Paul grew up in a village in eastern Indonesia where his parents worked as farmers to support him, his four brothers and two sisters. Six years ago, he was welcomed into Mustard Seed’s TransformNation (TfN) program as a teacher-in-training. Through four years of discipleship in TfN, Paul learned the importance of developing good character. He started to envision Indonesia becoming a God-fearing nation by influencing the next generation through education. He became excited to see children grow through creative and joyful learning. But how would he accomplish this?

“I’ll start with a guitar,” Paul said. He recognized that children and youth became excited through music. “The most challenging part of being a teacher is gaining trust from my students. How can I teach them if they don’t even trust me? Through music and guitar, I gained respect and a relationship with them. They started to open up to me and listen to me.”

Beginning with a single guitar, Paul started a guitar club as an afterschool program. In six months, the club grew to 18 people and they received several more guitars from donors. Soon they were able to bless the community by singing at the local church.

“I can see the difference in the past six months. The club members are more confident and courageous. They are not afraid to participate and share. They feel empowered because someone trusted them. It made them want to give their best by focusing more,” Paul said. He believes that confidence and courage are essential in building a generation who are ready to impact their nation.