Christian Integration in Education

The nation?s moral ethics decay and bankruptcy that is getting worse reminds us that it is time to pay attention towards education on characters for the next generation. With the rapid changes in the world and also media growth that is getting more advanced, Universitas Pelita Harapan (UPH), as one of the universities that aware of the nation?s progress, in cooperation with two universities from North America ? Corban University and Biola University ? organized the International Christian Higher Education Conference to join thoughts on the topic Christ-centered education.

Taking place at UPH for two days (November 6 to November 7, 2013), around 400 participants from Indonesia and abroad participated ICHEC to discuss education and media from Christian perspective as well as its impact in building the nation.

One of the keynote speakers of the conference, Duane Litfin (former Wheaton College US President) said that university that is centered on Christ is not supposed to limit their focus. Instead of that, it should be made into a broad thinking. An ideal Christian education is to appreciate what God has created throughout the success, creation and even from the redemption that humanity has seen and experienced.

Besides that, in reality, the intellectuals should be able to blend in the society. ?We, as Christian institutions, should fully take parts in the society,? said Rodney Thompson, one of the keynote speakers. He discussed about how we can enthusiastically participate and make contribution in the right way for building a better nation.

UPH Rector Jonathan L. Parapak also expressed his concern for Indonesia that is getting swamped with many corruption cases. According to him, the cases ? as published by the media ? are just a part of the full description of what truly happens in the society.  Intellectuals, without exception, are also very prone to corruption temptations. ?We, at UPH, are the only university that currently teaches Liberal Arts education that is loaded with spiritual, communication, character and leadership aspects.  We truly want to construct a firm foundation for our alumni,? he said on the first day of international conference. Thus, UPH is not only emphasizing knowledge with sophisticated facilities but also focusing the development of human as a whole. (ym)