When Hope Remains: Oka’s Resilient Faith

Hope is a legacy. A legacy that Oka Saputra inherited from his father. And one he is passing on every day in Indonesia.

Oka grew up in a small village in Indonesia. It wasn’t a childhood filled with hope. That’s because he grew up in poverty surrounded by people who didn’t accept his faith. Traditionally, a son follows his father’s religion, so if your father was a Hindu, you were too.

Oka’s father chose a different path. He came from a wealthy Hindu family but decided to follow Christ, showing his commitment by borrowing land and building a church for the community. But he was cut off from the rest of his family because of his faith.

His father’s noble choices meant Oka grew up in poverty and as a social outcast. Already an outsider as a Christian, there was no hope of an education, which would help break the cycle of poverty — until Oka’s local church partnered with Compassion.

“I always remember how I was treated at the Compassion center,” Oka says. “People loved me and respected my rights as a child.”

This love and respect transformed Oka’s life. Compassion helped him pursue an education, and when he graduated from the sponsorship program, he realized his dream of being a graphic designer. Oka moved away from his village and started work for a famous international surfing brand. He made good money and could provide for his wife and daughter.

But just as the pieces of Oka’s life seemed to fall into place, a motorbike accident changed everything.

While lying in the hospital bed after the accident, Oka had a dream.

“I saw a big gate, and it was floating in the sky full of clouds,” says Oka. “The gate was opening for me, and it was so bright inside. I was trying to enter the gate, but as I stepped inside, I immediately fell from the sky with clouds around me. I was falling so fast.”

Through this dream, Oka felt God telling him to move back to his hometown.

The move was hard, forcing Oka and his family away from friends and a steady income. But a memory gave them hope and peace.

With this desire, Oka opened a bed-and-breakfast in his village. While it is a business, Oka sees his bed-and-breakfast as a ministry first, a ministry that continues the legacy of hope he has received.

Looking at it now, Oka feels he never left Compassion’s program. “Releasing a child from poverty is a long journey. It takes more than a generation to work it out. After a child has graduated from the center, poverty won’t automatically end there.”

Improving an economy is one thing, but real transformation requires hope. That’s why Oka invites church members and teens in the community to work at the bed-and-breakfast. The work provides steady income, but it is also a way for Oka to pass on the legacy of hope to children and youth in need.

Watch the video to hear Oka tell his story of hope and transformation and to see the ways God is bringing hope to his village.