“Rumah Adiluhung” for the Co-op of Griya Jati Rasa

A Letter from Farsijana Adeney-Risakotta, serving in Indonesia

Fall 2023

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Dear family, friends and colleagues,

Mrs. Endang, a member of the House of Authentic Sense (Griya Jati Rasa) held a plate containing a bouquet of jasmine and woven dry leaves. She danced softly inviting the audience to follow her to the side yard where the “Rumah Adiluhung” would be inaugurated. Rumah means house. Adiluhung, comes from the Javanese words, “adi,” which means high, and “luhung or luhur,” which means noble or glorious. It is hoped that this noble house will produce and exhibit member products to solve societal problems. I had previously sprinkled water on the new building as a sign of blessing. Then Mrs. Endang and I held up strands of woven leaves and a garland of jasmine which were cut by Mrs. Linda, Mrs. Istiatun, and the Head of the co-op, Ustad Beni.

This ceremony took place on Thursday, September 21, 2023, when the co-op officially moved to occupy two rooms in the house Bernie and I built more than 20 years ago that we named Pondok Tali Rasa and is situated in the middle of a Muslim community. For almost 10 years, the Griya Jati Rasa Foundation rented two store houses next door to our house to be used as a workspace and gallery from the co-op.

On this occasion, there was also a soft launching of “Taman Kopi and Teh Adiluhung,” which will market coffee and tea products as drinks to be consumed by the co-op members and the wider community. The sales hours are when the co-op staff work from 9 to 4 p.m. I also added one “milk” product, namely “yogurt” and “salad” with various choices of carbohydrate and protein toppings that can be purchased. Offering milk products, namely yogurt, has been carried out to answer the provincial government’s challenge to cooperatives to help reduce stunting problems in children whose height for their age is below the WHO child growth standards median. Surprisingly, it is not only happening among residents who live in poverty areas in Yogyakarta but also among the educated and rich young people in the regency of Sleman where the co-op office is located.

Opening a coffee and tea venue with special sales of yogurt and salad packages is expected to attract young people to start consuming dairy products as a source of vitamin B12 and nutritious vegetables with a variety of carbohydrate and protein toppings. For the opening of the new venue, I cooked the milk and fermented it for eight hours to create yogurt and prepared the ingredients for the salad by cleaning it properly so that it was safe to consume raw.

Mrs. Setyo Hastuti, a  government official supervising co-ops and small enterprise businesses, gave a speech at the activity and appreciated the culinary products produced by co-op members. She hopes that offering cooked items at prices that students can afford will attract students.  Muhammad Husein, a business faculty student from Yogyakarta State University who is doing an internship at the co-op, attended the event. Husein was very enthusiastic about preparing a social media story about the event.

It is hoped that the community will be able to enjoy the sales of products from the Adiluhung coffee and tea venue regularly beginning in October. With Wi-Fi access in the area of the pavilion and its park, students can connect to the internet while enjoying the beverages and food. The members who attended the inauguration sampled coffee, tea, yogurt and salad. They are optimistic that the co-op can contribute to overcoming nutritional deficiencies in the younger generation and can lead to healthier babies being born.

Mrs. Maria Christiani, a social entrepreneurship student from the Master of Management program, DWCU Faculty of Business closed the inauguration event by giving a very important lecture about how the credit union she leads in Purworejo serves 1,000 members.

I am grateful that DWCU invited the Griya Jati Rasa Foundation to participate in building human resources through higher education. On August 21, 2023, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between DWCU and the Griya Jati Rasa Foundation, which specifically provided a two-year scholarship to Mrs. Christiani to pursue Master of Management education in the field of social entrepreneurship.

The Master of Management program at the DWCU Faculty of Business must report to the government every four years about teaching, research, and social services involving students and lecturers. I was touched when the data from the collaboration between the co-op and the Master of Management program added a large number of points to its national accreditation. It shows that DWCU is involved in solving the society problem.

Prayers and financial support from individuals and churches in the PC(USA) have blessed me to continue to find the most appropriate way in love and respect to work together with Indonesian citizens, even though this service seems far from the job description given by the World Mission. Therefore, PC(USA) is actually helping to empower the Indonesian people to be ready to build the foundations of the Indonesian economy, which by 2045, is predicted to be among the top five leading global economies in the world. The Lord Jesus always guides this journey.  

Salam (peace),

Farsijana Adeney-Risakotta

Please read this important message from Director of World Mission Rev. Mienda Uriarte

Then the King will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; ³⁵ for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Matthew 25:34-36

Dear friends,

Great things are happening in World Mission! As you know from the letters you’ve been receiving, our mission co-workers are at the forefront of showing us what Matthew 25 looks like in the U.S. and in the wider world. They are addressing issues related to eradicating systemic poverty, building congregational vitality and dismantling structural racism. Together with our partners, mission co-workers are engaged in life-transforming ministries in 80 countries around the world. Here are just a few examples:

As an education consultant in the Democratic Republic of Congo, José Jones assists the Presbyterian Community of Kinshasa (CPK) education department in the development, implementation and evaluation of strategic plans to strengthen the church’s primary and secondary education programs for more than 350 schools.

Based in Manila, Rev. Cathy Chang works closely with the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) and other partners in ministry to engage programs and networks across Asia that advocate for people vulnerable to forced migration and human trafficking.

Nadia Ayoub works alongside our Greek partners as they faithfully hold to the biblical call to welcome the stranger. Nadia serves with Perichoresis, a ministry of the Evangelical Church of Greece that provides housing and support to refugees; most of whom have come to Greece from Arabic-speaking countries.

Joseph Russ strengthens and supports a network of partners working in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to address migration issues in the Northern Triangle. Based on the needs people on the ground identify, Joseph empowers U.S. congregations to engage in advocacy related to Central America and immigration reform.

Revs. Drs. Noah Park and Esther Shin serve as professors at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo (ETSC). ETSC graduates work toward revitalizing congregational ministries in Egypt and work with refugee and peace ministries in various countries in the Middle East.

Please consider giving an extra gift this year to support our mission co-workers as they walk alongside our partners and help shape a more life-giving, equitable and hopeful world!

Prayerfully,

Rev. Mienda Uriarte, Director of World Mission
Presbyterian Mission Agency
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

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