Creation Care Conference Indonesia

Peter Jan de Vries
20 juni 2026

“An A Rocha organization in Papua—that would be wonderful,” I thought to myself about 10 years ago, when we were still living in Papua. At that time I had already experienced how difficult it is to protect Creation from exploitation and to stand up for the land rights of the local people.

The biggest environmental problem is greed, and there’s only one real solution to that: Christ. Because anyone who truly loves Christ will also love God and their neighbor—and therefore also take good care of Creation. A Rocha inspired me with the way it, as a Christian organization, is committed to the thriving of all Creation, with it's people, plants, animals, and ecosystems.

That’s why I was very excited when I heard that A Rocha International, together with the local NGO YAPPENDA, was organizing a Creation Care Conference in Indonesia in May - in Sentani, Papua, of all places!

There were more than 30 participants from all over Indonesia, including Kalimantan, Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and Papua. They came from churches, theological institutes, NGOs, and mission organizations. The international speakers were Dave Bookless and Kuki Rokhum from A Rocha International. Dave Bookless spoke about the biblical basis of Creation Care, and Kuki Rokhum discussed how A Rocha operates in different parts of the world.

During the conference, all participants had the opportunity to share their stories and learn from one another. The stories focused on nature conservation, environmental education, sustainable agriculture, and the role of the church in Creation Care. For my part, I presented LEAD Global’s programs, including Faith and Farming, Traditional Ecological Knowledge, and Bloom Books.
And so, this first Indonesian Creation Care Conference has led to new friendships and new forms of collaboration. I personally received two invitations to lead workshops on Faith and Farming.
Another outcome is that the CAMA churches want to collaborate with A Rocha International to incorporate Creation Care into the curriculum of their Bible schools.
There isn’t an A Rocha Papua yet, but we’ve taken another step closer to making that a reality.