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Petrus Kafiar

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Petrus Kafiar (died 1926) was an evangelist active on Irian Jaya.

Petrus Kafiar
Born1864 or 1873
Died1926
Supiori Island
Occupation(s)Preacher
Christian missionary

Background

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The son of a headman, Kafiar was a native of Supiori Island;[1] his date of birth has been given variously as 1864[2] and c. 1873.[1] When he was seven years old he was kidnapped during a raid, and was sold for fifty florins to a Moluccan carpenter, a Christian, and his wife;[3] an Indonesian missionary couple at Mansinam paid to ensure his liberation. He received his baptism in 1887.[1]

In 1892 he and another Papuan, Timotheus Awendu, were sent under the auspices of the Mansinam mission to attend the Depok Seminary to study for missionary work.[4] Kafiar became a teacher-preacher, serving in various locations before returning in 1908 to the village of his birth. He went on to become a pioneer of missionary work in Biak.[1] He was fluent in both Dutch and Malay, which added to his appeal among the Biaks,[5] who came to be seen as the most successful of those groups Christianized under the Dutch.[6]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Gerald H. Anderson (1999). Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. pp. 349–350. ISBN 978-0-8028-4680-8.
  2. ^ "Kafiar, Petrus 1864-1926 [WorldCat Identities]". Retrieved Oct 19, 2020.
  3. ^ Andrew Strathern; Pamela J. Stewart; Pamela J.. Stewart (2000). The Python's Back: Pathways of Comparison Between Indonesia and Melanesia. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 21–. ISBN 978-0-89789-707-5.
  4. ^ Jan Sihar Aritonang; Karel Adriaan Steenbrink (2008). A History of Christianity in Indonesia. BRILL. pp. 352–. ISBN 978-90-04-17026-1.
  5. ^ Danilyn Rutherford (2003). Raiding the Land of the Foreigners. Princeton University Press. pp. 30–. ISBN 0-691-09591-4.
  6. ^ C. L. M. Penders (31 July 2002). The West New Guinea Debacle: Dutch Decolonisation and Indonesia 1945-1962. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 119–. ISBN 978-0-8248-2470-9.