Petrus (in yellow T-shirt) with Family : Tito (red), Wiwit (black), Nanik (green)
Hi, I’m Petrus – the seventh of eight siblings. I was born in Gembong Village, Pati, Central Java, a place known for its 5-square-kilometer reservoir built by the Dutch colonial government back in 1930. Growing up, life in the village wasn’t easy. Like many rural communities, we lived in poverty, with limited access to education and healthcare.
From 1992 to 2004, I worked in a non-governmental organization for community empowerment, basic health, environment, and peace in the northern coastal area of Java, especially around the Muria mountains, where during the Dutch colonial period the spread of Christianity was carried out by Zending, a missionary institution.
In 2005, I joined the first AVP (Alternatives to Violence Project) workshop in Indonesia, which was held in Aceh. After that, I continued with an AVP facilitation internship there. That first experience with AVP sparked something in me – I started to feel calmer, less insecure, and more confident. It gave me the push to start sharing what I’d learned with the people around me. So, I asked Nadine Hoover for her support to bring AVP workshops to Java.
In 2008, along with Sarah (from the U.S., Nadine Hoover’s daughter) and Fery from Aceh, I helped facilitate the first AVP workshop in Java, held in Pati, Central Java.
Then in 2011, with support from Nadine Hoover, our Quaker friends, local friends in Pati, and the sedulur sikep (Samin community), we established a space in Muktiharjo Village, Pati, to practice AVP-CJP (Creating Justice and Peace).
In 2012, our team launched an early childhood education program rooted in a nonviolent way of life – our way of breaking the cycle of violence and oppression within families. From 2012 to 2018, I continued practicing AVP within the local village community while working and serving through a non-governmental organization.
Starting in 2019 until now through Peace Place Pati, we strive for a peace movement through AVP-CJP training for young people of different religions, parents, teachers and the general public with a regular schedule every year with basic AVP materials, Advanced and Training for Facilitators, and also sharing a non-violent approach to life through AVP mini workshops – stories of the Power of Goodness.
Friends Peace Teams Asia West Pacific is a place for me to work for peace, a place for me to learn and practice for self-development and to share experiences, a place to get and give support to strengthen each other. It is part of my extended family.
For me, life is about choices – and choosing nonviolence is choosing a life that renews itself, a life open to transforming power. I believe peace is possible, and it’s something we can create, one choice at a time.
5 June 2025
Petrus and the water filter, the result of FPT AWP research with Sheep Indonesia Yogyakarta