Mery received her bachelor (in 1999) and master (in 2002) studies from Bogor Agriculture University (IPB), Indonesia and PhD study (in 2020) from Ghent University (Belgium). Her former experiences as junior researcher from research institutes and as a lecturer at Universitas Pelita Harapan (Indonesia) have brought her into contact with many ancient manuscripts and cultural perspectives. Her interest and research experiences with ancient Batak medicine based on Batak Pustaha (laklak) has provided much knowledge and inspiration related to the dynamic process occurred in Batak society that has developed over time. Recently, her involvement in the initiation program for digitizing ancient Batak manuscripts at Leiden University, the Netherlands in collaborations with the National Library of Indonesia, has made her interested in researching Batak church manuscripts, especially in the process of translating hymns (also known as Buku Ende HKBP) and other church hymns in Indonesia by comparing them with the original church lyrics and songs from the reference sources (for example German, Dutch, English or American hymns). Language was a critical tool in the missionary encounter, used both to translate biblical texts and hymns and to communicate Christian ideas. It emphasizes the challenges of translating religious concepts into local languages, which might lacked of finding the equivalent terms for Christian doctrines. The history of the HKBP church is also a fluid and dynamic process of transformation between missionaries and the local local populations (Batak people); how missionaries used language as a means of asserting authority and control, but also how Batak people could resist or reinterpret missionary teachings through their own linguistic practices.