelist Literature in Malaysia who then returned to Sipoholon, Tarutung, North Sumatra, in 1932. In that year, Justin Hutauruk died because of Malaria sickness. 2

Education and Marriage

Hutauruk entered elementary school at Schakel, Sipogu, North Sumatera. He continued his studies from junior high school to college at the Adventist School in Gadobangkong, Cimahi, West Java, from 1948 to 1951. He married Ethuria Panjaitan in Gadobangkong on Sunday, August 31, 1952. They were blessed with eight sons and a daughter: Julius Hutauruk (California), Agustine Hutauruk (California), Junius Ferdinand Hutauruk (California), Novembrine Hutauruk (California), Daulath Victor Hutauruk (Bandung), Octoman Hutauruk (California), Juliamin Hutauruk (California), and Tolandi Apriline (California).3

Pastor Nelson Hutauruk started his ministry as a teacher at an SDA elementary school from 1951 to 1953. Then he continued his pastoral education at the Adventist College (presently known as the Adventist University of Indonesia-UNAI) at Cisarua and completed their two-year program in 1956. In the same year, he also served as the pastor in the Kebun Kembang SDA Church, Cimahi, West Java. In 1978, he studied at Andrews University, Michigan, and received his Master of Divinity degree. And in 1982, he finished his Doctor of Ministry degree at a Methodist University in California. 4

Ministry

Hutauruk began his ministry as a pastor of the SDA Church in Purwokerto from 1957 to 1961. He returned to continue his education at Adventist College at Cisarua in 1961. After that, he served as the pastor of Sukabumi SDA Church. He was anointed as an ordained pastor in December 1962. 5 From 1963 to1976, he was entrusted with the higher responsibilities to serve as the chairman in three different mission fields: the West Kalimantan Mission (1963-1967), the South Sumatra Mission (1968), 6 and the North Sumatra Mission (1969-1970). From 1971 to 1976, he was elected to be the first Indonesian to serve as the chairman of the West Indonesia Union Mission.

Before leaving the South Sumatra Mission (since he was entrusted with a new responsibility in the North Sumatra), Hutauruk delivered his message at the West Indonesia Union Annual Committee. His message was published by the Adventist Church News entitled, “Reaping the Far East from Region-to-Region” in 1969:

If other regions raise a lot of difficulties, the South Sumatra Region always presents advanced and pleasant experiences. Far East Harvest continues to advance both among outsiders and insiders because, in 1969, souls were baptized, many souls were also born into working families and Adventist members in South Sumatra. The head of Hutauruk expressed his sadness about leaving this “developed” region! Starting in 1970, the new regional leader was Pastor Cyrus Manurung.7

As the president of the West Indonesia Union Mission, he wrote the message written in the column “From the Chair of the Union” in the Adventist Church Newsletter:

As the new head of the Union, I feel how heavy the responsibility the organization puts on my shoulders, and I am sure that if my fellow workers and members throughout the Western Indonesian Union let me carry it alone, I will surely fail and a complete setback will result. we see in our future. . . . In order to achieve this progress, there must be unity and a spirit of close co-operation among workers and members.

Each of us needs to know where we came from, where we are now, and where we need to go. Let's make a start line for August 1970; what have we done until we read this Church News, and what progress will we make on December 31, 1970, which will come. . . .8

Later Life

Hutauruk’s favorite song was “Gladly, Gladly Toiling for the Master” which was written by William A. Ogden. He also had a favorite Bible verse in Mark 16:15: “And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.’” (NKJV)9

Nelson G. Hutauruk died on Sunday, January 1, 1995, at the age 69 in California, United States.

Legacy

During his ministry, Hutauruk contributed a lot to the Adventist Church. His ministry as the chairman of the West Kalimantan Mission began just after this mission had been organized on January 1, 1963, as an independent region of the West Java Region. 10

May 19, 1963 was a historic day for the West Kalimantan Mission since it has been inaugurated as a Mission area. At the same time, the Sedau Adventist Medical Clinic in Singkawang was inaugurated. One day earlier, their small congregation, which consisted of 8 adults and 8 children, was inaugurated as a new congregation in the Sedau, Sambas District. 11

On May 26, 1968, Hutauruk, as the president of South Sumatra Mission, also established the Curup Adventist Medical Center. As the regional chair, he loved the pastors of the congregation who worked earnestly in winning many souls. In the “Far East Harvest” event in 1969, together with young Pastor J. Sarijan and young Pastor B. H. Panjaitan, he held an evangelistic meeting in the Martapura, Bumiharjo SDA Church, South Sumatra. As a result of this meeting, 28 people were baptized at three different places. 12

Sources

Adventist Newsletter, January 1970. Bandung: Indonesia Publishing House, 1970.

Adventist Newsletter, September 1970. Bandung: Indonesia Publishing House, 1970.

Hutauruk, Nelson G. (1926-1995).” MyHeritage: Historical records and family trees related to Nelson Hutauruk. Accessed September 9, 2021. https://www.myheritage.com/names/nelson_hutauruk.

Lesiasel, A. L., Adventist Newsletter, May 1963. Bandung: Indonesia Publishing House, 1963.

Manueke, Sam. Adventist Newsletter, May 1963. Bandung: Indonesia Publishing House, 1963.

“Nelson Gamaliel Hutauruk (1926-1995).” Ancestry. Accessed September 9, 2021. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/?name=_Hutauruk.

Sarumpaet, R. I. Adventist Church News, August 1970. Bandung: Indonesia Publishing House, 1970.

Tambunan, Emil H. The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Indonesia; History of its Pioneering and Development. Bandung: Indonesia Publishing House, 1999.

Wawondatu, A. A., Purel, Adventist Newsletter, June 1969. Bandung: Indonesia Publishing House, 1969.

Notes

  1. “Nelson Gamaliel Hutauruk (1926-1995).” Ancestry, accessed September 9, 2021, https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/?name=_Hutauruk.↩

  2. Emil H. Tambunan, The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Indonesia; History of its Pioneering and Development. (Bandung: Indonesia Publishing House, 1999), 199.↩

  3. R. I. Sarumpaet, Adventist Church News, August 1970 (Bandung: Indonesia Publishing House, 1970), 3.↩

  4. Daulath V. Hutauruk, interview by author, September 10, 2021. D. V. Hutauruk is one of Nelson Hutauruk's eight children who is still living in Bandung, Indonesia.↩

  5. Emil H. Tambunan, The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Indonesia; History of its Pioneering and Development (Bandung: Indonesia Publishing House, 1999) 198, 199.↩

  6. “Nelson G. Hutauruk (1926-1995).” MyHeritage: Historical records and family trees related to Nelson Hutauruk, accessed September 9, 2021, https://www.myheritage.com/names/nelson_hutauruk.↩

  7. Editor, Adventist Newsletter, January 1970, (Bandung: Indonesia Publishing House, 1970), 7.↩

  8. Editor, Adventist Newsletter, September 1970, (Bandung: Indonesia Publishing House, 1970), 3.↩

  9. Daulath V. Hutauruk, interview by author, September 10, 2021. D. V. Hutauruk is one of Nelson Hutauruk's eight children who is still living in Bandung, Indonesia.↩

  10. A. L. Lesiasel, Adventist Newsletter, May 1963, (Bandung: Indonesia Publishing House,1963), 64.↩

  11. Sam Manueke, Adventist Newsletter, May 1963, (Bandung: Indonesia Publishing House, 1963), 134, 135.↩

  12. A. A. Wawondatu, Purel, Adventist Newsletter, June 1969, (Bandung: Indonesia Publishing House,1963),13.↩

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Tampubolon, Haldeman Beno. "Hutauruk, Nelson Gamaliel (1926–1995)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. January 11, 2021. Accessed May 14, 2025. https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=HCJ4.

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Tampubolon, Haldeman Beno. "Hutauruk, Nelson Gamaliel (1926–1995)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. January 11, 2021. Date of access May 14, 2025, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=HCJ4.

Copy to clipboard Download Word File

Tampubolon, Haldeman Beno (2021, January 11). Hutauruk, Nelson Gamaliel (1926–1995). Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. Retrieved May 14, 2025, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=HCJ4.

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