ELKHART, Ind. (Mennonite Mission Network) – The first team of young people sent by Mennonite Mission Network to serve in Indonesia will leave for the Southeast Asian nation on Sept. 3.
Three participants, all from Kansas – Ashlynn Hamm of Newton, who attends First Mennonite Church, and Travis Duerksen, of Canton, and Heath Goertzen, of Newton, both go to Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church – will be challenged by the global Anabaptist church to integrate faith into all of their life activities. Their service assignment ends July 2015.
“It is very exciting to see a team come together that will take a year to learn from our brothers and sisters in Indonesia,” said the program director, Sharon Norton, of Mission Network. “We are thankful that the JKI (Jemaat Kristen Indonesia) church is extending hospitality and learning experiences to our U.S. American young people, who will hopefully carry what they’ve learned back to their home congregations and beyond.”
Download full-resolution image.The idea to send a service team to Indonesia was initiated by Sunoko Lin, a Mission Network board member. Lin, who lives in VanNuys, Calif., and also pastors Maranatha Christian Fellowship in Northridge, Calif., suggested to Mission Network staff that it would be a great cultural exchange opportunity. Lin’s church is a member of both the Mennonite Church USA and Jemaat Kristen Indonesia, one of the three Indonesian synods (council of churches) that are part of Mennonite World Conference.
In Indonesia, there is tremendous enthusiasm for the gospel, particularly among younger people at JKI’s Bible college, Lin said.
Indonesia is a developing country of more than 238 million people. Lin said that the church plays a vital role in bringing holistic ministries to the poor, such as providing full or partial church school scholarships to students coming from low-income families, regardless of their religious backgrounds. Ministries that meet the practical needs of people help churches like Injil Kerajaan attract non-Christians despite the fact that Indonesia is about 87 percent Muslim compared to 9 percent Christian.
The service team will work with various ministries of the JKI church in Ungaran, Norton said. They will help with the Happy Holy Kids Kindergarten/Preschool, with graphic design and multi-media projects of the church, as well as after-school tutoring and organizing data for World Vision.
The team’s orientation, jointly organized by Mission Network and Maranatha church, will take place Aug. 24 to Sept. 3 in Los Angeles. Lydia Adi Sidharta, who was born to Indonesian parents and has lived in Indonesia and the United States, will help the three participants process their experience and make the connection between American and Indonesian culture, Norton said.
“This is an important time of life for young people to be stretched and challenged to gain a different perspective on what it means to be a Christian in a very different context than their own,” Norton said.
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Mennonite Mission Network, the mission agency of Mennonite Church USA, leads, mobilizes and equips the church to participate in holistic witness to Jesus Christ in a broken world. Media may contact news@mennonitemission.net.
