Our Foundress particularly wanted the FCJ Society to be involved in the education of youth (especially young people who are poor), and also in retreat work and in missions.

Today, those ministries take different expressions in response to the changing situations in our world. Education for instance, does not only mean formal education in schools or universities but it also finds its expression in a wider context such as in giving courses in spiritual direction, guidance and counseling and in the development of the Christian faith. It includes courses in natural family planning and in skills for running cooperatives. FCJ Sisters accompany families and give companionship and assistance to refugees. They accompany people with AIDS, drug users, immigrants, prisoners and patients in hospital. They have a special concern for women, they work for justice and they respect and try to live in unity with people of all cultures and faiths.

In Indonesia, we choose our ministries by considering the needs of the people and the talents of the sisters, and so, up until now, many of our ministries have been in various fields of education. However, besides working in (formal) education, FCJ Sisters in Indonesia are also involved in pastoral work (in parishes, in refugee services, and with women in particular), in spiritual direction and in promoting natural family planning.

The advantage/ the characteristic that we have as a new congregation in Indonesia is that we do not yet have institutions to maintain so we can remain free to be challenged to find the places where the need is greatest.

In my ministry, I meet persons, meet hearts.
Each person is unique
and I am glad to be able to help them
to see the beauty in themselves
and accompany them to deepen their personal relationship with God.

This is really living the FCJ charism:
to be a companion of Jesus and of other people.
The experience of accompaniment
often makes me fall on my knees in front of God
with gratitude, awe and praise
because I can see and be involved
in the beauty of each person
who has been created and loved by God.

After making my first vows (1994), I was missioned to teach English at an Experimental Elementary School at Mangunan, Yogyakarta. While I was teaching, I continued learning English at the Extension Course at Sanata Dharma University, and I was also involved with youth ministry.

Three years after making first vows, I was sent to Manila for studies. I took Religious Education at the Institute of Formation and Religious Studies majoring in Christian Spirituality. After three and a half years of study, I returned to Indonesia.

Now I am teaching at Atma Jaya Yogyakarta University, a Catholic university run by lay people. I am also involved in campus ministry.

I very much enjoy teaching and accompanying people. Often through the encounter I see Jesus who is truly human. Their joy is Jesus' joy. Their tears is Jesus' tears. Their laugh is Jesus' laugh...; their pain is Jesus' pain. I often thank God for the experience which has open my eyes to see the mystery as well as the wonder of life!

My experience has led me to a deeper understanding of the uniqueness and unlimited potential for development that exists within each person. Furthermore, I deeply value my greater awareness that the process of change demands endless patience. Many small steps are taken in the journey towards real change for the better.

I have a dream that one day this world in which we live will become a kind of 'Eden'. All people, women, men and children...; all people will live in justice and peace...; one day...

Part of my ministry here is learning Indonesian language which I find a blessing. This helps me a lot to reach out to others outside my community here in Soropadan, Yogyakarta .

At this time I join Agnes, Dewi and Elvisa in visiting our neighborhood. My new acquaintances inspire me to practice the language that I have learned from the language school and from our sisters. So far so good, and I enjoy my simple way of reaching out through my limited Indonesian language.

For the last five years, I have lived and worked in Indonesia. I serve God in a variety of ways here. Currently I am local leader of the community in which I live and, as novice director, I am involved in the formation of new fcJ sisters.

I have a special interest in ecumenical and inter-faith dialogue. I love working with young people, with women, and with those people who are poor. I love teaching religious education, especially scripture. I love preaching and leading worship.

I want to spend my life in the service of God and of God’s people. I want to co-operate with God and others to make this world a better place – which means to make the Reign of God a reality here on earth.

The thing that helps me grow in relationship with God is scripture, of course! It is my food and drink. I grow by praying with scripture, and by swimming –spending time alone with God – and reflection.

As an fcJ, I live to be of service to the God whom I love and who I continually discover in scripture, in people and in the world. I am ready to go anywhere and to do anything to make God’s dreams for our world, a reality.

I was accepted as novice on 14^th of September 2005. As a Novice, I have classes and spiritual direction, I am also learning Mandarin and I am involved in ministry in our neighborhood.

For my apostolic experience, I visit Catholic families in our basic community in St. John the Apostle’s Parish. On my visit, sometime with other novices, I accompany people and listen to their stories.

The people that I meet during the day are mostly women and also some elderly people. In our conversations, I can feel that people need someone who wants to listen to and to accompany them. Sometime we talk about day to day things at other times about spiritual things.

I also join in prayer services and similar activities like praying the Rosary, Bible sharing and attending special Masses. These activities are usually in the evening, so sometimes, some members of my community also go with me.

People in our Catholic neighborhood are very friendly, this has made it easy for me to get involved with them.

I hope that my ministry might give joy both to the people I accompany and to myself and I hope it will glorify the Lord.

I’m Elvisa D. Camilion, fcJ novice from the Philippines .  I am here in  Indonesia for my novitiate formation.  Being in another county is a big challenge and opportunity for me especially knowing the language and culture here.

As part of my ministry, other than being in formation, I focus on studying the language and the culture of the Indonesian people.  I visit families in our Basic Ecclesial Communities and I also visit and take care of the sick and the dying. Meeting people is very helpful for me to practice speaking the language. I also help with the recollections for young women and with the catechism class.  I am involved also with Campus Ministry  in Sanata Dharma University .  I especially help the English Group to prepare the English Mass every month.  Talking and listening to the stories of the students is one way of showing our charism as Faithful Companions of Jesus.  I hope that this kind of apostolate helps our vocation promotion too.

In spite of my busy time of novitiate formation, I still have time for my leisure for example playing guitar and learning piano help to recharge my energy.

My main ministry is teaching Moral Theology and Epistemology in Sanata Dharma University (SDU).  Besides teaching, I am also the coordinator of The FCJ Team Relief for the victims of the earthquake that struck Yogyakarta on 2 7 th May 2006 .  Let me share with you some stories of those ministries.

Teaching is challenging but energizing.  The students are overwhelmed by some of the subjects they should take.  My challenge is to make them interested in the subjects I teach.  Both subjects emphasize character building rather than making the students knowledgeable.  I assure them that moral theology and philosophy are very near to their daily lives. Learning from St. Ignatius, I apply “not many but much”.

After every single class, I ask the students to write what things they found significant for their own lives after our class discussion.  We call it reflection.  It is very moving to read their reflections.  This is like following their personal struggles in several matters and through this method I feel close to them. I tell the students that without reflection, experiences will never be our teachers.  I do this simply to introduce them the importance of “stopping  for a moment to grasp what insight might come to us”.  Of course, it gives me more work to do: reading and giving appropiate comment in their journal.  With 140 students, I find myself stuck in my chair every Monday and Friday reading their reflections.  The reward is, I am happy and energized.

Let me share with you some of my students’ thoughts.   “Now I am proud of being a woman”, or “I realize that my body is a temple of God so I’ll be careful to care for it”, “I find myself dependent on my cell-phone.  I cannot live without it.  I’ll try to free myself from my dependence on my cell-phone and use it properly”. Some students simply say “Indeed, learning philosophy is interesting and useful”.

I really enjoy this ministry.  It is challenging but energizing.  I often find myself filled with gratidude simply because I see my students growing.  

The FCJ Relief  Team.  Together with 5 hired volunteers, I have worked with the survivors of the earthquake that struck Yogyakarta on 27th May. Our motto is “Serving in Companionship”.   For the first three months, our help was more in the form of emergency supplies.  In July, we started to help survivors reconstructing houses, reconstructing a reservoir, in education and in re-establishing small business for women.

Recently, there are 194 simple houses have been built, 29 women have started their own businesses, and three kindergartens have been renovated.  It is very moving to see the people growing in hope and faith.  One of my favorites is Mrs. Juanah who enjoys running a business selling salty eggs.  Everyday, she sells 120 salty eggs.  She gets Rp. 300 profits for each egg.  (1 $ US = Rp. 9.000,-).  She gives me big hug and smile every time I visit her.

Honestly, I prefer accompanying the Income Generating Projects to other projects.  I am touched to see how hard the women work in order to help themselves. I dream, that one day in dignity and self confidence, they will be able to stand up on their own feet.   

I like teaching children, so I chose to study to become a teacher. After my first vows I was sent to teach in a Catholic school in the outskirts of the city of Yogyakarta. I love my students. They are my friends who encourage me to continue to learn. In that School I discover how to become a Faithful Companion of Jesus and learn to be a companion for those who are poor and weak.

I came to Yogyakarta in December 2004 from Ireland and began studying Indonesian language and culture at the Language and Culture Center of Sanata Dharma Jesuit University. 

I am now in Sanata Dharma University in the PBI English Department helping students by having conversation in English and correcting their theses.

When I came in 1992, my big passion was to work with women's groups in order to create an awareness of the dignity of women here in Indonesia and to help them to discover their worth and to grow in self esteem as they claim their place in a Church and Society that, all to often, does not appreciate their experience. I now find myself training our Indonesian FCJ sisters who go out and work with and for women and women's groups.

In teaching English, first at Widya Mandira University, Kupang, West Timor, and now in Atma Jaya University, Yogyakarta, I carefully select material that will promote the dignity of women, human rights and justice in our world. It is really important to me that I help the students to find their voices, to analyze critically and to give expression to their experiences and beliefs.

"…Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them;

For it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs…"
(Luke 18:16)

One of my experiences with children in Flores

If the children learned from their life
          about how others treated them,
          how the environment influences their life,
          through what they see, feel, and accept
          from all things around them

I learn from my experience with the children
to know more about my past as a child.
I can see from their faces and expressions.
There is a mountain of hopes, cheerfulness like a blooming flower,
and joyfulness like sunshine in their eyes

I see many expressions in them  . . . .
                                        shame, curiosity, honesty,
                              openness, trust,
                    dependency
as well as freedom to express all things

The biggest thing is
their need to love and to be loved.
They are so friendly and welcoming.

In their simplicity, I find a treasure.
Thank God because you have sent these Florenese children
to be part of my life.

I arrived in Yogyakarta in January 2005 from the Philippines where I was living since 1988. 

I began studying Indonesian language and culture at the Language and Culture Center of Sanata Dharma Jesuit University. 

I am living in the Baciro community, sharing FCJ life and spirituality with our novices and sisters in Indonesia .

I have joined an international women’s prayer group and hope to share life and faith with the wider community as my language skills increase.

By 2006 I will begin some English teaching  in Sanata Dharma University .

When I began as a postulant in January 2000, I was a volunteer at a foundation for Women (Yayasan Sayap Ibu). This is an orphanage and a shelter for pregnant, married and unmarried women. I worked there two days a week, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. My job was to care for the babies, playing with them, giving them food and milk, folding and tidying their clothes and cleaning their rooms. At first it was difficult for me but after a month I began to enjoy my job. Through my work I could also see love with a new perspective. I learned patience and found God in this work.

My name is Sisca.

Reflecting on the journey of my vocation as an FCJ, I find an appropriate key word to represent it. The word is love. The experience of love has helped me to make an important decision in my life. Therefore, on May 17th 2003, I made my first Vows as a Faithful Companion of Jesus. A deep sense of God's love invited me to remain in God's love and to live in companionship with Jesus. This also became my way to respond to such love.

It has been a blessing for me to have a ministry after making my first commitment. I teach English as a foreign language and work in campus ministry at Sanata Dharma Catholic University (SDU). I am also involved in the JOY fellowship, an ecumenical group for young people in Yogyakarta which facilitates faith and prayer sharing, leadership and art training. Having experienced my ministry, my sense of wonder has grown at the spirit of the young people to whom I minister. Their enthusiasm and freedom of spirit are truly inspiring!

My main ministry as a temporary professed sister is teaching mathematics and being a counsellor in Pangudi Luhur High School, Yogyakarta. This is a Catholic senior high school run by the FIC (Mary Immaculate Conception) brothers. The number of students in this school is about 600 (boys and girls).

Everyday, beside teaching mathematics, I accompany the students in facing their problems; for example problems in their relationships with their friends, teachers, or family. These are the problems that often hinder their ability to concentrate and follow the lessons in the class, and that affects their achievement.

When I meet them personally, I am often reminded of the fact that there are so many young people today who are longing for somebody whom they can trust and with whom they can share about themselves as they are, without being afraid of being judged and what to do. They really need somebody who is able to accompany them and help them to face their problems in daily life. I am also often touched by their openness and their trust in me as they honestly tell me their story and their problems.

When I listen to them and invite them to reflect on their experiences, I am often challenged to reflect more deeply about my own experiences. So my encounter with my students becomes a privileged moment for me to help me to grow.

For me, the word of Jesus, "I thirst", reminds me that the thirst of my students for someone whom they can trust to accompany and help them is the thirst of Jesus today.

The words from our Constitutions, "Above all we are Companions of Jesus whose lives must reveal him to the world", also become key words for me. They inspire me in accompanying my students. Therefore everyday I ask God to give me the grace to listen to my students not just with my ears but also with my heart, so that I can hear "the thirst of Jesus" inside them.

As an FCJ I have many opportunities to minister to people through my talents. At this moment I am involved in education, counselling and pastoral work. Before I became an FCJ, I never realised that I have the ability to work in counselling and pastoral work, but now they are the works that I am mostly involved in.