Students plan to flee to religious retreats

By Deborah Hutauruk

JAKARTA (JP): Get away from home, forget the rat race and the material world and become closer to God.

This is what many urban high school students want to do, or their parents want them to do -- spend their forthcoming month- long vacation at a religious retreat.

Retreats and other religious activities are becoming a favorite choice for students who want to spend part, or the whole of their holidays, learning about morality and religion.

The challenge for religious teachers is how to make the long vacation both entertaining and memorable.

Some parents of junior high school students plan to send their children to Islamic boarding schools (Pesantren) that conduct short, practical courses on religion.

They believe this is the best way to provide their children with the basic moral principles needed for the transition to adulthood. It is something many parents are simply too busy to teach their children.

Fifteen-year old twins, Bayu and Bima, who have just finished their junior high school year in Jakarta, said their parents insisted they learn moral and religious values by participating in a Pesantren Kilat program in Bogor.

Parents and religious teachers say the courses will complement the students' school lessons.

"The portion of religious teaching is quite limited in school, so the pesantren would deepen the children's faith and encourage them to practice Islam in their daily life," said Djoko Muljono, the twins' father.

Djoko said the twins were against the idea, but he and his wife believed the program would help teach their children morals.

"They will soon begin the high school year, this is the right time for them to sacrifice the holiday for their own good," Djoko said.

Bayu and Bima will join a three-week program in Pesantren Majlis Al-Ihya in Ciomas, Bogor. The school is located near the scenic Mount Salak.

The school enrolls both male and female students in its regular courses or Pesantren Kilat one.

Female youngsters wear proper Moslems dresses when attending lectures or learning to recite the Koran. Boys wear a rimless black velvet cap, sarong and gamis -- Arab style shirt.

It is the country atmosphere that has inspired Winda to enroll her 15-year old son in the Pesantren Kilat program at Al-Ihya.

"I feel a bit strange to send him away, but why not?" she said.

The Al-Ihya offers courses for elementary, junior and senior high school levels. It caters for a maximum of 100 students at each level. The fee for the three-week program is Rp 360,000, which covers meals, refreshments and laundry.

Jakarta-based Catholic school Santa Lucia also conducts 10-day courses for Moslems during the long holidays.

Lucia Sutanto, the school's owner, said the program started a year ago in Duren Tiga, South Jakarta.

"Why not? Almost all of my employees and students are Moslem and Indonesia has the largest Moslem population in the world," Lusia said, adding that the idea came from parents.

"The purpose was to promote religious tolerance and strengthen the young people's faith in God, so it has nothing to do with business," she said.

Santa Lusia hires ustadz (Islamic teachers) from Pesantren Miftahul Jannah in Pisangan, South Jakarta.

"They are accredited teachers," Lusia said adding that the 10- day program costs Rp 10,000. Lessons include English language as well as visits to Istiqlal Great Mosque and orphan house.

Rusli Fatah, an Islamic religious teacher at SMU 70 state high school in South Jakarta, said the school also runs a four- day Pesantren Kilat program at a cost of Rp 60,000.

This year the school received permission from the Jakarta office of education to conduct a five-day program between June 21 to July 12.

"Students study hours are between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., so they don't have to stay the night at school," Rusli said.

The school will also hold a voluntary pesantren kilat program "Widya Wisata Islam" in the Sukabumi countryside. The four-night program starts June 20 and costs Rp 25,000. Many of the participants are enthusiastic high school freshmen.

"We try to arrange the program to fit their age, emotion and knowledge on Islam," she said.

Agus Safi, from Al-Azhar Islamic Study Center Foundation (YISC) said they advertised the Pesantren Kilat program through posters and radio.

"We want to encourage students to think that religious studies can be entertaining and helpful to meet future challenges," he said.

In general, students receive instruction on aquidah (the basic concepts of Islamic teaching), ahlaq (good conduct), fiqih (Islamic rules of law), hadits (deeds and saying of Prophet Muhammad), tafsir (interpretation of Koran) and iman (faith), in addition to citing Koran and learning Arabic.

Agus said the Rp 150,000 YISC five-day program was designed quite different from the traditional pesantren syllabus.

"Parents are allowed to participate in discussions and students are required to visit residents in slum areas," Agus said.

He said the 150 participants will be taught by famous teachers from the Jakarta State Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN) such as Umar Sahab and Umar Ibrahim.

Christian churches and private schools usually offer short- term religious studies in quiet hill resorts. Activities usually include bible interpretation, discussion, moral studies, workshops and religious service.

"I want to participate in my church's retreat program because it sounds soothing and I think I will spend valuable hours with my friends," a Jakarta senior high school student, Indira, said.

"In addition, I hope I will become a bit closer to God because my knowledge on Christianity is shallow."

The Intervarsity Christian Fellowship (Perkantas) has organized a retreat program for youngsters for the past 20 years, the head of Jakarta office, Ria Pasaribu said.

"We charged only Rp 20,000 per student," Ria said.

"The fund-raising program included selling handmade toys, food, garage sales and donations."

Elyunus Gulo, the fellowship coordinator for the youth program, said about 150 students from schools in the South Jakarta area were expected to join the mission in Cilangkap, on the outskirts of East Jakarta.

"The instructors are members of Perkantas," he said.

The program is designed according to the needs and intentions of the retreat and the schedule to complement the school curriculum.

Some Christian schools do not offer retreats during the long vacation. Tarakanita Senior high school for girls only offers the retreat during the school year.