In 2001 Paul Richardson received a vision from God to create an Indonesian Christian school that would raise up leaders for the future of Indonesia and serve as a training center for many other Christian schools to come. Paul’s dream was to launch a school that would set the pace and standard for discipleship oriented Christian education in Indonesia.

The first act of Yayasan Charis was to interview and hire Amy Iwani as the first SD principal. Under the leadership of Paul Richardson and Amy Iwani, Charis National Academy embarked on it’s first academic year in 2002 – 2003 offering classes for grades 1 – 4 . The original teachers were Twentry Haryuning, Cindy Diah, Rede Bendon, Praptisiwi, Maria Santoso, and teacher assistants Veby Toenlioe and Enil Gloria.

Charis celebrated it’s first SD graduation in June 2005. In 2006 Charis doubled its size when it purchased land adjacent to the Charis campus. The same year Charis built a gymnasium and started construction on the future high school. The iconic high school building was designed by Ibu Dahlia, one of our Charis parents.

The SMP was opened in 2006 under the leadership of Principal Cindy Freer and Vice Principal Megawati Rusli. In June 2008 Charis opened it’s SMA led by Principal Tri Setyarini and Vice Principals Dore Yulia and Danang Ardiyanto. The SMA science laboratories were added in 2010 and the breezy canteen in 2011. In time, God has watched over this ministry, and opened doors for growth. Today, the campus has nearly tripled from its orginal size, and Charis provides a Christian education for over 600 students from preschool through grade 12.

Over the years Charis has grown to almost 1,000 students. Charis graduates attend universities around the world. They are leaders. They include many lawyers, entrepreneurs, educators, engineers, and architects. Charis graduates are working in Singapore, United States, Australia, Netherlands, China, South Korea and Japan.