By Aryanto Wijaya

“Here’s the honey, Pap. It’s good for you. Please take it,” the old woman pleaded, her hand shaking as she held out a spoon.

Papa, her husband who suffered from dementia and a stroke, and is just as old as her, snapped, “No! I don’t want it!” He muttered some words in Indonesian with an East Javanese accent. 

“Come on, Pap. Don’t be stubborn,” the woman said, slowly making her way from the fridge to the couch near the TV. “You need to take it, the doctor said so,” she reminded him.

This time, the husband gave in. He opened his mouth and swallowed the honey.

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Tante Mel and Om Bhud are a couple in their 80s who love Our Daily Bread and welcomed me and my team into their home when we ministered to the youth in Surabaya in 2019. I have kept in contact with them ever since, and visited them when I had the chance. But the last time I saw them in August, I was saddened by their poor condition. Tante Mel suffered from back pain, difficulty walking, and senile dementia. Om Bhud had a stroke that forced him to retire from his dental practice. He gave his clinic to the church and his car stayed in the garage. He also lost his sight and memory, and could not remember who I was. He repeated the same question, “Wait a minute…who are you?” throughout my two-hour visit.

They had lost most of their physical abilities to age, but there was one thing that touched my heart. After Om Bhud drank his honey, we all sat on the sofa. They wanted to know what I was doing. I said that my team and I went to Maluku for a mission trip last month. They both got excited when they heard that. Tante’s hand patted me on the shoulder, “That’s very far. What did you do there?”

I explained how we reached out to Christians in remote areas of the country who had limited access to electricity. When I finished, Tante got up. She went into the room for five minutes, then came back with a white envelope.

“Ri… we want to be part of this ministry! But we’re old, we can’t go anywhere. So, here’s some money that’s not much. Please take it for the ministry,” said Tante Mel.

They both agreed on this. Om Bhudi had argued with his wife before when he drank his honey, but now they were united. “Ri, please take it. We still want to serve even though we have nothing else,” he said.

I took the envelope. I hugged them both and prayed before I left for the station.

The amount they gave me was not much, but the two hours we spent together showed me their big heart. They didn’t let age stop them from serving God. Jesus served people of all ages when He was on earth, and welcomed them to come to Him. There were children (Mark 10:14), newlyweds (John 2:1-11), and the parents of a recently deceased child (Matthew 9:18-26). It is the people who Jesus served, who then continued the ministry that keeps the Christian faith alive through the years.

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Since I finished college in 2016, I have been working with Our Daily Bread Ministries (ODBM) in Indonesia, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. My work in the editorial department involves writing and producing different content that helps our audience grow in their faith, and also meeting the people we serve in person. Om Bhud and Tante Mel are some of the people we serve and who joined us in serving others.

Our mission at ODBM in Indonesia is to make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible accessible and understandable to all. We believe that God’s Word in the Bible can transform people’s lives (2 Timothy 3:16) and we are called to share it with anyone and everyone (2 Timothy 4:2). The word “all” in our mission statement means that our ministry is reaching all generations with content that is relational, relevant, empathetic, and trustworthy.

We are grateful for God’s grace and our dear readers’ support that enable us to continue this mission. Besides helping each reader connect with Christ personally through Our Daily Bread, we also offer other content in various formats for different needs. Whether you are a minister or a pastor who needs Beranda Pendeta (Pastors Forum) to assist you in your ministry, a parent who wants Hikmat Alkitab untuk Keluarga (Biblical Wisdom for Families) to guide you in biblical parenting, a young person who seeks WarungSaTeKaMu to accompany you in your faith journey, a lay person who desires ODBU to teach you theology in an easy way, or a curious explorer who joins Teman Jelajah to discover God’s Word together in a fun way, we have something for you. And we keep creating more initiatives and works to serve our audience in Indonesia.

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Om Bhud and Tante Mel have inspired us and helped to sustain our ministries with their actions. They do it because they share our belief and passion that we need more than bread to live, we also need God’s Word (Matthew 4:4).

The journey of ODB Indonesia for a quarter of a century is not something we can do alone. This is our ministry together. Let’s keep working together to make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible available to everyone, until the day the Lord greets us with these words: “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21).

Our Daily Bread Ministries in Indonesia is supported by the freewill offering of individuals in Indonesia, who through their gifts enable us to continue to bring the life-changing wisdom of the Bible to many here. We are not funded by any church or organisation.

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