By Cyndi Richardson

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By the time our family had been in Indonesia for two full years, God had put on my husband’s heart a vision for Indonesian children being raised up to flourish. An article in the paper had mentioned the 30,000 elementary age children in our province who spent their days on the streets. And we knew that national law mandated that religion be taught to every child in every school. Christian parents held valid concerns that their children would be taught the majority faith unless they could afford an expensive private school. My husband, Paul, had a teaching degree and a pocketful of experience in leadership; why not venture out and see what God would do?

The man cutting the ribbon at our school’s grand opening was a tool for sharpening the vision. We lost track of how many invitations he gave Paul to come along and see some tiny little school in a remote village at the ends of the earth, where a courageous Christian teacher was speaking the truth to kids. Then there was the string of testimonies. Not before or since that time did we meet such a concentration of adults who just happened to meet Christ because of a teacher at school. These things were sparks to light the flame.

A handful of teachers came on board, and moms and dads were contacted about the chance for their kids to join a Christian school with scholarships that made it affordable. An outsider might have called it an experiment. But inside, it was full of holy calling. Reading, writing, math, and truth flowed from the voices of teachers into the minds of the 46 children who formed the first batch of students.

How could we have imagined the way God would bring teachers, and students, and funding, and cause the growth? In the infancy stage, our little school was operating on a shoestring. At just the right time, God brought us into contact with Mustard Seed, and a partnership took shape. Our fledgling Christian school fit in with its vision to give life-changing hope through education.

Enrollment this year is at 964 students in preschool through grade 12, with another 46 high school graduates in the teacher training program, TransformNation. This is truly, truly a testimony to answered prayers, miracles, and the grace of God, combined with a lot of hard work and the support of faithful people like you.

This year, we celebrated the official 20th anniversary of that school, which has now become a hub for all of Mustard Seed’s work in Southeast Asia.

Would you join us in prayerfully asking God that the next 20 years would be even more abundant, rich, and fruitful? We want the Light to shine brighter across this nation because of children growing up in schools like this one.