Fight Like a Girl
Dreams of representing Indonesia in the Olympics in Wushu Sanda are not too big for this 14-year-old whose father is training her well. Training her to fight like a girl.
Continue Reading ›Loving a Child with Beta Thalassemia Major
Vita wakes up every day intending to paint something beautiful with her life. Some days, she doesn’t feel like she has all the right colors.
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She Chose Life
Desperate, tired and unsure of her future, Norma walked helplessly towards home. She was sad and angry and at four months pregnant considered having an abortion.
The Determination of a Young Female Entrepreneur
Estrika is a Leadership Development Program graduate in Indonesia who is passionate about small business and causes that benefit humanity.
Removing Education Barriers (Why We Love the Church)
For most parents, the trip to the school may seem death-defying to them, but those trips usually only consist of a quick drive or a walk to the school gates. But the families of Ngandong village, in central Java, Indonesia, take their lives in their hands every day walking to school.
Without Mentors, Our Ministry to the Poor Is Just a Concept
Not everyone is qualified to be a mentor. Mentors must be committed Christians, committed to the local church, have passion to minister to the children, have basic teaching skills, and have good relational skills.
How Can the Presence of Clean Water Improve a Community?
Children’s hygiene is often neglected because they can’t bathe or wash their hands as often as they need to. Health issues like skin diseases are common among people due to the lack of clean water.
Leading God’s Ministry of Light
Of the thousands of villages in Indonesia, nearly 20 percent remain dark, unreached by electricity. Though sources of energy such as rivers are plentiful and accessible, they remain untouched by technology and have not yet been tapped as electricity sources.
With a university major in electrical engineering, Ronny has a big dream to minister to the poor. He believes that providing electricity is one strategic way to help eradicate poverty in Indonesia.
“I want to help the poor people in Papua villages by providing them hydro-energy technology. They have the resources everywhere; now they need the expertise, technology and people who are willing to go there.”
Ronny considers studying and learning more about hydro energy and other power sources a calling. He has a dream to develop more hydro potential in eastern Indonesia, an area known for its severe poverty, widespread undeveloped areas and lack of human resources.
“When I was going through my transition into the Leadership Development Program, I asked God ‘Why was I here? What was my purpose?’ Surely it wasn’t just to be in the best university in the country. There has to be more to this life than that.”
The Institute of Technology in Bandung (ITB) is among the best technical schools in Indonesia. Only the smartest students are able to enroll. Applicants have to pass a competitive national exam, and the school selects only the best candidates as students. Ronny is the first Leadership Development Program student to enroll in ITB.
Though Ronny’s campus graduates around 15 electrical engineers per year, this number is still low compared with the country’s need for more than 700 electrical engineers every year.
Ronny realizes his country is in an energy crisis. The electricity shortage in Java and Sumatra has confirmed the problem. He hopes he will take part in resolving the energy crisis in his country when he graduates.
“If I wish to change my country, I wish I could be a Minister of Technology and Innovation, who will make a decree and order every university and campus to open their doors for more innovation and research for technology. I would urge them to apply it accordingly to the undeveloped areas in Indonesia.”
Right now Ronny will focus on studying hard and equipping himself with the skills and knowledge needed for the future.
Ronny will graduate in two years. He will then embark on a journey to fulfill his dream of shedding light on Indonesia’s electricity crisis.
“The good part about being in the Leadership Development Program is being able to help people. The hard part is every day you have to keep your focus and realize that you are in constant spiritual battle because that is what God calls me to be in this world — to be God’s minister.”
Protecting the Children in Our Program
In Indonesia, children’s rights are a critical issue — as in many countries, women and children are often the most vulnerable members of the community. Compassion Indonesia understands the urgent need to address this issue that often remains silent.
Christmas in Indonesia
One might think that celebrating Christmas in Indonesia – the world’s most populous Muslim nation – can be a problem. Even though 90 percent of Indonesia’s 220 million people are followers of Islam, it does not mean that Christmas is not celebrated.
The biggest signs of Christmas (i.e. the traditions of the Western festive season), can be seen in the malls. Most of the major stores in the larger cities like Bandung have huge Christmas trees, and restaurants tend to put on some manner of Christmas fares.
For example, the big stores have had their Christmas decorations up for weeks in anticipation of cashing in on the season. Naturally, hotels and malls cater to visitors by erecting Christmas trees ornately decorated, and “Merry Christmas” signs. Shopping hours are extended, and the seasonal specials jump out of nowhere.
There is a Christmas tree in every mall, and a man dressed in a Santa Claus suit and a white beard can be seen giving out presents to the children. It is the same in the other cities like Jakarta, where all the major department stores join in on the festive season.
One of Compassion’s partner churches in Bandung is Immanuel Baptist Church. Christmas decorations have been in place since the first week of December. A plastic Christmas tree stands by the front entrance door to welcome all the visitors; its snow-like glitter and many small butterflies on the leaves delight the small children.
Yes, the church entrance had been decorated with an artificial Christmas trees replete with pristine snow-like glittery ornaments and small butterflies – standing unaffected by the boiling tropical heat. (more…)
Tsunami Disaster Relief in Indonesia
Four years ago, on December 26, 2004, one of the deadliest natural disasters in history hit Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand. More than 225,000 people were killed in 11 countries.
Banda Aceh was one of those communities devastated by the tsunami. We had no active program in Banda Aceh before the tsunami, and in fact, none of the areas where we worked in Indonesia before the tsunami were affected.
But when the tsunami hit, we initiated temporary relief work under the name ‘ARIEF’ or Aceh Relief for the tsunami victims. This local name was chosen in order to allow a local ministry to take over the relief and do follow-up work for the beneficiaries of the programs after our initial relief work ended. Our relief work was initially planned for one year. (more…)
