Cultural Liaison News

MECS Indonesian Study Tour (29 July – 10 August)

We are so excited to see 9 of our MECS Secondary students and 3 staff participating in an overseas study tour to Indonesia this Term. The team will be heading to the islands of Bali and Java as part of their Indonesian language and culture learning journey. They will be away for 13 days and involved in a mix of experiences including daily opportunities to use spoken Indonesian, visit rural and urban settings, see cultural attractions, attend two school visits and be involved in ministry outreach with the local church.

This is the first time MECS has run an overseas study tour. We have taken good care in completing our risk management, developing a varied and interesting itinerary and ensuring parents and students are well oriented to what the trip entails. Students have participated in four pre-departure briefing sessions to date. Last Term we held our commissioning night supper where parents, students and teachers attended to run through the full itinerary, packing list, handbook and to pray together. Our trip handbook has been developed to capture the essence of the tour elements, overview the locations, experiences, health, safety and medical matters as well as outline our student behaviour agreement. 

We expect this will be a rich experience and a true adventure for our students. 

Benefits of Overseas Study Trips for Students

Why go overseas? Increasingly through technology, population growth, migration, business and trade and world events we are living in a global community. As global citizens, international border crossings are common and our students are growing up in an era where they are expected to be aware of the role that they play in a global society. Australia is seated geographically within Asia. Who is our neighbour? The Bible calls for us to ‘love our neighbour’ in Matthew 22:37-40 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself”.

Loving our ‘neighbour’ can be hard at times especially when there are differences in lifestyle, culture, language or even worldview. Yet Jesus asks us to love those who are different to us – not superficially with a forced smile or for the sake of being civil and well mannered but to love in spite of fault or difference because we too are not without blemish. This sort of love and service to others is one we find in Him. The Holy Spirit can help us to reach out and be moved to a place of humility and connect with His creation.

The language learning journey provides a window into cultures and is also a necessary tool in forging relationship and connection. There are so many things we all gain from going ‘cross cultural’ – besides the obvious like building our cultural awareness, experiencing another lifestyle and engaging with and being challenged by different worldviews. In this tour, our students get to use their Indonesian language skills in a practical manner (rather than merely an academic pursuit at school). This can become a source of enjoyment, achievement and spark natural curiosity into the why? and how? of things they encounter in another nation. It's also our hope that students will have their eyes opened wide to the realities of Asian society and the complexity of the Indonesian nation.

We pray that God would use this rich opportunity to further the personal and spiritual growth of our students, teachers and school community as we connect with Indonesia through our first in-country visit.

Clare Bradbury

Cultural Liaison Coordinator