Dear families, friends, and colleagues in Christ,
For too long, I have felt that the narrative surrounding climate change sounds far too distant. This crucial issue is frequently trapped within elite global political boardrooms, bureaucratic debates, or long rows of corporate spreadsheets. The Earth is treated as mere economic paper commodities to be bartered.
Yet, through your profound generosity, steadfast faith commitment, and vital financial support—my dear friends and partners within the Presbyterian Churches in the USA (PCUSA)—a groundbreaking movement of renewal is now a living reality in Indonesia. The resources you have entrusted to the Griya Jati Rasa (GJR) Foundation have empowered me to set into motion a historic transdisciplinary collaboration alongside Duta Wacana Christian University (UKDW), the An Nur Institute of Quranic Sciences (IIQ An Nur), and STTF GKI Isak Samuel Kijne(Theology School Isak Samuel Kijne of the Indonesian Christian Church) in Jayapura, Papua.
Our international partnership proves that our fellowship transcends oceans to answer a fundamental call of faith: to honor human labor and to steward God’s creation holistically.
✉️ A Pre-Summer Letter from My Desk
As summer approached, I penned a deeply reflective letter addressed specifically to you, my cherished friends in the United States. However, this personal correspondence was unexpectedly delayed due to my health. After taking a brief and well-deserved holiday with my husband and our two grandchildren to West Java, I unfortunately fell ill for two weeks upon our return.
Thanks be to God, I have now fully recovered and have returned to leading our mission in the field with renewed vigor and joy. Should you wish to receive and read my intimate thoughts and prayers that were temporarily delayed, my team has digitally archived them for you. Please scan the barcode (QR Code) attached to this newsletter to access and read my letter in its entirety.
🌱 Taming the Chaos: My Theological Reflection
In my faith reflections on the Holy Scriptures, I am always deeply moved by the primordial state of the cosmos described in Genesis 1:2: “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” This primordial condition of formless, empty, and chaotic darkness is what we know as Tohu va-Bohu.
In the midst of this chaos, I see how God acted. On the third day, before the sun and heavenly lights were brought forth, God grew trees. To me, this is a profound sign that since the dawn of creation, trees have carried a divine mandate: to absorb toxic gases and order the atmosphere, transforming a chaotic earth into an orderly place fit for life.
Today, industrial greed has dragged our planet back into a modern Tohu va-Bohu—manifested through extreme weather, degraded soil, and global warming. Guided by His Word, which brings the light of life (John 1:1), I firmly believe we cannot remain silent. We are invited to become co-creators with God, acting together to heal the wounds of the universe.
🔬 From Sacred Texts to Concrete Scientific Validity
I am personally ensuring that this spiritual frequency, robustly backed by your benevolence, manifests precisely and scientifically on the ground. We do not deal in raw generalizations on paper. In Giricahyo Village, Gunungkidul, together with UKDW’s Faculty of Biotechnology, we have locked a Golden Dataset consisting of 180 baseline reference trees. We measure every single tree microscopically, calculating its biomass volume per individual tree on an annualized basis.
This real science is digitally transmitted by my academic colleagues at UKDW’s Faculty of Information Technology (IT). We assign each tree a “Digital ID Card” based on precise GPS coordinates, ensuring there is zero double-counting. Through this system, the local farmers I coordinate under the Desa Merah Putih Cooperative, which was created by the current Indonesian government, can independently log physical changes in their adopted trees’ height, width, and canopy intensity.
🤝 Interfaith Harmony Atop Karst Soil
The true beauty that I witness in this program lies in the crumbling of dogmatic barriers for humanity and the environment. Fueled by your visionary grants and managed by the GJR Foundation, I am deeply grateful that this initiative successfully weaves a tangible interfaith coexistence here in Indonesia:
- Christian Science and Technology: Validated by the academicians and my colleagues at DWCU.
- Islamic Pesantren Movement: Sustained by the students (santri) of IIQ An Nur, who work to restore critical soil biomass using self-produced eco-enzymes and liquid organic fertilizers
- Papuan Indigenous Forests: I have even expanded this bridge of love to the eastern horizon, partnering with STTF GKI Isak S.K, in Jayapura to assist indigenous communities in protecting Papuan forests.
- Within the digital application we built, both our institutional identity and the farmers’ spiritual affiliations are displayed honorably. This is my proof to the world that interfaith groups in Indonesia stand together at the vanguard as guardians of the cosmos.
💼 Honoring Humanity Through “Carbon Wages” & Green Jobs for the Future
Through this program, I intend to flip the old paradigm upside down. Under the national Document of Mitigation Action Plans (DRAM) that we are drafting, our grassroots citizens are no longer exploited farm laborers; they are honored subjects.
Through the Griya Jati Rasa Consumer Cooperative, economic contributions from commercial partners like Edge Resort Yogyakarta and digital kiosks at Yogyakarta International Airport (YIA) will be converted into periodic “Carbon Wages“ paid directly to our local farmers in Giricahyo and Papuan indigenous communities.
This empowerment model has begun to capture wide attention, leading to frequent invitations for me as a keynote speaker on Green Jobs for the younger generation. I want to inspire our youth to discover how the future of food security and economic resilience can walk hand-in-hand through sustainable carbon farming (persawahan karbon).
🎙️ Laku Nyawiji Bumi: My Voice from the Grassroots
I consistently broadcast these real stories of living together in peace, justice, and righteousness with the Earth through the “Griya Farsijana Laku Nyawiji Bumi” (the house of Farsijana, becoming one with the Earth) Podcast. Spanning my personal monologues, on-site community visits, and interactive talk shows, my podcast has now reached its 14th episode https://youtu.be/nOJePy3FQrw?si=2WhE2q9UnaqL6230.
In Episode 11, I took a deeply inspiring step of direct action that truly moved my heart: stepping down into the muddy fields to join our local farmers in planting rice. I wanted to provide a living example for the youth that carbon farming in Indonesia is not a far-fetched theory on paper, but a noble and practical career path that actively safeguards the survival of our planet.
🎟️ See What God Has Wrought!
Over the next 1.5 months, I will officially introduce this entire digital ecosystem and financial product to the public, the government, and our industry partners. While awaiting the final process, two distinct voices came together to teach our villagers and government officers in Giricahyo how to create eco-enzyme and organic liquid fertilizer from tamanu seeds. Seeing this partnership between a practical expert and the Biotechnology faculty team was incredibly rewarding. This meeting did more than just transfer skills; it empowered the villagers. It proved to them that they hold deep, sharable knowledge within their own community, which can be beautifully elevated when paired with academic science https://youtu.be/ltkcuYxYtGM.
For you—my beloved brothers and sisters in the United States—who long to see the fruits of your prayers and stewardship, I open our doors wide through our upcoming Carbon Tourism packages and global digital monitoring dashboards. Your faith-filled investments have grown real hope upon the karst soils of Giricahyo all the way to the ancestral forests of Papua.
Join me in transforming chaos into order. Because when the Earth calls, our faith and our science must answer with concrete action.
In Green Solidarity and Christ’s mercy,
Farsijana Adeney-Risakotta
