Price of Convenience

The main gas outlet in Indonesia is Pertamina. It is a government owned business that subsidizes the cost of gasoline. Just recently they increased the cost of gas per liter by 2,000 Rupiah or about 20 cents. This is a big deal to most Sumatran families. The populace of Indonesia has staged demonstrations every time the government has tried to reduce the subsidy amount for gasoline.

However, people who live in small villages far from big cities often pay extra for gasoline because small stands like this hauls the gas in so that people don’t have to travel to the city to get it. Usually this is done by individual entrepreneurs, but recently the government has opened up mini-gas stations called Pertamini. They did this to reduce problems with the local business people mixing water and palm oil into the gasoline to get more money for the gas they sell.

Rural areas are often cut off from infrastructure and subsidies that are readily available in the urban centers. Getting resources to these isolated areas is a real challenge for Sumatra’s government.

Pray for creativity for government agencies so that more resources can get to remote, rural areas of Sumatra.

Pray for local business people to be honest in dealing with the farmers that they service in remote rural areas.

Pray for economically disadvantaged families on Sumatra to experience better opportunities to better their circumstances.

Pray for the Gospel to be shared in the remote corners of Sumatra.