Community Engaged Learning in Semarang

This Indonesia 2026 Community Engaged Learning blog series was compiled and edited using excerpts from a photo essay assignment submitted by our students. We hope you enjoy these snapshots from the second half of SST.

Semarang is a coastal city on Java’s northern shore. With a population of over 1.5 million and a heavy Dutch colonialist influence, Semarang is a cultural hub known as “Java’s Venice” and the 9th largest city in Indonesia. Two of our students, Justin and Luke, are serving here in school settings.

JUSTIN: Krista Mitra 

My service placement is at Krista Mitra, a High and Junior High School in Semarang. The school is a ministry of GKI Beringin Semarang which has an active church location on campus for Sundays as well as a main church building in Semarang. The School opened in 1992 as a “Christian education institution that builds individuals with Christian character and is beneficial to society.” Krista Mitra serves the broader Christian community in the Semarang area providing education. 

Image descriptions: Snapshots of Krista Mitra; Justin at school with colleagues and students; A high school classroom playing an English vocabulary game taught by Justin; Justin featured in an advertisement for Krista Mitra!

One of the main things that has stuck out to me is all the similarities that I see between the people here and at home in the U.S. We are not as different as it can seem at times. The school that I am working at has many similarities to the school I went to in Middle/High school. I am also learning to take more opportunities as they come. (This was my goal at the last Rumah Goshen!). Saying yes to opportunities outside of school and doing activities in classes are good ways to connect with students and others who I maybe wouldn’t talk to much if I only went to my scheduled classes or stayed comfortable at home.

Image Descriptions: Justin with his host family, going out to eat, and playing Dutch Blitz.

LUKE: SD Shalom

My service location is a Christian elementary school called SD Shalom. It’s literally and figuratively connected to the church I go to. Its mission is to raise kids, giving them an elementary school education, but also a Christian education. Unlike a public school, there are things like lessons on the bible, frequent prayers in the classroom, mini worship services on Thursdays, and daily devotionals for the teachers.

The routine of most of my weekdays consists of getting up at 5:50, getting ready for school, a motorcycle ride to the school at 6:30 from my housemate Joseph, sometimes a devotional with the teachers, (on Tuesdays we’ll go to the site of the new school they’re building and stand in a circle praying and singing), freetime, usually homework, before my first class. The principal will bring me a bag of breakfast, often a large quantity of sweet things, like donuts or a loaf of chocolate bread.

Then I’ll help around in a few classes throughout the day, usually drawing something on the board to help teach about something, or I’ll teach something to help with the students’ English, like reading a story or speaking with them. Most days, I’ll be done at around 1:30. Sometimes there will be extracurricular activities I’ll help with. Once it was teaching some first graders to paint a landscape, and I’ve done some lessons on designing with Canva a couple of times.

Through this experience, I feel like I’m learning that I’m able to do things I hadn’t had confidence in myself that I could do. For example, teaching elementary school classes, and adjusting pretty easily to simpler living, doing things like taking bucket showers. I’ve also gotten so much better at talking with Indonesians. I just feel completely comfortable to go wherever I want by myself, which was something I was nervous about before this trip. I think I’ve found that it’s sometimes healthy to do things you feel uncomfortable about doing because it helps you improve and grow as a person.

Image descriptions: Luke at home; Luke with his dorm mates; Luke out for coffee with other students from the dorm; Luke with youth group friends from church JKI Higher than Ever