Locked down but uplifted

"The love from Indonesia." For Enosh Rupamajhi, Jeu Song and Olicky Muchindu—members of the Young Anabaptist Mennonite Exchange Network (YAMEN)—the warmth of relationship from their hosts and each other is a hallmark of their year. 

YAMEN, is a joint program of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and Mennonite World Conference (MWC) that offers young adults from around the world an opportunity to leave what they know for a year to serve, grow and learn in an international placement. In Indonesia, YAMEN is a joint program with Indomenno, an association of the three Indonesian Mennonite synods, and MWC.

Andrea Geiser, YAMEN’s co-ordinator, says “The benefits [of exchange programs] for individuals, church, host families, host community, workplace are huge.” 

In Indonesia, Song, who hails from Laos, visited parishioners alongside the pastor and worked on the multimedia team at Jemaat Kristen Indonesia Kasih Allah church in Semarang. 

Muchindu, from Zambia, served in the Kindergarten class at Gereja Injili di Tana Jawa (GITJ) Tompomulyi Juwana. He frequently practised his newly learned Indonesian with people in town. “I’m kind of a social person,” he says. 

Rupamajhi, from India, was an assistant English teacher at GITJ Ketanggan Pati. He enjoyed learning about the business of beekeeping from his host father. 

From March to July, these YAMENers serving Mennonite churches in Indonesia were unable to serve in their placements due to the COVID-19 lockdown, yet were unable to go home due to travel restrictions. 

The young men—known colloquially as “the boys”—endured lockdown together in an office in Salatiga. Under lockdown, they continued their cross-cultural experience, using both Indonesian and English as a common language. 

“Every morning, we sang worship songs in Bahasa Indonesia,” says Rupamajhi. “I feel that here is the presence of the Lord; terima kasih, Tuhan [‘thank you, God’ in Indonesian].”

At times, they “just needed to breathe,” says Muchindu. Confined to the office, they missed their hosts, were sad about events and opportunities they missed, and worried about their families. 

To pass the time, they wrote stories about their placements and commiserated about language mishaps, taught each other to cook their native cuisine and prayed together every night. 

“Now I can cook chicken curry,” says Song. 

“Getting them home was tricky,” says Anielle Santoso, an Indomenno liaison. “But ‘the boys’ helped each other.”

Two of them worked with their governments to get seats on repatriation flights, showing the value of co-operation in ecumenical settings as well as personal relationships. 

“If we work together [across differences],” says Song, “we will know each other, and we can help each other when we go through something difficult.” 

“When it became clear that COVID-19 was a global pandemic, MCC had to make decisions regarding service workers,” says Geiser. Area directors, program co-ordinators and participants discerned the options available as programs curtailed their activities. 

Facing travel restrictions, many YAMENers remained in their host countries for months. Three YAMEN participants from 2019-20 continue their pandemic-affected-terms until December.

And as COVID-19 continues to impact travel, and health and safety guidelines, service opportunities are limited, with only two YAMEN participants starting this October.