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Village and Economic Development (West Timor, Indonesia)

by
News, Village and Economic Development (West Timor, Indonesia)
September 24, 2021

Waluwanja gets up for work every day at 5am. After a drink of hot coffee, he’s straight into his back garden, clearing out weeds, watering each plant and making sure no pests are getting in. He grows all sorts of vegetables, but lately he’s been testing out mustard greens, carrots and rice paddies, which he will sell wholesale to street vendors in his community. When a crop becomes ready for harvest, he cleans, prepares and delivers the produce direct to his customers one by one.

Waluwanja learned how to run a productive garden business through UnitingWorld’s partner TLM in West Timor. In one of the poorest provinces in Indonesia, TLM acknowledge that people’s ability to improve their lives and their communities depends on opportunities to earn a sustainable income.

A few years ago, Waluwanja visited a community garden project run by TLM that produces food and teaches people about sustainable agriculture. He walked away with knowledge and inspiration to prepare the large plot of land behind his home to grow fresh food as well as his income.

Then when he lost his job, it was the perfect time to commit to the project.

After slow beginnings, hard work and many 5am mornings experimenting with different organic fertilizers and planting strategies, he started to build a customer base among the street vendors around his village.

He says his secret is delivering early and delivering fresh.

“I have more than 15 vegetable sellers around the village and they are happy to buy from me because I always deliver early in the morning so the vegetables they are selling are still fresh.”

The income it generated enabled him to meet his daily needs, but Waluwanja realised that if he was going to grow the business even more, he was going to need help. So he reached out to some of his neighbours to work with him and he’s now thrilled that he’s creating incomes for others.

Waluwanja’s garden business is now so productive that at different times of year it generates an income averaging between IDR 6 – 18,000,000 or AUD $545 – $1,636 per month. Lately he’s been keeping busy building a new stall to sell his vegetables and other daily necessities direct from the front of his home.

Waluwanja says he works so hard because he wants to earn enough to be able to send his five children to school and eventually university.

“Thank you so much TLM Foundation for giving me a lot of knowledge about agriculture and village governance, so that I can grow to become a successful farmer”.

This project is supported by the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP) and impacted the lives of 27,162 people like Waluwanja in 2020-2021.

Thank you ANCP and our supporters! We can’t do this life-changing work without you.

Click here to support this project. 

by
Campaigns, News, Village and Economic Development (West Timor, Indonesia)
August 26, 2021

Even before she was conceived, Mery Kolimon had a calling.

Her parents, Timorese nationals from one of Indonesia’s most beautiful archipelagos, dedicated their first child to God’s work even before Mery’s mother fell pregnant. It was a promise with a profound impact.

Rev Dr Mery Kolimon is now the first woman to become Moderator of our partner church in West Timor, the Christian Evangelical Church in Timor (GMIT). Under her leadership, GMIT is deeply committed to helping transform every aspect of the society it serves.

“I’m glad that my parents promised me to the Church and to the world,” Rev Mery says, via a Zoom call squeezed in between many others. She is recovering personally from COVID-19 and leading a team responding not only to the pandemic, but to the worst cyclone in West Timor’s history.

“I believe the role of the Church is to be actively immersed in every part of our society- the economy, environment, socially, politically and spiritually.

It’s not enough for us to teach or proclaim the Good News. We must work hard to become it for those around us.”

It’s an absolutely no holds barred approach to the meaning of faith, refreshingly clear about the role of the Christian church. In a country where COVID-19 is decimating the population and the economy, and where poverty has always stalked families and hollowed out dreams, Rev Mery’s vision of the good news leaves no room for debates between word and deed.

“We are here to strengthen people’s faith and spirituality, but we can’t be only busy with ourselves,” Rev Mery says. “Malnutrition, human trafficking, poverty, disaster – how is the Church the good news in all of this?”

A church relevant to its people

GMIT is right where its community needs it most. They offer prayer, trauma counselling and activities to engage children who lost everything in the recent cyclone.

Their preaching focusses on finding God in suffering, care for creation and environmental stewardship.

They help re-train those who are in desperate need of income, offering small business start up loans and education on everything from livestock breeding to marketing.

They’ve been actively assessing disaster-struck regions to support government efforts to provide help, and on the ground providing their own resources like solar lamps, food, clean water, school uniforms and building material. And they’ve been in touch with other partners in the region to find out how to build back better.

In other words, they’re a people with an impact upon every aspect of life. Their ministry really matters.

Unique perspectives

As the first woman to become Moderator of her church, Rev Mery is often asked what she wants her legacy to be. GMIT has a long history of women’s engagement in ministry, with ordination of women beginning in 1959. But what would a church led by a woman in the top job look like, she’s asked?

“I don’t know if its about gender as much as it is about power,” Mery responds. “I see my role as being about empowering others, about how power is managed especially for those who have the least. This has always been the way of Jesus – standing with those who are poor, bringing liberation to those with heavy burdens.”

Each year, GMIT chooses a passage of scripture to guide its ministry for the next twelve months.  This year, Rev Mery says, Ezekiel 37:10 has provided the vision the Church needs.

“God commanded Ezekiel to prophesy that the dry bones in the valley would come back to life,” she says.

“That’s our role – to breathe life back into that which seems dry and hopeless. We are building something new for the child who dreams of going to school and can’t afford the fees… for the family looking for hope… for the earth itself as we look for ecological renewal.”

Rev Mery and GMIT stand among so many of our partners who share similar holistic, inspiring approaches to their life together. This month, we’re highlighting their work and hope you’ll join us in prayer and giving as we live the gospel among our global neighbours.

Donate here to support our partners like Rev Mery and the Christian Evangelical Church in Timor

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