Secured livelihoods for women and youth in Indonesia and Malaysia
GKE, Evangelical Reformed Church in Kalimantan
The Protestant Reformed Church in Kalimantan (GKE) is active in the areas of education, health, women's empowerment and livelihood security. It provides legal support for securing land rights and works interfaith with Muslim organizations. Mission 21 supports numerous projects of GKE such as income generation for women, educational scholarships for young adults from poor families, awareness raising and accompaniment on domestic violence, and interfaith cooperation. In addition, Mission 21 promotes theological education and training and the implementation of contextual theology at the Banjarmasin Theological Seminary. From 2014 until the beginning of 2019, Uwe Hummel, ecumenical co-worker of Mission 21, taught theology there.
Relations with the CPCE date back to the early 20th century, and since the 1960s Mission 21 (then known as the Basel Mission) has been increasingly involved in the church's development projects. The CPCE has over a thousand congregations in Kalimantan, the majority of them in remote rural areas, served by 650 pastors. The majority of the 330,000 members belong to the Dayak ethnic group.
