Sweet Wood

These Kerinci farmers are stripping bark from a cinnamon tree. They call it kayu manis or sweet wood. In the days of colonialism this area was controlled by the Dutch. There are still bridges in use that were built by the Dutch. The mark of colonialism still runs deep in many Sumatran cultures.

These farmers grow and harvest the cinnamon, but they outsource the processing to other countries. The net result is they don’t get a fraction of the value from their crops. The profit is made outside of Indonesia. This is a result of colonialism.

Many Sumatrans will accept what a foreigner says as being true because there is still a subservient attitude that is left over from being ruled for 350 years by the Dutch. Some Sumatrans are angry about the amount of wealth that the Dutch gained from their rule of Indonesia. Others are whimsical about the good ‘ole days of better roads and buildings that the Dutch built.

 The problem comes in that many Sumatrans desire to have the “foreigner” take care of them. This cultural attitude makes it very difficult for workers to share the Good News without creating a dependence that causes the movement of the Gospel to be limited by the reach of the “foreign” worker. The independent, can do confidence is often lacking from new believers on Sumatra.

Sumatra has tremendous potential, but that potential will never be realized until Sumatrans are willing to take ownership of their own destiny and follow the Lord with confidence. As long as they are waiting for someone else to do the work for them, they will continue to be taken advantage of and will experience limited advancement.

Pray for Sumatran believers to be filled with confidence and a can do attitude by the Holy Spirit.

Pray for the churches on Sumatra to own the Great Commission without looking to outsiders for leadership and finances.

Pray for Sumatran business people to set up businesses that create finished products so that the people of Sumatra will receive the full value of their natural resources, and this will result in all the people being able to advance to a better standard of living.