The Foundation’s goal…is to establish 1,000 tuition-free schools for Indonesians in rural villages and underserved urban areas, 100 schools for middle-class students, and 10 elite, more rigorous schools that prepare students to study at international universities.

Last fall, Covenant College President Niel Nielson received a phone call that would eventually lead him and a group of Covenant College administrators to Indonesia earlier this month.

Nielson was contacted by an Indonesian educational group, the Pelita Harapan Foundation, which wanted to pay Covenant a visit.

Pelita Harapan has worked over the last 10-15 years to establish an enterprise of reformed Christian schools across Indonesia—from kindergarten to doctoral programs. They had travelled to the U.S. to look at Christian colleges to form relationships with, and Covenant was on their list.

The Pelita Harapan group met with members of the administration and of Covenant’s education department during their blitz trip. The meeting sparked mutual interest between the schools.

“We just felt a common sense of mission and identity with them, and they invited us to come see what they were doing,” Nielson said. He and his wife, Dr. Kathleen Nielson, visited Indonesia briefly in June, and grew “impressed and excited” about the enterprise.

On Oct. 23, Nielson flew back to Jakarta, this time with Vice President of Academic Affairs Jeff Hall, Vice President of Advancement Troy Duble, and Education Department Chair Jim Drexler for a week long visit.