Students plan to flee to religious retreats

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.