Indonesia

Letter from Compassion Indonesia Director Sarah Jeanin Rahardja

Dear Sponsor,

Greetings from Bandung!

First, allow me to introduce myself. I am Sarah Jeanin Rahardja, Compassion Indonesia Country Director. This year is my 16th year working with Compassion. It is a great blessing for me to be a part of this ministry; I have an opportunity to witness how God works through churches and children in Indonesia and enlarges His kingdom through the sponsor-to-child relationship. My favourite things to do now are to spend my time with my two daughters—and I’m learning how to crochet!

Compassion started its ministry in Indonesia in 1968. Today, Compassion Indonesia ministers to 75,944 children. We also have 148 mothers and their babies, and 50 students finishing the Leadership Development Program. We are now partnering with 330 church partners. In this year, we will start partnering with some new church partners in our expansion areas: Alor islands, East Nusa Tenggara province and Parapat, North Sumatra province.

Through this letter, I would like to thank you for your commitment, love and contribution to all the children in Indonesia. You have changed many lives of children, their families, churches and communities. Your financial support not only provides school tuition, healthy meals and medical interventions, but also impacts the confidence of children, since each child has experienced what it means to be loved, known and protected. Children value your letters, since through those letters they feel your love and attention. Some children could not get this attention from their parents, who are too busy trying to meet their family needs.

There are 13.8 million children in Indonesia who live below the national poverty line. The evidence shows that it is critical to ensure the rights of every child in Indonesia are protected. Children in eastern Indonesia are generally at a disadvantage compared to the children in western parts of Indonesia. Children in the east have more challenges to access clean water, school, and medical services. However, children in the west have their own disadvantages due to the concentration of population. The data in 2008 – 2009 showed that 50 per cent of children who are living in poverty are in Java and Bali. 15.8 per cent of children in rural areas were in extreme poverty, and only 4.6 per cent of children in urban areas.

In terms of non-economic matters, children in Indonesia are also in a critical situation. Many parents don’t have strong relationships with their children. It is because of the increased number of parents who work outside their village or even outside Indonesia.

To respond to these conditions, Compassion Indonesia, together with its church partners in 2017, will focus on youth development, which will provide program and opportunity for children to develop their leadership, their interests and talents to support them for self-sufficiency. We will also expand our ministry to other extreme poverty areas and facilitate churches to do holistic children development.

Last year we implemented a method to empower church partners which we call Qavah. In the facilitation process, we help church partners to identify resources they have instead of to identify their needs. The process has a significant result when church partners start to access resources around them and start to mobilise the community to respond to their needs. There are church partners who were able to mobilise the community to build toilets with their own resources, build bridges, clean the streets. The church has impacted the community. We also implement the same process for youths and they came up with some great ideas and programs. There are youth who are able to identify seven new programs from themselves, and it is helping the church partners in maintaining youth participation at the program. In other church partners, the youth program has older students pick up younger children and serve them during the activities at the centre.

The achievement in each child’s life could not happen without your support and commitment. You play an important role in each sponsored child’s life. Every child values their relationship with their sponsor, also their family. They do not only appreciate your financial support but, most of all, your letters. Some children are encouraged to study harder because of the encouragement from their sponsor; some children feel valuable since their sponsors pray for them and say that they love them; some children meet with Christ through sponsor letters.

The relationship between sponsor and children is one of wonderful relation that I have seen in this world. Through this relationship, two different people from different countries, different languages, different cultures, different time zones could meet and know each other. Most of all they could see the Kingdom of God in wider perspective. The sponsor and child relationship is not limited by the program; it is a lifelong relationship. I am thankful to know and work together to release children from poverty with individuals like you. I am thankful to be your co- worker in this most effective ministry.

At the end, I humbly ask you to pray for us in Indonesia so we could have courage and commitment to do our best in releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name; also to pray for the process of expanding our ministry to other areas of extreme poverty in Indonesia such as East Nusa Tenggara, North Sumatra, Jawa and Bali. Your prayers are highly appreciated.

And please let me express my gratitude again for your commitment, love and heart for children in Indonesia. May God bless you abundantly.

Sarah Jeanin Rahardja

Country Director Compassion Indonesia