VIEWPOINT MAGAZINE Volume 2.2 | Page 9

Serving in the Boas Orphanage In a rural and small city in Central Java, Mr. Cho and Mrs. Cho have established Boas Orphanage in order to serve the abandoned children of Indonesia. Currently, the orphanage houses thirty-five orphans, ranging from new-born babies to college graduates, and plans to accept even more orphans from all over Indonesia. The Boas Orphanage also provides scholarships for fifty households and food for ten disabled families. So how did Mr. and Mrs. Cho begin their orphanage ministry? Mr and Mrs. Cho came to Indonesia as missionaries and realized that there were many hardships ahead of them, such as language barrier. Discouraged, they started to pray about their future ministry, and God inspired them to open a Christian orphanage to start their mission work here in Indonesia. The construction of the orphanage took two years, and God generously provided all the means for Mr and Mrs. Cho to accomplish the task. After its completion, a nearby hospital called Mr. Cho if he was willing to accept new-born babies who have been abandoned by their single-mothers. This presented a dilemma to Mr. and Mrs. Cho, because he only planned to receive elementary children. Nevertheless, believing that this was part of God’s plan, the couple accepted the baby as their first orphan. Soon, other hospitals started sending newly born babies to the Boas Orphanage. Today, fifteen toddlers are running and playing around the orphanage. One year after opening the orphanage, Mr and Mrs. Cho received a call from pastors from other islands of Indonesia. The pastors wanted to send children who wanted to be pastors, bible teachers, and full-time ministers, but couldn’t afford to go to school. This presented another dilemma to them, because these kids had parents. This meant that when they grow up, they would return to their parents instead of staying in the orphanage. Nonetheless, Mr and Mrs. Cho prayed for wisdom and discernment, and God told them through His word that He wanted the Boas By Peter Cho Orphanage to be open to any children, not just orphans. In an act of obedience, they decided to accept children who wanted to attend theologian schools to become full time ministers. Currently in the Boas Orphanage, twenty children are studying in elementary school, secondary school, and college. However, Mr. and Mrs. Cho realized that their ministry would be more productive if it went beyond the walls of Boas Orphanage. Therefore, to further expand their ministries, they decided to give scholarships to fifty nearby families and food to ten disabled families. They also purchased a small house just outside of the Boas Orphanage to open a pre-school for young children in their neighborhood. Running the orphanage, supporting thirty-five children and helping out nearby neighbors challenged Mr. and Mrs. Cho and their several co-workers. They constantly have to take care of the babies, teach in the pre-school, give out aid to nearby neighbors, and buy groceries for them. Although this deprived them of their leisure time and other comforts, Mr and Mrs. Cho and their co-workers were glad to have such opportunities to return. The main challenge was the financial issue. Mr. and Mrs. Cho needed huge amounts of financial aid to keep things running smoothly in and out of the orphanage. However, they didn’t have a wealthy supporter. Instead, their supporters consisted of middle-class people with average incomes. Although this may look unfavorable to other people, Mr and Mrs. Cho say that they are never worried about financial issues because they believe that God will provide everything. Though they face various challenges, Mr. and Mrs. Cho are joyful and diligent in their ministries. During the interview, they said that they are willing to give up their personal comfort and desires to continue God’s work and plans to further expand their ministry by receiving more children and helping greater number of poor and needy neighbors. 8