by Erin Kerber
LCA International Mission recently offered staff from Australian Lutheran schools in partnership with Indonesian schools the chance to visit them and re-establish personal connections after years of COVID travel interruptions. The trip also was an opportunity to explore changes that may need to be made for future student visits.
Staff from Victory Lutheran College Wodonga, in Victoria, Grace Lutheran College Rothwell and Caboolture, in Queensland, and South Australia’s Endeavour College Mawson Lakes, Navigator College Port Lincoln and St Martins Lutheran College Mount Gambier, embarked on the journey with LCA International Mission in April.
Most of the time was spent with the schools reconnecting with their own partnerships. However, there also were several opportunities for the Australians to gather to learn from one another and share ideas.
At the end of our stay, each Indonesian school with an Australian partner and those Australian schools visiting Indonesia did a workshop together, at which we discussed the importance of having a shared vision to clarify the purpose and intended outcomes of the partnership and to provide focus, motivation and a gauge for evaluation along the journey.
The schools were reminded that a good reason to be in a partnership takes advantage of the skills, resources and gifts of each partner, highlighting why each partner needs the other and what can be gained only through partnership. We also explored how to effectively express God’s love to those who are different from us, through the development of cultural intelligence.
Grace Lutheran College staff reflected on their time away, describing the school partnership tour as ‘both challenging and inspiring’. ‘Being immersed in Indonesian culture challenged us to consider our lives from a different perspective’, they said. ‘Coming alongside our Indonesian friends helped us to understand the difficulties and blessings they experience and inspired us to grow in the hospitality, freedom and hope that they so boldly display.
‘Grace Lutheran College has been greatly blessed by our partnership with the HKBP schools in Sidikalang (North Sumatra) and Lawe Sigala-gala (Aceh), and we’ve had the joy of being a blessing to our partner schools also.’
Staff from St Martins Lutheran College said: ‘The most important lesson from our overseas experience was the value of listening to our partner school’s story. We can’t necessarily fix all their challenges, but we can be a great support and encouragement.’
LCA International Mission offers school partnerships that aim to:
- Develop friendships with people whose lives have been transformed by the gospel, enabling enriched cultural sharing and space for prayer for and encouragement of one another in the journey of faith.
- Provide opportunities for students to serve and be served by others, look beyond themselves and put the school’s faith and values into practice.
- Be aware of the challenges of living in a majority-world country and experiencing the perseverance, generosity and hospitality of those who live in these circumstances.
- Enrich the students through gaining a deeper understanding of another culture and developing skills in engaging with people who have different cultures.
- Allow students studying Indonesian to visit their partner schools as a motivation for them to improve their language comprehension.
- Offer teacher professional development.
- Create occasions, such as social and fundraising events, for staff and students to work together in their school community and connect to their wider community.
Erin Kerber is LCA International Mission Program Officer. If you are interested in exploring how you can connect to the mission of God through an LCA International Mission service-learning and ministry school partnership, please phone Erin on 08 8267 7300 or email erin.kerber@lca.org.au
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