ONE HOPE. ONE MISSION. ONE CHILD AT A TIME.

ONE HOPE. ONE MISSION. ONE CHILD AT A TIME.

THANK YOU FOR PARTNERING WITH COMPASSION TO RELEASE CHILDREN FROM POVERTY IN INDONESIA Location: INDONESIA Program: CHILD SPONSORSHIP TRANSFORMING A REGION Thank you for joining with Compassion to release children from poverty. By engaging with Compassion s mission in Indonesia, you have chosen to reach out to children living in one of the country s poorest regions. Your church s support will be used to help Indonesian children who have been identified by local church staff as most in need of your loving assistance and practical care. In partnership with Compassion, your church has the opportunity to transform families, communities and even an entire region for Christ one child at a time.

FAST FACTS ABOUT INDONESIA Capital: Jakarta Population: 255.99 million Adult literacy rate*: Male 96.3%, Female 91.5% Access to improved drinking water: Urban 94.2%, Rural 79.5% Life expectancy: Male 69.85 years, Female 75.17 years Religion: Muslim 87.2%, Christian 7%, Roman Catholic 2.9%, Hindu 1.7%, other or unspecified 1.3% Infant mortality rate**: 24.29/1000 Percentage living below the poverty line: 15.9%

ABOUT INDONESIA Indonesia has high urban growth, which strains the capacity of major cities to provide housing and social services. There also remains a lack of adequate infrastructure and resources, with the conservation of Indonesia s forests and peat lands a current struggle. While poverty and low living standards persist throughout Indonesia, particularly in rural areas, there has been progress in recent years. A poverty task force, the National Team for Accelerating Poverty Reduction, was set up in July 2010. This task force provides policy guidance and coordination of social protection and poverty reduction programs throughout Indonesia. Lying near the intersection of shifting tectonic plates, many parts of Indonesia are at high risk of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Hundreds of thousands of families have been displaced and severely affected by natural disasters in recent years. Indonesia suffered the greatest number of casualties during the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004, with an estimated 168,000 people killed and more than half a million left homeless. The country was also impacted by the 2009 earthquake that hit Padang, killing over 1000 people and destroying or damaging almost 300,000 homes. Unfortunately, these crises have led to a dramatic increase in the number of children living on the streets. Many of these children suffer abuse through sexual exploitation and child trafficking. Several terrorist attacks targeted Indonesia in the early 2000s, with the bombing of a Bali nightclub in 2002, resulting in the deaths of 202 people, and three consecutive attacks on Bali tourist districts in 2005.

HOW YOUR SUPPORT WILL BE USED Your church s support will be used to assist children in Indonesia, through Compassion s holistic child development programs. CHILD SPONSORSHIP PROGRAM By sponsoring individual children, your congregation members will play an important part in developing, discipling and equipping children for life. For a child, Compassion child sponsorship works by providing the chance to see a doctor when they re sick, access to education, safe places to play and laugh, and the chance to discover Jesus incredible love for them. All of this and more equates to a bright future so that they, and eventually their own children, can live free from the grip of poverty. Because we see the impact your words of hope can accomplish in the life of a child, Compassion will encourage sponsors in your congregation to write regularly to their sponsored children. In Indonesia, there are currently more than 131,000 children registered with Compassion s Child Sponsorship Program. The children meet at their Compassion centre for between four and eight hours per week, usually in the afternoons after school. SPIRITUAL CLIMATE Indonesia has the world s largest Muslim population, with 87.2 per cent of Indonesians following the Islamic faith; 7 per cent is Christian; 2.9 per cent is Roman Catholic; 1.7 per cent is Hindu and 1.3 per cent is currently unspecified. There has been an increase in the numerical and political strength of Islam in recent years. Compassion chooses to partner with established churches in Indonesia, who are not only best placed to reach out to their local communities, but have the opportunity to live out God s love to the children they serve. Every child in Compassion s programs is given the opportunity to hear and respond to the gospel in an age-appropriate, culturally relevant way. Sources: CIA, World Fact Book 2016; UNICEF, The State of the World s Children, 2015; BBC, Indonesia Country Profile 2015; World Bank, Investing in Indonesia s Education white paper, Compassion International www.compassion.com

THANK YOU COMPASSION AUSTRALIA PO Box 1, Hunter Region MC NSW 2310 Phone: 1300 22 44 53 Fax: 02 4935 5099 ABN 67 001 692 566 www.compassion.com.au