Monday, October 28, 2013

Small Business / Kingdom Business

In every traditional market there are tradesmen, like this tailor. They are very proud of their work and of their businesses. Often times they have lots of opportunities to sit and talk with all kinds of people who come to their stall to seek their wares. Many of these small business owners are also followers of Jesus.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see these business owners transformed into Kingdom workers? In many cases all these business people need is some training, encouragement and accountability.
Pray for small Christian business owners on Sumatra to catch a vision for using their business as a vehicle to share the Gospel.

Pray for workers seeking to train, encourage and provide accountability to Sumatra’s Christian business owners.
Pray for market-place evangelism to become common place on Sumatra.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Put it on Ice

This photo was taken at the docks in the city of Bandar Lampung in Southern Sumatra, Indonesia.  

Fishing is not an unusual occupation for an island nation. These large blocks of ice sitting on the docks are for shipping the catch. Fish from this area are shipped to villages throughout the region. Without the ice the fish would spoil long before they reached market.
There are five Lampungese tribes living in this region. Despite long-time, faithful witness there have been very few believers among these people groups. Thinking in terms of being a fisher of men, it is worth pondering why the Gospel is not bringing in more of a catch. Perhaps it is because believers don’t have the ice ready.

Buyers have ice prepared to receive the catch. They do this so the precious fish don’t spoil before they can be distributed. Perhaps the Lord is waiting until the believers in this area are prepared to receive the new believers and help them to grow to maturity. Many believers are afraid to identify with Lampungese believers because of possible community reaction. This is the same fear that keeps them from sharing the Gospel with the Lampungese.
Pray that:

God will draw the net among the Lampungese people groups.
Believers will trust God with possible community reactions and receive these new believers with the love of Christ.

God will revive His church to be active in reaching out to the Lampungese with the Gospel.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

It's a Family Vehicle

This photo was taken in the city of Tanjung Pandan on the island of Belitung among the Belitung Malay.

Most Indonesians cannot afford to buy an automobile. Therefore, a motorcycle often times is the family vehicle. It’s not unusual to see four or more people on a motorcycle. It’s also not unusual to see the children falling asleep between their parents. On occasion it happens when only one parent is on the motorcycle. At such times it’s both scary and comical to see the parent trying to drive and manage the limp body of their four or five year old child.
Fortunately, Indonesian people seem to be gifted at balancing things on motorcycles. Often times they balance large items tied down with plastic strips on the back of their motorcycles. There are normally 10 to 15 motorcycles on the road for every car or truck. To the casual observer it seems their goal is to get as close as possible to the car or truck without actually hitting them. It’s also not uncommon to see children of 8 or 9 years old driving a motorcycle on major streets with 5 and 6 year old siblings clinging to them.

Of course if there is an accident it’s automatically the fault of the car or truck, because they are the ones who have money. These factors can make driving a nerve racking experience. Oddly enough, because of the dense motorcycle traffic, the speed of traffic is not fast and this keeps the number of accidents amazingly low.
Pray that:

God will grant journey mercy to workers who often travel long distances to reach remote villages.
Motorcycle drivers will be self-aware and not put other vehicles in danger in order to save time.

Frustration on the road will not hinder the witness of workers on Sumatra.