(with YABIMA Indonesia, at Rumah Kawan, Metro, Lampung)

By: Stube HEMAT

A discussion on agriculture is considered less interesting for young people, students, and college students. A label as a farmer is still the domain of parents, not by today's children. Then, whether the agricultural world will die as no one is working on it? Is there a hope from the world of agriculture for the youth?

The discussion about agriculture’s potency for the young generation was held at ‘Rumah Kawan’ the office of  YABIMA Indonesia (Friday, 26/03/2021) and attended by 17 participants consisting of students, and church youth. Guided by the YABIMA Indonesia team, Rev. Eko Nugroho, M.Th, Dkn. Matius Serun, and Pinarno Adi, shared YABIMA Indonesia's experiences in its ministry in the agriculture field in Lampung.

In the discussion process, Rev. Eko Nugroho invited the participants to identify the church, what the church's duties are, why the church exists, and what they understand about the church. Many of them mentioned that the church is a place of worship, the church is the people, not the building. What should the people called-as-church do? They generally answered: preaching the gospel and the good news to others. Likewise, the church of GKSBS is called to be a blessing and to bring good news to everyone. In the field of agriculture, Yabima Indonesia, up to now has assisted approximately 60 farmer groups, 4 mass organizations, and 8 Credit Unions spreading across the districts of East Lampung, Central Lampung, and Tulang Bawang, as well as in South Sumatra, namely 2 villages in Muara Padang Jalur 20, Banyuasin Regency, and 3 villages in Air Sugihan, Ogan Komering Ilir regency. Most of the assistance is provided to poor farmers in remote areas with minimal access for clean water, sanitation, and health. Some farmers are trained to be community cadres in certain fields. Up to now, there have been 167 volunteers working for animal health and 20 volunteers as organic farming cadres.

Deacon Matius Serun as one of YABIMA's staff in agriculture said that the assistance must be done continuously to promote job as a farmer to be an interesting one among youth. Based on his experience in assisting farmers, he emphasized that farmers must be smart and able to minimize agricultural costs, see opportunities for community needs, and have the right to decide price to minimize losses. The world of agriculture will never die, moreover, it will continue to be a major need.

Furthermore, Pinarno Adi as one of Yabima Indonesia's staff in the agricultural sector said that efforts were needed to change the perspective of farmers. Agriculture is a noble work because the results of its work are needed by everyone in this world. The world of agriculture is still prospective and this is inverse to all work professions in other fields because professions outside agriculture are getting more and more applicants while the opportunities are decreasing. He closed his presentation by emphasizing not to forget agriculture, but to develop it instead because it is a noble job.***