Serving Schools
God has bright plans for young people, and by serving at school, we are helping young people discover their purpose in God.
School and college are where young people spend most of their time. According to Parinduri from the University of Nottingham, children on average spend around 180-250 days at school.
The first place for someone to learn about God is from their own family, but a close second would be school. Thus, while service at church is a great way to reach people, churches can expand their ministry to students at school.
Amos Ciptasetya is a youth pastor from one of Gereja Mawar Sharon's local churches in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, Indonesia. Through the Promised Land movement, his youth ministry, Army of God, has shown significant growth in quality and number of disciples. Their vision is to turn the hearts of the young generation to God through serving schools.
Promised Land movement during a sharing session at a public school in Jakarta, Indonesia. Sharing was done by one of the youth community leaders from Gereja Mawar Sharon. Photo from Gereja Mawar Sharon Kelapa Gading.
According to The Ministry of Religious Affairs, Christianity is Indonesia’s second-largest religion after Islam. However, in Indonesia, Christians are still a minority, as they were only 10.49% of the country's population in 2022. This number is minimal compared to the United States, which is about 63% of the U.S. population.
The small population numbers do not hinder churches in Indonesia from spreading the Gospel.
Gereja Mawar Sharon and other churches have been continuously receiving permission to preach at public and private schools, which is possible because a law in Indonesia supports the right to study religion at school. According to the rules set by the Ministry of Religious Affairs in Indonesia, every student at school has the right to study the religion that he/she believes in.
Contradictory in a country where freedom and peace are sought, the Supreme Court has banned school prayer at public schools since Engel v. Vitale (1962). Though it is impossible to preach during school hours, it is still legal to do prayer and preach after school hours have ended.
It is very plausible for churches in the United States to adopt the approach but with tweaks to suit the law and needs of children in their country.
The Promised Land was first introduced to teenage and youth congregations during a youth conference called the Army of God Conference in 2023.
Inspired by how God led Israel to the Promised Land through Moses and Joshua in Joshua 1-24, the Promised Land movement started as the church realized that schools were the promised land God had entrusted to the body of Christ. That is how Gereja Mawar Sharon started ministering the Gospel from one school to another.
“To move the young people, we need to give them vision and explanation that winning souls is not a hard task, but it is the big commandment. How great it is to be part of it since we were young,” Ciptasetya said.
Rather than being idle, Ciptasetya and his team have always been on the move: brainstorming, pitching ideas, praying for revival and executing their plan. Before he began reaching out to schools, Ciptasetya first equipped the young people at church, which is one of the essential keys to the success of the Promised Land.
“Even though winning souls seem unpopular and outdated in this generation, this is a calling for every one of us; we need to work on the big commandment together,” Ciptasetya said. “To win souls, alone, we might go fast. Together, we might go far. Moving as one, we will go far and fast.”
“The first step is the impartation of vision from the pastor — followed by the longing in the young people to win their school, reaching out to school explaining the movement, followed by co-planning with the respective school and lastly, the execution of serving the school,” Ciptasetya said.
There are various ways to serve schools, but Promised Land focuses on spreading the Gospel and winning souls.
Promised Land offers services at schools, such as school connect groups, group prayer and significant events, such as revival services and retreats. Serving schools can be accomplished in various ways, yet preaching to students should be the church's primary goal.
Promised Land movement during a sharing session at a public school in Jakarta, Indonesia. Sharing was done by one of the youth community leaders at Gereja Mawar Sharon. Photo from Gereja Mawar Sharon Kelapa Gading.
First, “The key to success in serving is to keep our heart and motivation pure,” Ciptasetya said.
Second, “We must show commitment,” said Ciptasetya.
Churches should not have a private agenda or expect personal gain through serving school. Christians must respect the school by following their procedure, discussing the movement with the headmaster or religion teacher, arranging a time and describing what kind of serving they can and cannot accommodate, Ciptasetya said.
Third, “We must let the students and teachers at the school collaborate with us.”
Collaboration is vital, as this movement is not aiming for one-sided service from the Church, but striving for collaboration between schools and the Church. Ciptasetya explained that collaboration can involve planning and executing the Promised Land movement.
“Directing our heart to nurture the younger generation is a good thing,” Ciptasetya said. “We will not be here at this age forever. Young people will be our successors. They are full of talent, potential, innovation and drive. God might use them big in their productive years if we can guide them well.”
Elaine Patricia Lukman is a Junior Communication major at Oral Robert University who has a passion to spread the goodness of God through her writing. She hopes that through her writing, people can see how God’s work is still evident to this day.
