From Sunday 15 to Tuesday 24 April a small but enthusiastic team left for the Year 11 Mission trip to Indonesia, a WACE endorsed program. As we sat at the airport waiting for our flight home, the girls wrote some thoughts and reflections on their time in Indonesia and the impact this trip had on them.
Mukho Saw
While in Surabaya, at the Children’s Home, I understood the goodness of God on a deeper level. The children in the home are all miracles. They may have been born out of rape, wedlock or other circumstances, but that did not make them any less precious. Without this Children’s Home, the children would not have a warm, loving place to grow up in.
That is how good God is! He provides life where there should be death, expectancy where there should be hopelessness and love where there should be hate. Even in the midst of poverty, God is good.
Physically these children may not have much but as we look deeper we see that they are spiritually rich. They are blessed in growing up knowing God, even if they do not know their biological parents. God is their Heavenly Father who gives more love than any parent could.
Before going on this mission trip, I hoped to learn to be more compassionate. As the mission trip ended, I believe God had used the children to put more compassion in my heart. He has softened my heart and filled it with tender-hearted mercy. Before I went on the mission trip I believed God is good and I still believe God is good after the trip.
Prischilla Kurnadi
This trip was quite challenging for me in several ways. Some highlights of the trip included:
The babies in the Children’s Home at Pondok Hayat. Seeing them smile, laugh and cry. Just cradling them and knowing that they’re going be warriors of this world was just a WOW moment. All the different personalities that I witnessed and seeing how they are all raised in a great atmosphere made me thankful.
Seeing how organisations like KDM, PAUD and Sekolah Lentera Harapan showed me how there are people willing to see a change or give hope to lost people.
That through brokenness, God can use it for good. I learnt humility, empathy and love. I witnessed not only miracles, worth and value in the children but also in myself.
Sofya Solovyova
Prior to this trip, I wasn’t really sure of my motives. However, I believe I can simplify it to; I want to be the hands and feet of Jesus.
I realised that I am incomplete in many areas, but God has taught me that I do not need to be “finished” to be useful. This mission trip was a huge opportunity to show God’s love and mercy in a fashion that is more tangible and fulfilling. Not only could I be a witness to the children and women in Pondok Hayat, the students in Penabur Kota Wisata, the street kids in KDM and the students at Lentara Harapan Koja, but also to my fellow missionaries. After a particularly difficult day, we could always count on each other to pray together and share our experiences.
