It will not be long before 2020 will end and of course we will welcome the new year with new hopes and the COVID-19 pandemic will end soon. Usually, many activities have been planned to celebrate a closed year event like this, with closest friends or family. Towards the end of 2020, of course, supermarkets will have a lot of purchase requests from consumers. many young people have bought various kinds of fireworks and drinks (wine and beer) complete in their boxes. Not only that, around the residence there were sounds of firecrackers (two days before the D-day). During New Year’s celebrations, fireworks will certainly be even more festive.
That is how some of the activities of the Christian minority community in Indonesia welcome New Year’s Eve. For the Christian minority community in Indonesia (especially young people), I have noticed that the New Year is synonymous with gatherings with friends or loved ones, while Christmas is a special event for families. Slightly different from the Indonesian Christian minority community which is Batak when welcoming the new year.
For the Batak people who celebrate Christmas, Christmas is devoted to sharing love, gathering with friends and celebrating Christmas together at church. Then the new year event is special for families, which will begin with a year-end service at the church.
In the village areas that have Christian communities in Indonesia, usually each family member has gathered at the end of the year. Sometimes there is still a young Christmas right on December 31st. Usually this celebration is not held in church.
Because of that, this celebration even tends to be entertainment for the local community with a slightly more modern Christmas arrangement and presenting Christmas attractions related to daily life at the end of the event. It can be ascertained that there are many people attending the Christmas celebration, almost all one village or even several villages gathered. Yes, that is how lively the Christmas celebration is, which is adjacent to welcoming the new year in the area of the Batak ethnic Indonesian Christian minority.
The Batak ethnic minority Christian family community in Indonesia usually holds special family worship towards the end of the year. The implementation of year-end worship is of course very important for Christian Batak ethnic families. Worship at the end of this year in a Batak Christian family is very important because usually each family member reminds each other of the hopes and achievements of life in the coming year and conducts self-evaluation during the year before the new year.
If usually, parents take the authority to speak daily, then at the turn of the year, the tradition of “mandok hata” provides an opportunity for all children to share in saying a few words openly and honestly.
The mandok hata tradition is synonymous with self-evaluation in the stage of making new resolutions. Where, we will evaluate ourselves including shortcomings and mistakes for a full year, honestly express them in front of all family members, then apologize. Not much different from parents, they will also share their thoughts openly and then be followed by advice from parents and family relatives at home.
Therefore, this event will last quite a long time. Especially because the mandok hata tradition will still be continued with intercessory prayer, where each family member will pray one by one to deliver their gratitude and requests before God at the beginning of the year. Usually in this state it can make us feel emotional and in the end often shed tears.
In general, the mandok hata tradition is only held with the nuclear family. The mandok hata program will begin with a short family service which starts at exactly 00:00 when the sound of church bells is heard.
As the event has begun, the church bells at the end of the year will still be heard ringing for an entire hour, as if to accompany the years. The gem will make everyone’s heart who is attending family events more serene. The joy of welcoming the new year as well as mingling with feelings of emotion remembering mistakes or unsuccessful achievements in the old year. For Batak families, we can find overseas children not coming home on December 24 or 25 due to higher ticket prices, however, usually they will try to get together on New Year’s Eve.
The situation in the village is no different from the Batak halak which celebrates the new year in several regions in Indonesia. The mandok hata tradition, which is tucked into the New Year’s worship service, has become part of the beginning of the year for the Batak halak, wherever it is. This tradition is not only useful for self-evaluation before stepping into the new year, but at the same time, this moment is used by parents to pray for their children specifically. This is what the overseas children who are far from the nuclear family miss the most.
Therefore, for Indonesian Christian minority community Batak ethnicity wherever they are, they do not have to have fireworks or firecrackers to celebrate and celebrate the new year. The beginning of the year will be more meaningful with family worship and the mandok hata tradition. And certainly, just hearing church bells is enough to make their hearts burst, the joy of welcoming the new year. Then, the next day ready to visit each other and deliver New Year’s cakes to neighbors and closest relatives.
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