What do you think?
Rate this book
Beyond Our Walls: Finding Jesus in the Slums of Jakarta
Finding True Worth in the Slums With over one billion people living in urban slums today, these communities are arguably one of the largest unreached demographics in the world. The challenge is great, as are the sacrifices of living there, yet the Lord can do much with a willing follower. So, what if choosing to live in a slum is a way to become closer to Jesus? Beyond Our Walls provides a unique window into what ministry in an urban slum setting can look like. The author shares the amazing story of God's faithfulness in her life, as she follows Jesus into the slums of Jakarta, Indonesia, and still lives there twelve years later with her husband and two young sons. Not only have her Muslim neighbors had an opportunity to get to know a follower of Jesus, but the author herself has been forever changed by her experiences. Readers will be moved and challenged by this book. It provides an intriguing testimony that will appeal to those interested in Muslim/Chrisitan relations. And women already on the mission field will find it especially encouraging as the author reflects on the difficult aspects of mothering on the field and the faithfulness of Jesus through the hard years of parenting small children. While life in the slums is often hard, the joys are many as well.
142 pages, Paperback
Published November 15, 2022
2 people are currently reading
33 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 11, 2022
Bungee jumping? Sure – bit of danger, bit of adrenaline. Why not. It’ll be a great story to tell at parties.
Backpacking around Vietnam? Sure – bit scary, bit unknown, but why not? And it’ll look pretty cool on my social media posts.
Living in a slum for 10 years? …….Are you kidding? Only an idiot would do that. It’d ruin my career, my retirement savings, and maybe even my life!
But that’s exactly what Anita Rahma has done – for 10 years and counting. And it doesn’t take many pages to find Anita is not only not an idiot, rather she’s motivated by the outrageous idea that God loves the rag picker in the slum, as much as he loves you or me.
Beyond Our Walls is an articulate, heartfelt, remarkable tale, that traces 10 years of Anita’s journey in the slums of Jakarta, the friendships she’s built and the home that she’s created. She and her slum friends have survived fires and floods, snakes and scabies. And come out the end (mostly) smiling.
What I like about this book is Anita's seeming honesty with me, the reader, not painting herself as a hero, but instead being candid about her mistakes and frustrations, and well as her joys and triumphs.
I also like that this is not a book recounting past glories, but honest, incredible stories from someone who’s still apparently in that Jakarta slum today, still facing the floods and scabies. She’s actually doing it and seemingly (from the fact that she’s now married and raising her kids there), thriving!
But most of all, what I like (or don’t like depending on my mood) about Beyond Our Walls is it forces me to ask the question of myself, “Why couldn’t I do that?” Anita’s disarming story suggests that I can. Damn it!
Backpacking around Vietnam? Sure – bit scary, bit unknown, but why not? And it’ll look pretty cool on my social media posts.
Living in a slum for 10 years? …….Are you kidding? Only an idiot would do that. It’d ruin my career, my retirement savings, and maybe even my life!
But that’s exactly what Anita Rahma has done – for 10 years and counting. And it doesn’t take many pages to find Anita is not only not an idiot, rather she’s motivated by the outrageous idea that God loves the rag picker in the slum, as much as he loves you or me.
Beyond Our Walls is an articulate, heartfelt, remarkable tale, that traces 10 years of Anita’s journey in the slums of Jakarta, the friendships she’s built and the home that she’s created. She and her slum friends have survived fires and floods, snakes and scabies. And come out the end (mostly) smiling.
What I like about this book is Anita's seeming honesty with me, the reader, not painting herself as a hero, but instead being candid about her mistakes and frustrations, and well as her joys and triumphs.
I also like that this is not a book recounting past glories, but honest, incredible stories from someone who’s still apparently in that Jakarta slum today, still facing the floods and scabies. She’s actually doing it and seemingly (from the fact that she’s now married and raising her kids there), thriving!
But most of all, what I like (or don’t like depending on my mood) about Beyond Our Walls is it forces me to ask the question of myself, “Why couldn’t I do that?” Anita’s disarming story suggests that I can. Damn it!
November 16, 2022
An inspiration. A challenge. A call. This book is both easy and hard to read. The easy part: its short chapters tell stories that pull you in and transport you to the sights, sounds and smells of vibrant communities built on the waste of a major metropolitan center. The hard part: putting names and faces to the billions of people living in the misery of urban slums.
Anita’s journey as a young adult who heeds Christ’s call to live among the poor and minister in practical ways will cause readers to wonder: What am I this committed to and passionate about? Her joy in living this chosen life of material poverty makes it abundantly clear that her life is rich in meaning and relationships.
The book would work well in a school or church setting, for a book group, and individuals who are ready to ponder calling, vocation, and what it means to live an abundant life.
Anita’s journey as a young adult who heeds Christ’s call to live among the poor and minister in practical ways will cause readers to wonder: What am I this committed to and passionate about? Her joy in living this chosen life of material poverty makes it abundantly clear that her life is rich in meaning and relationships.
The book would work well in a school or church setting, for a book group, and individuals who are ready to ponder calling, vocation, and what it means to live an abundant life.
Read
November 19, 2022Anita breaks through the wall of the superficial 'American Christian Dream' and instead finds God's dream of life and life in all its abundance, not just for herself but for her friends and neighbours in the Indonesian urban slum that God draws her too. In this poignant account she tells the story of her everyday life seeking to live as Jesus' follower amidst a sea of poverty. Yes there is suffering and pain, but also incredible joy and hope. A powerful story of God's Spirit opening Anita's eyes and teaching her and her family to see the treasure buried among what others have thrown away, abandoned and called trash.
January 11, 2023
Thank you Anita for sharing God's heart for the people of Indonesia. Your words of Truth, reflection, lament, and call to justice is refreshing.
**This is a perfect book to read during the Advent season. What a gift to read about Christ with us in this world, even in the slums of Jakarta. Thank you for your beautiful reflections, honest confessions, and perspective for incarnational ministry.
**This is a perfect book to read during the Advent season. What a gift to read about Christ with us in this world, even in the slums of Jakarta. Thank you for your beautiful reflections, honest confessions, and perspective for incarnational ministry.
March 29, 2023
I respect that she writes about her and her husband's work while they are in service and still struggling instead of writing after they retire and have everything neatly tied in a bow with a happy ending. This book is real life in real time.
I like how she wrote about real people's lives and situations, in a way that shares the joys and struggles such that I felt encouraged to do more good in my own life situation. It isn't a downer type book as you might think (...a title about slums?!), nor overly religious, but uplifting! God is not stuffy and complacent!
I think it would be a good read for a young person who wants to do something totally different and strike out on their own - go join an organization that Anita Rahma lists in the back of the book!
One more thing, since she is married to an Indonesian and living in Indonesia I think this gives her more credibility as an outsider and shows she is committed to working to truly understand the cultural situation and not just impose Western values/religion.
I like how she wrote about real people's lives and situations, in a way that shares the joys and struggles such that I felt encouraged to do more good in my own life situation. It isn't a downer type book as you might think (...a title about slums?!), nor overly religious, but uplifting! God is not stuffy and complacent!
I think it would be a good read for a young person who wants to do something totally different and strike out on their own - go join an organization that Anita Rahma lists in the back of the book!
One more thing, since she is married to an Indonesian and living in Indonesia I think this gives her more credibility as an outsider and shows she is committed to working to truly understand the cultural situation and not just impose Western values/religion.
Read
November 28, 2022A series of vignettes painting the story of a Christian woman's commitment to the slums of Jakarta, Indonesia. How many accounts of the modern Christian life include being forced out of a slum by demolition authorities, by fires, by floods, and yet returning to make her home there every time? More than merely returning, she does her best to love her neighbors as well as accept love; living out the Golden Rule that Jesus both modeled and commanded for us. Honest throughout, the author is upfront about the difficulties for her and for her neighbors without becoming immobilized by them.
A call to action that asks each of us whether we are called to live out Christ's love in a similar way, as well as subtlety posing the question of why we accept a society that forces so many persons to live in slums at all.
A call to action that asks each of us whether we are called to live out Christ's love in a similar way, as well as subtlety posing the question of why we accept a society that forces so many persons to live in slums at all.
February 15, 2023
Inspiring memoir of an overseas worker living in the slums of Jakarta as a single woman to a married mom of 2. As an overseas worker myself, although in a different context, I found a lot of her story relatable and enjoyed the read.
August 27, 2025
Inspiring!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews