Brody International recently partnered with Know Indo, an organization that provides education to children of Indonesia. In the province of East Java, Brody International provided project management and funding to construct a community center and 3 small homes for members of the Know Indo family. Visit https://knowindo.com/ to read more about Know Indo and the impact the Torna’s are making!
2024 Trip Update
On January 21st I had the opportunity to travel to Indonesia to visit David and Taylor Torna, and to see the house / solar project which Brody was huge part of funding and planning. I got to travel with my friend and pastor Drew Buell who is the pastor of Cool Community Church who regularly supports the Torna’s and also partnered with Brody to help fund the project.
This trip was quite an adventure! It takes a good amount of travel to reach south Java, around 40 hours. Indonesia is made up of thousands of islands, but two of the most known and populated are Java and Bali. There is a total population of 270 million people in Indonesia and 170 million live on Java. Having so many people on a piece of land that is roughly the size of California makes for a very populated place.
After flying into Surabaya David picked us up and we began a 7 hour car drive from the city to his village. They say village but this is a town of 50 thousand people. Late at night and along the way I asked David if it was common for so many people to be out in the middle of the night, he said his theory is there are so many people they take turns being outside because there is not enough room to all be inside at the same time. Of course there are all types of vehicles but the most common are motor bikes. You will see virtually anything you can imagine being hauled on a motor bike.
Being able to see the home David built was wonderful, as well and the solar system that is working great. Our goal was to encourage the Torna’s by spending time with no other agenda. Until we were actually with them I didn’t realize how much of a blessing this would be to both them and us. Supporting a missionary is mostly thought of from a financial stand point, on this trip I realized the effectiveness of relationally supporting them. We are truly partners in ministry and I felt that in a very meaningful way on this trip.
Some additional highlights
- Meeting local people in the community
- We got to meet the builder who worked closely with David to build there home. We spent some time with him in his home and also met his family
- A few families came over for dinner on Davids birthday, this included a few of the local church planters that are partnering with David. We enjoyed a time of sweet fellowship over dinner
- Walking around village, one afternoon we spent a few hours walking around the village
- Taking a boat ride on the Indian Ocean
Upon reflecting on this trip I am encouraged by the quality and effectiveness of the Torna’s ministry. It was wonderful to spend time together and I am very happy Brody International partnered with the Torna’s in this project.