Our Stories

Creating New Stories

2016 was a year of transformation for me. It started when I decided to go home, resigning from work, and starting everything from zero when I got to Bangka. It is an extraordinary and meaningful journey of life. For me, it takes a long time to make a choice, whether to return home or stay in the capital city where I have lived since 2007.  Read more

My Life Matters

I am the oldest of four children. I used to have conflict with my mother who I considered fierce and authoritarian. I even said that she looked like a monster.  I received many religious doctrines, which were like spiritual abuse, from my father.  Parenting patterns often govern and affect the way their children grow up and this made me a submissive person and very dependent on others.  I did not have my own will and always went along with people.  Read more

How I live my life after marriage

Marriage is a big time life change and it is not just applicable for either the bride or the groom, but for both. I have had to adapt over the two years since I got married and to be more responsible for my little young man.  

I would like to share some thoughts based on my married experiences.  First of all, there is always someone with me, who is there for me in all the ups and downs of life.  Read more

Being Part of IofC Indonesia Family

Have you ever felt less motivated, stranded, bored, and unclear with your life goals? Many times I felt so till I got to know Initiatives of Change (IofC). A friend of mine introduced IofC to me a few years ago. He is a smart and nice person, and he also has a wide knowledge and plenty of experience. I remember that he once shared about IofC. Read more

Friendship and Fellowship

In July my lecturer asked me to join her research project with the theme of Applying Principles of Good Governance to Schools. It relates to some schools in Asia where we ran a seminar and had interviews with school members. As a teacher, I was keen to assist my lecturer and this activity will expand my mind and broaden my networking.  Read more

Home, Family, Blessing

Home is where you treat your friends like family and your family like friends. Truly, when I was in Japan, I did feel at home. It was my third visit after attending the 18th Asia Pacific Youth Conference (APYC) in 2012 and being the School Visit Program (SVP) volunteer in 2013. This year’s visit was to do research with my lecturer on Applying Principles of Good Governance to Schools and to reconnect with IofC Japan friends. Read more

Strengthening My Self-Identity

I understand that IofC is more than an organization, but a community where people from across cultures, faiths and countries join together to make movements. One thing that attracts me as part of IofC is feeling like family.  There is a comfortable atmosphere, like one's own family, when meeting with IofC friends wherever they are, even though we have not met before. Read more

Learning by Doing

When I was at university, one of my classmates introduced me to IofC.  When I visited the IofC office, I got some new friends and joined them having quiet time and sharing session. I was not familiar and felt awkward to stay silent and then sharing with people. I was not used to sharing my feelings and thoughts to new people. Since then, I avoided my friend’s invitations to go back to IofC with several excuses. Read more

Understanding History: Indonesia and East Timor

There was a session at the Asia Pacific Youth Conference (APYC) 2016 called, “Let’s Talk”, where the organizers provided us with some projects or initiatives to discuss; we had to choose one of the projects. I chose the "Run for Peace Indonesia - East Timor" discussion and expected nothing but new insights. My friend Lia and Rina from East Timor were in the same group as I. We started to talk about how the project would run and and some other technical things but what was missing was why the project should be held. I wasn't very clear about the background of the project therefore I asked them why we should run this friendly project between Indonesia and East Timor. Read more

Worthy Experiences in Taiwan

Many are the plans in the mind of a man but it is God’s plan that will stand. I believe that a person may plan his or her own journey and God will direct his or her steps. In August 2020, I was supposed to depart for Taiwan to study Chinese language and culture. Throughout the pandemic..., Read more