The Protestant Church in Maluku is based in an archipelago of islands in Indonesia. Christianity was preached in The Maluku Islands as early as 1546. The church was founded in 1605 and is Asia’s oldest protestant denomination. Over the last few decades, the Protestant Church in Maluku has been subjected to international violence as well as domestic religious violence. During World War II, the church suffered under Japanese occupation and much of the church’s property was destroyed. It took years before many congregational buildings were restored.

In the 1990s growing tension existed between Muslim communities and indigenous Christian communities. Over 400 churches and a number of mosques were destroyed. School buildings owned by the church were also burned down. Over a hundred thousand people were displaced and gained a refugee status. Many people in Maluku have returned to their Christian faith as conditions stabilise and there are over 500,000 church members.

The Protestant Church in Maluku is attempting to physically and spiritually rebuild the country and is focusing on building a ‘theology of life’ and ‘a spirituality of brotherhood and sisterhood’. This is an attempt made by the church to defeat violence and conflict.