The Basel Mission became active in Kalimantan only late: Due to its difficult financial situation after the end of World War I, the Rhenish Mission Society had offered to take over this mission field in March 1920. Just one year later, four couples traveled from Basel to Banjarmasin, the capital of South Kalimantan. They supported the Dayak people in particular and opened several schools, a women's and children's clinic and a hospital in Kuala Kapuas.
Early on, the Basel Mission intended to train native forces continuously and at the same time to unite the congregations into an independent church. An important step in this direction was the opening of the first course for future ordained ministers of the Word (panditas) in the summer of 1932. The wives of the prospective pastors were also trained: in singing, hygiene, child care and sewing.
On April 4, 1935, the Gereja Dayak Evangelis (Evangelical Dayak Church, GDE) was founded in a solemn synod in Kuala Kapuas. The following day, in the presence of several hundred people, the five Dayak pastors Hernald Dingang Patianom, Eduard Dohong, Gerson Akar, Maradonius Blantan and Rudolf Kitting received their ordination.
Later, nine more pastors were ordained and distributed to their areas of work. The Second World War brought a major break. After the occupation of Borneo by the Japanese, the Basel Mission had to give up its activities there for the time being. However, the work of the Dayak Church continued. One of the first five ordained pastors in 1935, Hernald Dingang Patianom, later became president of the Gereja Kalimantan Evangelis (Kalimantan Evangelical Church GKE), as the church has been called since its renaming in 1950.
Under the keyword "Dayak" the Website of the Mission 21 archive viele photographic documents of this culture in Borneo.
Text: Patrick Moser, research associate in the Mission 21 archives.
