Tunas Harapan Christian Primary School (SDK) in Bogor, in collaboration with the Indonesian Bible Society (LAI), organised a series of activities under the theme “Understanding the Story and Impact of Biblical History”.

The event, held on Monday 14 September 2026, formed part of the Bible Reading Month (BBA) programme, which is organised annually by the school. The BBA activities encourage children to read the Bible regularly and to love God’s Word from an early age. 

The activities, which were attended by pupils from Years 1 to 6, began with a Morning Devotion led by a team from the LAI. During this morning devotion, the pupils were encouraged to learn from Mary Jones, a young girl from Wales in the 18th century who had a deep longing to own a Bible. At that time, Bibles were still in very short supply and extremely expensive. 

The pupils were encouraged to learn from Mary’s struggle, as she had to save up for years to be able to buy a Bible. Despite facing financial constraints and geographical challenges, Mary Jones never gave up. This story teaches children about perseverance, prayer and hard work in realising their desire to own a Bible. Mary Jones’s spirit inspired the establishment of Bible societies around the world, beginning in: England (1804), the Netherlands (1814) and America (1816). 

The spirit pioneered by Mary Jones and those first Bible societies is now linked to the ‘Bible For My Friend’ (BFMF) programme developed by LAI. Through the BFMF piggy bank, children are encouraged to set aside part of their pocket money to help provide Bibles for children in remote parts of Indonesia.

Following the morning worship service, the pupils took part in various competitions designed to introduce the Bible in a creative and enjoyable way. These competitions included colouring, jigsaw puzzles, reading the Psalms, guessing Bible characters, Bible storytelling, children’s sermons, a Bible quiz, and a chain verse message.

The pupils’ enthusiasm was evident throughout the event, which ran from morning until midday. Through these various competitions, the pupils were not only encouraged to understand the stories and history of the Bible, but also to express their understanding through creativity, courage, teamwork and biblical knowledge.
The collaboration between SDK Tunas Harapan and LAI serves as a fine example of how inter-institutional partnerships can be established and developed, in an effort to introduce the Bible to children. In the future, it is hoped that similar collaborations will continue to be developed through various forms of creative and relevant educational activities for children.(vicjun)