A crowdfunding group run by young Indonesian Catholics that has helped build more than 100 churches in remote areas has launched a mobile app to make donations easier and more transparent as part of a plan to increase the scope of their services.
The Vinea Dei Foundation launched the Android application Jalakasih (love nets) on Jan. 6 on Google’s Play Store. The application enables people to make donations directly to a specific project at the touch of a button and keeps people informed about the project’s progress. “With this application, donors can easily share and monitor the projects they help,” said Albertus Gregory Tan, the group’s founder. It was also part of preparations to expand services from not only building churches and providing scholarships for poor children but also to help fund health care, charitable social work and economic empowerment. “We are currently preparing a scheme to help hospitals, orphanages and other services provided by the Catholic Church,” he told UCA News. “For economic empowerment, we will work with the Socio-Economic Empowerment Commission in various dioceses,” he added.
Father Sesarius Gelede Liwun, parish priest at Stella Maris Tarempa Church in Pangkalpinang Diocese, who asked for the group’s help to build a chapel, welcomed the new app. “Hopefully this will make it easier to assist churches.” He said he asked the group for help because 500 Catholics, mostly fisherman on Mengkait, a small island north of Sumatra, were unable to build their chapel for years.
He said they needed 1.4 billion rupiah (US$100,250) and more than 1.1 billion had been collected.
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Judith is a believer, a lover of Christ and a Gospel freak person. A passionate gospel blogger and press writer. I work with GospelHitsNaija.net Media, no 1 Gospel music platform.
