Activity of Students at Pondok Diakonia

By: Lusiana Sih Ayuning Tiyas.

Pondok Diakonia held an activity through the Multiplication program of Stube-HEMAT in Lampung, that is, discussion about Credit Union (CU) and journalism at Pondok Diakonia training center, Batanghari, East Lampung (21/8/2021). This is an enrichment program for young people at Pondok Diakonia to learn CU, how to achieve prosperity, and to sharpen writing skills by arranging sentences and expressing ideas systematically.

In the first session about CU, Candra Istiono, the supervisor, and Sugeng Asmoro, the manager of CU Sehati, explained that the Sehati itself was founded based on concern for others who are facing difficulties. Then, they collectively raise funds to help each other to meet their needs through productive efforts. Initially, in 1990 there were only 52 members with an initial capital of less than 2 million, and in 2021 the members of CU Sehati have grown to four thousand members with total assets of more than 29 billion.

The developing process of the CU seems easy, but there are challenges and hard efforts to be done. The challenges are faced with an optimistic attitude and wise decisions, as well as the awareness that realizing big dreams must start from small things and takes time. From the speakers' explanation, the participants learned the concept of CU, a joint business, and the owners of CU are the members who join the cooperative and have the goal for members’ welfare. Furthermore, participants get to know CU Sehati and its services, from membership and how to become a member, types of deposits and loans, loan terms and loan interest, loan guarantees, and mutual protection funds. In terms of benefits, the members have an alternative place to store money safely, easy to borrow money, get savings profits, and affordable loan interest.

In the second session, the participants practiced writing techniques with Dwi Setyo Harjanto, office staff, and Information Technology, experts from the GKSBS Synod. He said that 'without ideas, someone cannot write', so, when someone wants to write, he must have an idea or theme to write about. Then, when he starts writing, he must determine the point of view of writing so that the writing does not spread everywhere. Next, the writer determines the 'lead', whether the lead is summary, storytelling, descriptive, or citation. The 'lead' is the opening article that will determine whether the reader will continue to read or skip it. This means that 'lead' is the key that provoking someone's curiosity to read news or articles. Regarding the title, Dwi reminded me that there are times when the title changes. Do not let the title at the beginning block ideas in developing writing. So, it does not matter if there is a change in the title when the article is finished. In writing, it is necessary to remember two important aspects that must be considered, that is, language and relevance.

From this activity, the participants learned to apply new experiences, as expressed by Angel Prawesti, one of the youth in the dormitory, "I learned how to write properly and correctly with 5W and 1H and CU materials that encourage us to be diligent in saving and managing money well for the future." They also initiated Pondok Diakonia student CU and wrote writings with a simple theme, with the belief that success starts with persistence in doing small things, and eventually grows into something big and beneficial. 

By Stube HEMAT / Thomas Yulianto 

The advance of technology affects human life, especially during the pandemic. Human life is 'forced' to access technology. If someone cannot use technology, he will be left behind with people who are adaptive to the digital world. The advances in digital technology are good for human life, for example, the distance between people is no longer a barrier to communicate and can even communicate face to face, everyone has an opportunity to access information quickly and can even earn income by utilizing technology for business and services.

The rapid advance of technology become an alternative activity in the Multiplication of Stube HEMAT in Lampung to enrich young people and students, so that they can compete in the digital era and get benefit from it. Training on Entrepreneurship in the Digital Era which applied methods of discussion, seminar, visits, and practice was held on July 31, 2021, at Pondok Diakonia, Center for Development and Skills Training, East Lampung. Rev. Eko Nugroho M.Th, the program manager of YABIMA Indonesia conveyed a topic “The World in the Digitalization Era” which was attended by twenty-five students and church youth.

Rev. Eko started the dialogue by asking a query, "Does everyone here have a mobile phone with internet facilities?" Most participants have a modern mobile phone. He continued that the current era can be called the abundance of the information era. It is marked by the ease of obtaining information accessed by people. When someone needs information about something, he or she can simply type or say something on Google or other search engines, and in second the required information will be available.

This era is also considered as the era of 'nudity,' because everyone without thinking expresses feelings, a problem that occurs and even mentions his identity in social media. These allow anyone to know information where, what about, even personal data that should not be for public consumption. Moreover, information is abundant however whether all the information useful, good, and true? The answer can be yes or no, for example when communicating via WhatsApp, someone is easy to give opinions or to forward information about Covid 19 without checking, cross-checking, although it is out of his/her field competence. A person can spread misinformation by accessing information from an invalid source. Rev. Eko invited all participants to be wise and responsible to use a mobile phone. When someone uses a mobile phone he/she should use it according to their needs, avoiding excessive use by time, finances, and abilities. He also encouraged participants to actively promote good things and share their positive activities on social media, and to avoid personal shares that could lead to negative responses on social media.

This discussion motivates participants to learn more in mastering technological advances in the digital era, so they will not become a 'stutter' generation, or out of date. When someone masters technology, he must spread a positive impact to friends on social media in a responsible way. The readiness of Lampung youth to enter the era of digital progress is determined by their ability to learn, adapt and develop themselves. Come on, young people from Lampung, get ready for the digital era. ***

By: Stube HEMAT

Church, whirled in the potency of conflict in Lampung became the topic of a serial seminar (Saturday, 05/22/2021) with Rev. Eko Nugroho, Sri Guntoro, and Rev. DR. Bambang Nugroho Hadi. Rev. Eko Nugroho, an active pastor of GKSBS, in charge of managing Yabima Indonesia, a foundation owned by GKSBS Synod that focuses to provide services for the community, delivered material on conflicts. The initial questions for the participants of the seminar were ‘What conflicts have you ever known?’, ‘Why do conflicts occur in the community?’, and ‘How do you solve the conflict?’ The variety answers from the participants made the atmosphere warm and exciting. In his presentation, he explained that conflict is a part of our lives, and conflict makes one party getting know the other party. If you imagine that Jesus is present in this world, what would He do? We certainly agree that Jesus will defend the oppressed, not do vengeance to those doing evil ones, but seek peace so that all parties do what is right. At the end of the material, he invited the participants to read the peace prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi together.

The second speaker was Sri Guntoro who delivered the material, ‘Diversity: a potency or a threat in Lampung?’ He is the head of the Budhayana branch with 68 monasteries in East Lampung, as well as the board members of Forum for Harmony of Religions Members  (FKUB) in East Lampung who plays an active role in resolving disputes over the construction of houses of worship in the East Lampung region. He said that the entire Lampung region is very diverse. The diversity consists of ethnicity, religion, language, and occupation. The paradigm that sees the differences as a threat can rise because they think they are better and more correct than others. The diversity in Lampung allows for conflicts, such as certain interest, ideology, social, and religion, in which ethnic conflict occurs frequently. Gratefully, Lampung has traditional leaders who have significant influence to manage the situation. Guntoro also appreciated Stube HEMAT as a place for young people to get to know and understand other people. If action like this is held regularly, it will maintain the integrity of Lampung, even Indonesia.

The material on Conflict Management was delivered by Rev. DR. Bambang Nugroho Hadi, a lecturer at the Theology Seminary of Shalom, Lampung. He is active in interfaith study and dialogue in Lampung Province. In the seminar, he presented the definition of conflict, the level of conflict, types of conflict, causes, and impacts of conflict. A conflict has a positive impact if it makes relationships come alive, makes a person try to adjust to the environment, brings up innovative decisions, and raises a more critical perception of differences of opinion. While the negative impact will obstruct communication, disrupt the interrelationships, interfere the teamwork, etc.

He also said that conflict can be resolved by: the initiative of one or both parties, through a mediator, or reduce the claim of each party. Conflicts can also be resolved through the intervention of the more powerful party for two conflicting parties. At last, sometimes conflicts can be resolved by themselves when each is silent and ignores the conflict that occurs between them, even conflicts do not have to be resolved. ***

(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.***

By: Stube-HEMAT

Meeting and discussion with the management of YABIMA Indonesia which is located at Jl. Yos Sudarso 15, Metro Lampung City, became one of the agendas during the visit to the Multiplication Program of Stube HEMAT in Lampung (Thursday, 18/02/2021). YABIMA, which was established 32 years ago, on October 20, 1989, is an institution that was born from the Southern Sumatera Christian Church (GKSBS), as a deacon institution for the community as one manifestation of God's love for the community to achieve independence. YABIMA Indonesia's services cover the southern part of Sumatra with a focus on farmer groups, mass organizations, and credit union. In general, the farmers assisted by this institution are poor-farmers in remote areas with minimal access to clean water, sanitation, and health.

"The presence of the Multiplication program of Stube HEMAT in Lampung with Pdt. Theofilus Agus Rohadi, who reaches out to the student and youth segments, is expected to collaborate and gain knowledge from the activists of the institution," said Rev. Em Bambang Sumbodo, the board-in-charge of Stube HEMAT from Yogyakarta who had the opportunity to discuss with YABIMA with other member of the board, Ir. Hero Darmawanta M.T, and the executive director of Stube HEMAT, Ariani Narwastujati. In this discussion, the management of YABIMA Indonesia, Rev. Eko Nugroho and two institutional activists warmly welcomed the Stube HEMAT's arrival and found out points to be worked together, such as how to love agriculture since  early age to young people, considering that Lampung has extraordinary potency in the agricultural sector with fertile soil conditions and sufficient rainfall.

"The meeting with Stube HEMAT is not the first time, because we have been invited to a training with the topic 'Observing the potency in village area' by the multiplicator of Stube HEMAT in Bengkulu in 2018. At that time there was no specific program for students and young people in Lampung," said Pdt. Eko Nugroho. "There is a big hope in the future, the cooperation will be more intense as it is located in the same city, and young people need guidance to learn the values ​​of life," Ariani expressed her hope.

Another interesting thing about YABIMA Indonesia is the value of Asceticism that is integrated with the strategy and management of the existing programs in the community. Asceticism is a lifestyle characterized by doing abstinence of physical pleasures through calls for a willingness to share, to promote justice- spirituality-gender sensitivity-peace, to respect plurality, to give chance for participative dialogue, and to do accountability. Those are the values ​​of kindness that are quite challenging, right? ***

(Pondok Diakonia, GKSBS Batanghari, Lampung)

A morning greeting from Pdt. Em. Bambang Sumbodo (Board-in-charge of Stube HEMAT)

We are at GKSBS (Southern Sumatera Christian Church) Batanghari, Lampung. This church accommodates children who come from distant places from school and underprivileged families to continue their studies at a closer one. The children of Pondok Diakonia generally study at Christian junior and senior high schools in Metro, Lampung, about 30 minutes away from the place they stay. There are 36 children living in Pondok Diakonia. They learn not only knowledge at school, but also learn the realities of life with the necessary skills, such as cooking, planting vegetables, and raising goats. Children at their age are much encouraged though they must separate from their parents and siblings to pursue the future. There must be  a feeling of longing for the warmth of father, mother, sister, or brother. But, praise God that longing is replaced by the presence of the family of Rev. Theofilus Agus Rohadi, who serves GKSBS Batanghari, and as parents for children at the Pondok Diakonia.

The multiplication program of Stube HEMAT in Lampung with Rev. Theofilus as the multiplicator gives his own touch in efforts to empower human resources. The students of Stube HEMAT in Lampung grow as well as become mentors for the younger students at Pondok Diakonia.

During the workshop that we held on Wednesday (17/02/2021), the students at Pondok Diakonia were very enthusiastic to talk about their future. Each of them has a dream for the future, they wanted to get out of the helplessness they face due to the economic limitations of their parents. It can be seen on their enthusiasm to tell their dreams during the sharing session. Even some of them asked us about what they have to prepare to achieve their goals.

Pondok Diakonia has a male dormitory and a female dormitory, each of them has 4 rooms. There are a hall, coaching and training centers to support the activities of the children. Currently, there are 14 girls consist of one student is in junior high school and 13 others are in high school. Meanwhile, the boys are 22 in which 4 are junior high school students and 18 are in senior high school. The church provides dormitories, foods, beverages, electricity, and transportation. From the total of 36 children in Pondok Diakonia, 13 children are financed by the church, while the rest are covered by their parents to pay for the school fees. During 6 years service, a total of 54 children have been accommodated, and 7 of them continue their studies at the university level.

May God bless the children, Pondok Diakonia, Rev. Theofilus and his family and those who are called to serve Pondok Diakonia.***