Komering People Group Profile

“No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up. Who then is he who can stand before me?” (Job 41:10, ESV).

The 450,000 Komering pride themselves on being descended from fierce pirates. To this day tribes surrounding the Komering are fearful to travel through Komering areas at night because of frequency of outsiders being robbed or beat up. A traditional Komering greeting can roughly be translated, “I’ll kill you!”

Most Komering live along the Komering River in South Sumatra. They often work as rice farmers and raise small livestock. Their lands also contain natural resources such as gold, nickel, diamonds, uranium and coal. They have forests that provide lumber and rattan.

The Komering have an uneasy blend of animistic and Islamic beliefs. They are greatly influenced by Islam, but still have great fear of demons and often consult shamans to treat the spiritual causes of sickness. Many outsiders are fearful of them, so few believers are bold enough to venture to share the Gospel with them. There are over 100 Komering believers but no indigenous Komering churches.

Pray that:

Believers living around the Komering will overcome their fear and boldly share the Gospel.

Komering believers will be grow in the faith and be bold to witness and holy in the way they live.

Deep conviction of sin will fall upon the hearts of the Komering, especially the Komering men.

Komering believers will not fall into the syncretistic tendency to combine animistic beliefs with their beliefs about God.

New Komering believers will be successfully gathered into a truly indigenous church that will rapidly multiply.

Komering believers will be obedient to follow Jesus.

The Lord of the Harvest will thrust out many workers into the Komering harvest field.