Kluet People Group Profile

 

“‘For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch’” (Malachi 4:1, ESV).

The Kluet [Kloot] are extremely proud of their heritage, language and religion. There are 50,000 Kluet in Southern Aceh. They have no known believers and no indigenous church. They are one of Sumatra’s Unengaged Unreached People Groups (UUPGs). The Kluet are friendly and open to visitors, but they tend to keep to themselves. There are three regions of Kluet that all have slight variations on language.

Most of the Kluet work in farming. They produce rice, coffee, palm oil, nutmeg, and a variety of vegetables. There is some gold mining, but that is being developed by outside interests. The Kluet area is rich in natural beauty and could easily be developed as a tourist destination. Two challenges that the Kluet are currently facing are problems with wild elephants and problems with dying nutmeg trees. The Kluet have sought outside help for both of these problems without success.

The Kluet are Muslim. They mix their Muslim belief with animism. So Kluet have rings that they believe have magical powers. Because the Kluet often remain to themselves, and there are no churches clost to them, the result is they often have never heard the Gospel.

Pray that:

God will call workers to focus on reaching the Kluet people.

God will help workers to have wisdom to help with deep community wide problems such as the wild elephants and dying nutmeg trees.

Fellowships on Sumatra and in the United States will adopt the Kluet for focused prayer and will send teams to share the Gospel.

Believers will have wisdom to help the Kluet develop the tourism potential of their beautiful area, and that this help will lead to open doors for sharing truth.

First fruit Kluet believers will hear the Gospel and come to faith before the end of this year.

Kluet believers will stand strong in their new faith, and will be bold to share the Gospel with friends and family.

God will reveal the Gospel to the Kluet through demonstrations of His mighty power through His servants as they are witnesses of His truth.

Burden Bearers

This picture was taken in a traditional market in the city of Jambi. The sack of produce that this man is posing for a picture with is easily 60 to 75 pounds. Because of hard physical labor, men and women on Sumatra are often incredibly strong.

But it’s not the physical burdens that Indonesians bear that break the hearts of workers; it’s the spiritual burdens. Most Indonesians are trying their best to shoulder their burden of sin by doing good works to atone for bad thoughts and actions. Those who feel successful often become self-righteous and judgmental. Those who feel like failures give up and sink into sin like a pig wallowing in the muck and mud. The message of grace is desperately needed.

Many Sumatrans are proud of their efforts to live upstanding lives before God, and any suggestion that their good works are not sufficient to pay their sin debt are met with anger and rejection. The standard phrase is, “My religion is my religion and your religion is your religion.” Sadly, the problem is not a question of religion, but of truth. Sumatrans are also incredibility strong at doing religious works, but the truth is no amount of good work can atone for the terrible debt of sin.

Pray for the men of Jambi to realize that the true burden of sin would break their strong backs.

Pray for the Holy Spirit to help the people of Jambi to put down their sin burdens and take up the grace of a risen and victorious Savior.

Pray for believers in Jambi to not succumb to the cultural idea of “earning” salvation by good works.

Pray for those in Jambi who have received salvation to be bold in sharing the Gospel with those around them. Pray that they will not have a spirit of fear or timidity.