Rev.Recita said that a member of his congregation was sick, and presumed suffering AIDS. He was afraid to visit the patient. As a Minister, visiting the sick is one of his responsibilities. But his fear to be possibly infected if he paid him a visit caused him not to go and pray for the sick.

I could understand his restlessness. The community, including Rev.Recita, still has the fear of getting infected with HIV because of the lack of knowledge about the spread of HIV. This condition has pushed the PLWA into isolation and made them being made ignored by their family.

Rev.Recita actually had already participated in the basic training to become a HIV & AIDS volunteer held by MBM Foundation. Even so, he never had the chance to meet with PLWA. He also learned that HIV can only be transmitted through risky sexual intercourse, unsterile needles and from mother to child through pregnancy. Though it has already been explained that social contact is safe and can never transmit this virus, However, Rev.Recita is still worried and afraid to visit his congregation member.

Recently, the MBM team paid a visit to Rev.Recita’s congregation member suffering from HIV. He was a man, 35 years of age named Adi. He had one child, lived in a a very unhealthy rented house. We were hit seeing his condition. Skinny and was unable to stand. He lived in a dark corner of the house with no windows for fresh air. No one of his family was willing to take care of him. The only one was his wife, sleeping by his bedside.

Seeing his serious condition which had disabled him to even speak, we recommended him to be hospitalized. His whole family refused. They were not ready to look after him and pay all the hospital cost. But we insisted to take Adi to hospital.

We then took him into the car and brought him to hospital. His neighbours were silent and astonished seeing us touch and carry the HIV infected man. Before we came, no one dared to visit him nor to touch him. We also heard when a PLWA died in that village, the funeral procession was not attended by anyone as they were too afraid of getting infected.

This experience has encouraged Rev.Recita to believe that HIV is not transmitted through physical contact. We also showed him how to access the healthcare using the Bali Mandara Health Insurance, a health servive which is funded from the tax that the people pay.

Rev.Recita has now become a very active person to give education about HIV and assist the PLWA. He does this all not only in the congregation where he serves as a Minsiter, but also for all people in Tangun Wesia village, Seririt, Singaraja. Even more, he educates people in Tana Toraja, South Sulawesi during his holiday time.

According to Nengah Jenget, before MBM came to Tiying Desa, pengotan village, his family life was not as good as now. For his family daily needs, he had to work as daily worker in other people’s field. His wife and He do not have regular job. They are employed when someone needs their help. Waving bamboo is their main activity when there is no work in farming field.

This man of three children also raises 2 cows belong to other people with 50-50 profit sharing. With this profit sharing system, he cannot make lots of profit. “I have to take this as there is no other thing to do for family” said

Ngah, his famous name in the village.

His involvement with MBM was when he and his wife, Ni Wayan Minyak, were going to Tabih village to visit their family. There he heard that there was a foundation which has a cow program with colony system. With the information he heard from one of MBM group members in Tabih village, he then came to several of his friends in his village and asked them to form a group. “A group with five members was finally formed” said Nengah.

On 28 September 2008, the group so called ”Karya Tani” proposed to MBM to be provided with cows to raise. MBM then made a program socialization to this group which was lead by Wayan Raka. On 5 November 2008, after a series of meeting, MBM provided 10 cows to five group members, two for each

Until 2011, Nengah has been revolving the capital three times. The total spending for 6 cows in three periods was IDR 34,650,000 and the selling amount was IDR 47,800,000. The profit he made was IDR 9,055,000 which he used for paying his debt and contribution to his village, and also for his family daily needs. He also saves some of his profit in MBM. ”I never imagined that I can make such a big profit. Before joining MBM’s program, I had to wait for two years to gain IDR 1,500,000 from two cows that I raised” said Nengah.

Nengah and his family feel very helpful with MBM’s presence in his village. Nengah said ”With the profit from this program, we now have TV set. We used to use our farming field as our toilet, but now we have toilet thanks to MBM’s education. I was also encouraged to save my earning from cow profit. I am thankful because I never had the chance to save as I had to pay my debt. My saving at MBM now has reached IDR 2,125,000”. His wish is that he can use his saving to buy his own cow..

He also adds ”We all hope that MBM will continue to help and assist us, because with MBM’s presence, there are lots of benefits for us not only to the group members, but also to all our family members”.

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With the tonic-making skill she inherits from her mother, she has made this tonic business as a main source of income for her family. From this business,

she can afford a piece of land and a house for her and her family. She can also use the earning from this tonic business for her four children’s education and three nephew and nieces.

Buini is a household wife whose daily main activity is to make and sell tonic in Melaya market, Jembrana. She was born in Sumber Ayu village, Banyuwangi, East Java. She came to Bali in 1972 when she was three years old with her mother and her siblings. It was to follow her father who had been in Bali for work. In her daily life, the little Buini had to sacrifice her childhood to help her mother in the market selling tonic. Her grief time became even worse when her father died of disease when she was only seven. Her father’s demise brought heavier burden t her mother. She also had to spend more times to help her mother. Her family economic condition also forced her to leave school when she was at second year in Junior High School. She had to face this condition, though it was hard for her to leave school.

In 1986, when she was 19, she married a young man named Husein whose daily work as a public transport driver following the route from Negara to Gilimanuk. Their marriage was blessed with four children. With the ability to make tonic she inherited from her mother, Buini then decided to continue this business her mother had initiated. Using her saving as a down payment, she bought a spot in Melaya market as her business centre. To complete the purchase, she had to pay monthly installment. With the obligation to pay every month, she ran this tonic business with full effort. She was fortunate because many people like her tonic, and keep coming back to buy from her store. “As long as we are honest, maintaining the quality of our product, and satisfy our customers, it doesn’t matter where the business place is, once our customers like our products, they will come and buy from us”, said the 42-year-old lady smiling.

The tonic she sells is her own making, though there are some she buys from other shops. Starting from 4o’clock in the morning, she wakes up and prepares the materials to make tonic. She buys several materials from Melaya market, but there are some that she has to order from Java like Majaan, Temu Kuyang and Bun Chilly as these types of tonic ingredients are difficult to find in Bali. Once she has finished, at 6.30 she is ready to go to Melaya market to sell her products. She stays at the market until at least 11 in the mid day and goes home. Her daily selling vary from IDR 100,000 to IDR 150,000, with average profit IDR 50,000.

One of the obstacles she is facing in her business is the lack of capital to buy some materials from Java which she has to pay in cash. Access to local bank is not possible for her as she does not have adequate collateral which the bank requires. Upon hearing the information that Maha Bhoga Marga Foundation has a community economic empowerment program through Self-Help Group, Buini and her business fellows who also have the capital problem formed a group names “Sedap Malam”. She was appointed as the leader of the group. After the group was formed, they invited MBM staff for the program socialization. Considering that this program is beneficial and brings good impact to their business, they proposed to MBM to be provided with loan capital. MBM agreed, and provided them with IDR 20,000,000 loan to support the group members’ business. With this loan, this beautiful lady is now able to expand her business.

Her business is now growing and has become the backbone for her family. The earning from this business is very helpful considering that her husband’s income as a driver is not sufficient for her family needs. From this business, she can provide education for all her children, and also help three nephew and nieces who stay with her.

Two years ago, when we first entered the front yard of Nyoman Sucita and Nyoman Putra in Banjar Gede, Abianbase village, Mengwi, a beautiful home atmosphere so very nice looking because of the many ornamental plants were grown.

In the second semester 2011, the beautiful look never changes. The front yard is still filled with ornamental plants. Neat, clean and shady environment will bring comfort to everyone coming to this place.

Nyoman Sucita and Nyoman Putra are brother and sister. Since 2008, they have joined Bumi Hijau Lestari Group in Abianbase village. They are grateful for this partnership between MBM and the group for the help they receive especially in handling the waste problem within their family.

In group meeting back in December 2010, they received a composter as a reward from MBM because they had done a very good waste segregation of organic and non organic waste in 2010. With this composter, it is hoped that the group members are able to self-manage their organic waste.

Recently, this lady born on May 31, 1945 has utilized the composter to process the leaves and organic waste into compost. To maintain the quality of her waste segregation, this grand mother of six grand children occasionally teaches her children and grand children to always litter to different bins for different type of waste. Her persistence has influenced them in separating the organic waste from the non organic ones.

Like her older sister, Nyoman Putra also does the same with household waste management. His family has also done a waste segregation according to its kinds. While for the leaves, this 57-year-old man has provided a big hole where he can put all his leaves waste which turns into compost after a while. The compost is then used as a media for his plants and flowers.

These two siblings also have the same hobby which is to grow ornamental plants, especially orchid. We can find various kinds of plants in every corner of the house. Though the front and back yard of the house is not large, the way how they set up the plants comforts everyone who visits their house.

After retiring as a state officer, Nyoman Putra spends more of his time cleaning up. Sweeping, separating the waste, and composting the organic waste are his daily activities. He does it all because he is aware of the importance of maintaining the cleanliness of his house. He realizes that clean house can give comfort for everyone in it, and brings positive impact for body and soul.

Nyoman Sucita and Nyoman Putra have shown great effort and good cooperation in keeping their environment clean. Also, their family has understood the importance of managing the waste in good way. This indicates that the program has been well understood by the group members. MBM’s target as assisting party is to always encourage the other group members to be more persistent and consistent in keeping the cleanliness of their neighborhood.

As an Australian volunteer living and working in Bali it is important to step back and reflect on the vision and mission of the organization that I am working with.

MBM’s vision is “To be a noble way for the people that leads to prosperity”. But what does it actually mean to be prosperous? How will we know when we have reached it? Is it a destination or a journey?

One dictionary’s definition of prosperity is ‘a successful, flourishing, or thriving condition, especially in financial respects, good fortune’.

In an Australian context many people may regard being prosperous as having the latest fashion, having a big house, having a nice car or having a great job. The Australian government likes to think that on a whole Australia is a country has a ‘prosperous future where future generations will enjoy high living standards and a future filled with the opportunities it deserves’.

Many government’s around the world follow a human rights approach to development. Where all of its citizens should have access to food security, health, education, decent work, housing, clean water and sanitation, security of land tenure, clean environment, security and empowerment.

So are we considered prosperous when our basic human rights are meet?

Indonesia, like many countries in the world, not all of its citizens have access to the basic human rights mentioned to lead a prosperous life. That is where I see MBM playing an important role in assisting people this prosperity’.

MBM’s main mission is to ‘deliberate the weak, oppressed, marginalized people, to be a prosperous community, love their Creator and all of his creations’.

I have felt privileged over the past two months to work alongside the staff at MBM and witness and contribute to the great work that they are doing to assist in offering opportunities to the people to ‘lead a prosperous life’.

As an Australian , I often take for granted the basic human rights provided to me and occasionally blur the line between what I need and what I want to live a prosperous life. Working at MBM I have learnt that these rights I take for granted are not as easily achieved by the people MBM work with.

In two months, I have seen first hand how a small loans can contribute to the running of a small business and creating a livelihood for a family, I have seen how the education of the wider community about the importance of HIV/AIDS is needed within the church and I have contributed to implementation of a ‘Poverty Alleviation Project’ that aims to link local people with the local government.

These services and opportunities offered by MBM are only but a small step in offering a prosperous life to people that MBM work with’ but it is an important one.

This prayer below reminds me that we can only ‘plant the seed that one day might grow’ into prosperity for ourselves and the people MBM works with.

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.

The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.

Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.

No prayer fully expresses our faith.

No confession brings perfection.

No pastoral visit brings wholeness.

No program accomplishes the church’s mission.

No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

It may be incomplete,but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.

We are prophets of a future not our own.

This is what we are about.

We plant the seeds that one day will grow.

We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.

We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.

This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.

Amen