The Smythes @ MAF

It has been 42 years since missionaries Phil Masters and Stan Dale were martyred in the Seng valley of Papua, Indonesia, by members of the Yale tribe. Phil’s daughter Crissie Rask is today serving with MAF.

Phil and Stan’s sacrifice helped sow the seeds of the Gospel in that remote area. Those seeds have matured, reproduced and are spreading the Good News from generation to generation, including Kimyal people.

With over 46 million students and 2.8 million teachers in more than 227,000 schools, Indonesia is the fourth largest education system in the world—similar in size to the United States.

Raising Education Standards – Training In-service Teachers using Technology

Two hours drive from Surabaya at a Christian church in Jombang a pilot project is being established to provide teachers at a church school and other schools in the district with the ability to study online for a degree qualification.

TRAMPIL (Transformasi Melalui Pendidikan dengan e-Learning) has set a target of training 10,000 Christian in-service teachers between 2011-2016. These unqualified teachers are currently teaching in schools and while the project’s end result is degree qualified teachers to comply with the Indonesian Governments 2005 Teacher Law, it provides the greater opportunity to transform the nature of education and to educate teachers in excellent teaching practices using some of the latest educational technology tools.

Teachers will actually be learning with technology themselves, developing learning and technology skills which they can pass on to their students. Using a variety of educational technologies teachers will be able to create engaging learning experiences for their students who can interact with each other, their teacher and others around the world through internet enabled communications. Many of these students are already interacting with others through technology – they are constructing, communicating, competing, collaborating – the teacher having learned with various technologies will be better equipped to utilise technologies in learning experiences to enhance learning and engage students.

The pilot project in Jombang has involved setting up a room in the Christian school with 20 computers. Each has a 14inch CRT monitor and is connected to the internet via a 45km microwave link to an ADSL connection in Tulungagung. Web conferencing equipment and software is also installed to facilitate discussion with online tutors and participants.

None of this hardware is cheap for the school and it had been a while since I looked at a 14inch CRT screen! But the church budget can only stretch so far. They have done well to get where they are today and are appreciative of the financial support provided to them by supporters. Schools in Australia have had similar computer rooms available for a number of years and despite being available to students they have tended to be underutilised because teachers arent familiar with the technology or the opportunities it allows.

Teachers studying from the learning centre will have the support of a learning mentor or academic pastor who is available to assist with using the elearning technology and also provide guidance and mentoring in education. Ideally this person will be an experienced and well trained, qualified school leader.

Talks are being held with University of Nusa Cendana and Satya Wacana Christian University (currently using Moodle to deliver online courses) in Salatiga for the provision of e-learning courses which teachers can participate in for their degree.

There are a number of resources which need to be provided for this project to be successful:

• teachers need to commit time, money and effort to study and apply learning
• teachers need funding to participate in university degree courses
• partnerships with Christian universities providing online courses need to be established
• teacher trainers need to be available to run workshops
• courses need to exhibit “best practice” teaching models
• learning mentors need to be funded and equipped with training
• internet access needs to be funded
• connectivity infrastructure and installation requires funding
• schools require computer hardware to be funded and installed
• scholarship funds could be established by Indonesian churches globally

The establishment of this learning centre not only equips the local Christian church with the ability to provide training opportunities for teachers in the district, but it becomes a centre for online learning for all. School principals and administrators can attend online leadership seminars. Teachers can attend professional development courses and online conferences. Students and others from the community can come to the centre to participate in all sorts of courses available online. Courses in economics, engineering, health, science, agriculture as well as education could all be delivered online and accessible to learners who could be applying that knowledge into small businesses microfinanced by the Indonesian government.

Indonesia – An Online Community, Technology Literate

People in Indonesia are very well connected through the internet already, mostly onto internet enabled mobile phones.

• Facebook – Indonesia is the second most active nation on Facebook (Indonesia has 28million users, 100% active; USA 1st – 140million users but only 63% are active).
• Twitter – Indonesia is the most active nation contributing 20.8% daily Tweets (Brazil 2nd with 20.5%, USA 11.9%).
• 60% of all internet traffic is accessed on mobile devices
• 120million cell phone subscribers, 40million new expected in 2010
• Indonesia is expected to be the third largest mobile market in Asia behind China and India end of 2010

Indications and personal observations are that the people of Indonesia are connecting and contributing globally through the use of technology. Connecting to friends, family in Indonesia or around the world. Connecting to learning opportunities, pastors, teachers, Bible studies……

The challenge for the Christian Church in Indonesia is to connect with people through these available and highly accessed technologies – using Twitter, Facebook and other mobile social networking apps, to provide learning, outreach and discipleship opportunities.

28% of the current population is aged under 14, that’s 70 million people. How interactive and attached to technology and mobile devices will that generation grow to be? Smartphones in India are getting closer to the USD$100 price – we should begin to see a growing increase of smartphone users in Indonesia in the next 2 years as these phones become available.

The opportunity is right for the Church to be developing learning apps and mobile accessible courses or course interactivity features so that these learners can take advantage of the technology available to them to grow more spiritually mature; be equipped with resources for outreach and discipleship; technically able to connect and communicate with one another. Teachers who learn with technology are highly likely to use technology with their students – who are already engaging through technology.

Christian Church reclaiming Higher Education through Technology

The church has been providing Christian pre-school, primary and high school education for many years now, but still largely handing children over to state universities for the classical lecture style teaching in contexts which typically strip out any view of the loving, sovereign God of the Bible who created all and is to be honoured in all we do. Bombarding them simultaneously with multiple subjects and assignments and events universities can be incredibly intense, dynamic, pressure places for our young people rather than communities of learning where divergent thinking, depth of focus, community contributions and wholistic personal mentoring and discipleship in Christ’s name can transform.

Once equipped with learning centres like this pilot project in Jombang, churches in Indonesia – even the remotest of the remote – will be able to provide high school leavers with the option of continuing their study at tertiary level. Student’s worldview formation, character and life skills can be shaped by Biblically based, modular styled teaching, facilitated by the local church, transforming lives, communities and nations. This could become a model to the Church worldwide as we begin to see young people with solid foundations established spiritually, academically, morally and socially transform their nation.

Education System Overview

The Indonesian education system consists of the following levels: pre-school, basic, secondary, and higher education. Basic education consists of nine years of schooling (six years of primary and three years of junior secondary school). The goal of basic education is to develop students as individuals, productive members of society, citizens, members of humankind, as well as to prepare students to pursue study in secondary education.

In addition to public schools, Indonesia has more than 50,000 private schools. About 87 percent of the private schools are Islamic of which about 60 percent are primary and junior secondary madrasahs (schools that teach the general curriculum and Islamic religion) and 28 percent are pesantren (Islamic boarding schools). Madrasah Ibtidaiyah (MI), equivalent to primary school, and Madrasah Tsanawiyah (MTs), equivalent to junior secondary school, are managed and run by the Ministry of Religious Affairs (MORA).

Christian Schools in Indonesia

Indonesia has around 6000 Christian schools scattered across the country (this is a country made up of over 17500 islands) with many in isolated and remote areas. These schools are providing education for more than 250 000 children. The latest available data indicates that there may be as many as 30000 of the 50000 Christian teachers who do not have the qualifications required by the Government of Indonesia to continue teaching after 2015, unless they complete a degree.

Teacher Qualifications

The government of Indonesia’s 2005 Teacher law mandates that a teacher must possess a bachelors degree and be professionally certified by 2015 or they cannot teach. This is the most pressing motivator for initiating projects like the church based learning centre in Jombang.

In February 2001 the Indonesian Ministry of National Education (MONE) began drafting new legislation on education in response to the poor standard of education that was available to Indonesian children.

• Indonesia is amongst the very lowest of nations in total education spending – 1.5% of GDP (placed 47th, behind USA 4th on 8% and New Zealand 9th with 6.5%), it has since dropped to 1.2%(UNESCO).
• of the 2.8million teachers 61% of all teachers were unqualified (1.7million)
• 84% of in-service primary school teachers are not qualified
• an estimated 80% of teachers had parallel jobs (usually private tuition)
• the school week consisted of only 15 hours of tuition
• teaching was done primarily in a rote or teacher-centric style where students tended to “fill in the gaps” rather than engage and interact in constructive learning experiences.
• Indonesian adults (aged 15 and over) have an average of only 5 years of schooling
• 53% of the workforce has an education at Basic level (Grade 1-6) or below
• 60% of the Indonesian population live on less than USD$2 per day

Government reforms (with support from EU, AUSAID, USAID) are targetting key areas to improve education in the nation:

1. quality of instruction and pedagogy
2. improved school management and governance
3. construction and extension of school buildings

The Indonesian government is receiving financial support from:

• Australia (AUSAID – AUD$500m in 2010 to build schools, AUD$35m specifically for Islamic schools) Australia also delivered AUD$387million 2006-2009 to construct state and Islamic schools in Indonesia.
• European Union (USD$500m)
• United States (USAID)
• Japan (USD$6m).

With education being a key sphere for developing and transforming a nation, the government with foreign support is taking steps to improve education for Indonesian children.

In the largest Muslim nation on Earth, how is the Indonesian church working to help future generations of their nation? The Teacher eLearning pilot project in Jombang is seeking to answer that question. Providing a model for transforming education, enhancing learning for students and providing infrastructure for higher education opportunities for the community. The church must look at supporting projects such as this.

Sources:

http://www.usaid.gov/pubs/cbj2003/ane/id/

http://bit.ly/9S4fUE – Indonesia mobile statistics

http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/10/206&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/where/asia/country-cooperation/indonesia/indonesia_en.htm

http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2008/s2444247.htm

http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/country_fact_sheets/cty_fs_IDN.html

http://bit.ly/bbQHos

SUMATRA, Indonesia – Benjamin T. Uskert, a pilot and mechanic serving in Sumatra, Indonesia with MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship), died Sunday, Nov. 7, in a swimming accident.

Uskert was at a beach with a group from a local orphanage when two teenagers ventured into deep water and were swept away from the shore. He and another adult swam out to assist them, but Uskert and one of the youths were overcome by the waves and current. Uskert was pronounced dead at the scene; the body of the teenager has not been recovered.

Ben, Katie and Jeremiah Uskert, have been in Sumatra since 2004

“We are profoundly saddened by the loss of our friend and fellow worker in Christ, as well as the young man he was attempting to rescue,” said John Boyd, president and chief executive officer of MAF. “Please pray for Ben’s wife, Katie, and son, Jeremiah, as well as the other members of the family.”

The Uskerts joined MAF in 2008. They attended language school in Indonesia for nine months before beginning service with the MAF Sumatra program in December 2009.

Memorial services will be held on Saturday, Nov.13, in Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia.

A fund has been established to assist with the cost of family members’ travel to Indonesia. Contributions can be made through the MAF website at www.maf.org, or by calling 1-800-FLYS-MAF.

MAF has served in Sumatra since 2004, when the organization played a key role in the recovery efforts following the deadly Tsunami that devastated the Aceh area.

Ben Uskert was born and reared in Valparaiso, Ind., and accepted Jesus as his Savior at an early age. He graduated from Purdue University in 2003 with a Bachelor of Science in Aviation Technology. He took additional courses at Trinity Bible College and Moody Bible Institute. Prior to joining MAF, Uskert worked as an aircraft technician and trainer. He also served as director of maintenance for the Indiana Aviation Museum, overseeing a fleet of 17 aircraft. He married Katie Tucker in 2005, and their son, Jeremiah, was born in 2007.

MAF pilots Dave Forney and Paul College, both based in Kalimantan, Indonesia, have written about there experiences and adventures doing some jungle trekking between villages that they would usually fly between.� Their experiences really affirm the difficulty that isolated people have when travelling in countries like this, which are identical in parts of Papua New Guinea.

From Dave’s blog:

“You might be intersted to know that even now, a month after initially leaving on the trip,

I’m still dealing with weird infections breaking out here and there on my body, as well as a continually painful and swollen knee. The shin no longer seems to be infected, but is lumpy and still quite painful. This all underscores the difficulty of travel the “old-fashioned” way out here in the wilds of Borneo, and the reason why MAF serves the national church at the ends of the earth. It is indeed a very valid ministry, and one that I’m honored and humbled to be a part of!”

read more on Dave’s blog

During World War Two there were plenty of amazing stories from this part of the world.� I read “The Airmen and the Headhunters” which tells the events following a US bomber crew escaping Japanese troops with the help of the local Dayak people, an awesome story which would make a great movie one day.�

There is a TV documentary on PBS which can be viewed here:

http://to.pbs.org/2ToXFi

WHEN the Ramsey company AFD Software Ltd reached its 25th birthday, managing director David Dorricott and his wife Alison pondered how to celebrate the occasion.

Black tie dinner perhaps? Champagne reception? No, they decided to buy an aircraft � yet they won’t even fly in it.

The Kodiak 100 � with a breathtaking price tag of �1m � will be given to Mission Aviation Fellowship to deliver life-saving aid and workers to remote parts of the world.

The shiny new aircraft, fresh off the production line at Idaho, has now hopped over the Atlantic and over the weekend it was set to be put on display to the public at Andreas on Saturday and to be dedicated at a service due to be held at Hangar 5, Ronaldsway, on Sunday.

‘It won’t be shiny for long,’ said Hilary Brown, the representative from MAF, adding that the plane is destined for Kalimantan (formerly Borneo) in Indonesia.

She explained: ‘MAF programmes vary with need because of the geographical challenges. This is suited to short stops, which is what they have at Kalimantan. The aircraft there needs to be replaced and this ticked a lot of the boxes.’

The plane’s seats can be removed, making it flexible and suited for many requirements, such as transporting goods, medicines and food and building supplies, as well as carrying local government officers doing air surveys.

This is vital because of the dense rainforest and mountainous terrain, Hilary said, adding of the country: ‘A 10-mile journey in a plane is three or four days’ walk. It is really vast and very varied.’

Being given a plane � meaning MAF now has a fleet of 121 aircraft operating in 30 developing countries � is ‘an answer to a prayer’, she said, adding: ‘We really appreciated David and Alison’s support and they share in the vision to go out to the people who seriously are living in inhospitable conditions. Flying is a lifeline for these people, it surely will be put to good use.’

BORN IN THE USA: The Kodiak 100, fresh off the production line in America

David has supported MAF for 20 years and it is a very appropriate donation to celebrate a milestone for a company whose very foundation is not on making money (any profits go to worth causes), but in promoting Christian ideals. He said the donation of the plane is ‘quite an exciting chance to be involved in taking the Christian gospel with relief to the parts of the world you can not get to’.

The Kodiak, a new aircraft with higher payloads and range that also runs on cheaper and more readily-available Jet A1 fuel, was perfect for MAF’s needs, said David. He said its visit to the Island was a ‘very rare opportunity’ to see such a plane, as usually they roll off the production line and head south � straight to the world’s poorest countries.

MAF’s representative in the Island is Chris Astley, technical operations manager at European Aviation Maintenance, whose hangar will house the Kodiak during its Island stay. He has been involved with MAF since 1992 and he and his family give up their holiday time to travel to areas such as Tanzania and Nairobi where MAF operates.

Chris services the aircraft and his family helps with charitable concerns such as local orphanages.

Chris said he would value the opportunity to study the Kodiak at close hand, particularly its new avionics. He said his personal ambition is to become an engineer for MAF full time.

Hilary said MAF was ‘in awe’ of the generosity shown by David and Alison, and she also paid tribute to Chris, who has given such much of his time to the organisation.She said: ‘MAF is such a team effort � from the pilot, to people praying, to fundraising.’

Providing flights into remote and disaster-stricken parts of the world also allows other charities to function there: ‘MAF enables so many different charities to do what they need to do,’ she said. ‘Without us they would be unable to get where they want to go. Charities simply could not get there where there is the greatest need.’