Do you really enjoy an experience that is confronting, that assaults all your senses, that challenges your faith, that takes you through the whole gamut of emotions, that's life changing?

Enjoy is probably not the right word to describe my trip with Compassion Australia but despite the flies, the heat, the squalor, the traffic fumes, the abject poverty, I wouldn't have missed this God ordained experience nor would I have traded meeting the amazing Indonesian people who love the Lord so faithfully and who passionately serve the vision to see Indonesia restored to glory in Christ.

In Australia, we take for granted the right to an education. This is not the case in Indonesia. Education is the next most precious item after food and water. The reality of this hit home to me when I met a 14 year old girl named Farida.

Farida lives with her mother and younger sister on a dump site. 22 million people live in Jakarta so garbage is a huge problem and many of the poorest of the poor eke out an existence for their family by scavenging recyclable products to sell, perhaps earning about $1 Australian dollar per day.
I noticed Farida because she is the same age as my daughter Ellie and I couldn’t help noticing that teenage girls, the world over want to look “trendy”. Farida had a magazine in her hand that she had found on the dump site and was wearing the “latest gear” – the little strappy top, the flared jeans and despite the heat the hooded jacket with the logo on the front. I told her she looked beautiful and that her clothes were really cool. She smiled and said, “She’d found them on the dump.” She showed me a “Diva” type necklace she was wearing and it was obvious that she was proud of her find. Between my broken Bahasa and her broken English we chatted about girly things. She wanted to know about girls in Australia and then she asked me to take her photo. We laughed together as I told her she would be famous back in Australia.

Just a typical teenager like any other but my laughter soon turned to tears as our conversation continued. I asked Farida about her hopes and dreams, what she wanted to do when she left school. Her answer continues to haunt me. Her face fell as she replied, “I don’t go to school. There is nothing for me. My life is over.”

In Indonesia, education is notionally free but in reality it costs about $40 Aus. per year to send a child to school. If your family is earning about $7 per week of which approx $3 goes on rent then the cost of education is prohibitive.

Later that same day, I met a 4 year old orphan called, I thought, quite appropriately "Angel". Angel was abandoned as a baby but now has a hope and a future, a destiny and a purpose. She will be fed and cared for through Compassion's project at Kasih Immanuel and she
will go to school at Kampung Sawah Christian School -
she is now my sponsor child.

Since returning to Australia, I have been confronted by the excesses of a commercial society and I have found this difficult.
Whilst I know my feelings are the result of reverse culture shock, I am also reminded of the need to refocus on Jesus Christ. The greatest gift I can give is to be His hands and His feet in a hurting world - to love my neighbour.