January 3, 2025
"As we look back over 2024, there were tragedies, heartbreaks, and accidents, none of which we experienced alone, but in community."-A New Year Message from Cyndi.
We're so glad you are here!
Mustard Seed International empowers the next generation and establishes thriving communities through a holistic model of transformative Christian Education.
• Home to 64 million children between the ages of 0-14.
• There are 1,340 tribes that speak a total of 715 different languages.
• Due to populations being spread across 17,000 islands, providing education presents significant challenges.
• Quality teachers are lacking, especially in remote areas.
• There is great opportunity to train local teachers to bring transformative Christian education to children and communities in need.
A Call to Excellence
In 1952, Mrs. Lillian Dickson opened and dedicated a Vocational Training Institute and a chapel in Taiwan. These were additions to Mustard Seed's existing Rescue Home for boys. "People will be our kind of work," she explained. As she watched the beaming children march from the Vocational Building to the Chapel, she reflected: "This is the pathway of Hope."
In 1971, at the age of 70, Lillian expanded the work of Mustard Seed to Indonesia. Since then, Mustard Seed has expanded to other areas of Southeast Asia and continues to focus on building education programs.
In 1983, Lillian passed away, but her legacy and work continued to grow.
In 2002, a model Christian school for Indonesian children was developed, which would later serve as a Lab School. By 2011, the Lab School grew to exceed 800 students.
Training indigenous youth to become teachers was the most effective way to educate children, especially in remote areas, and so in 2011, the TransformNation (TfN) Teacher-Training Program was born.
In 2018, The Elevate Teacher-Training Program was developed to equip village teachers with an intensive three-month course.
In 2021, the Lab School was acknowledged by the Indonesian Department of Education as one of the three most influential schools in the country. The Lab School worked with the Department of Education to design curriculum for government schools across the nation. In the same year, TfN graduates pioneered Christian schools in the most remote villages of Indonesia.
Today, lives and communities continue to be transformed through life-giving Christian education.
Greetings from MSI's teachers-in-training students in their local tribe's dialect.
January 01, 2025
A three minute video about who we are and our works in Indonesia.
April 03, 2024
Greetings from MSI's teachers-in-training students in their local tribe's dialect.