Banana Leaves

This is a photo of cut and folded banana leaves taken in Aceh. If you didn’t know better you might think they were green napkins, and you wouldn’t be far wrong. Banana leaves are often used on Sumatra as serving plates for food. This stack was for sale at the traditional market and will likely be purchased by small roadside restaurant owners.

Looking at these leaves is a reminder of one of the favorite stories of workers here on Sumatra. When Adam and Eve fell into sin they created clothes from tree leaves. It may very well have been from a banana tree. The idea was that the first father and mother wanted to conceal the shame that they felt after breaking God’s rule about the forbidden fruit. Workers point out that judgment fell on the first couple for one sin, and not for murder or adultery or stealing, it was for eating a forbidden fruit. This calls into question the popular idea that mankind can pay for their sins by good works. After all Adam was a prophet and of course had done many good works, but the entire world was cursed for just one sin.

Guilt and shame are a universal problem for all people since the fall. Only the Gospel gives the true answer to the problem of sin that manifests through feelings of guilt and shame. Many peoples on Sumatra are still trying to do enough good works to pay for their sin debt. Good works are like trying to use tree leaves to conceal the shame of disobedience; God will never accept it. The many people groups on Sumatra need to hear the Good News that God Himself has provided a payment for sin and a source of power to live a life that is pleasing in His sight.

Pray that the peoples of Sumatra will realize the futility of trying to pay for sins through good works.

Pray that believers on Sumatra will be bold to share about God’s provision for the problem of guilt and shame.

Pray that believers on Sumatra will walk worthy of their high calling as followers of Jesus Christ.

Pray that all the peoples on Sumatra will have the opportunity to hear and respond to the Gospel.

Satellite TV

This is a common scene on Sumatra. Tin roofs and crude wooden structures crowned with a satellite dish.  The photo here was taken in Kaur Bintuhan in Southern Bengkulu Province. People who seem to be living hand-to-mouth still have the money to buy nice cellular phones and satellite TV. Life the-world-over is about priorities. Even with limited resources, people invest in the things that are important to them.

We also see this idea being played out in the lavish and often ornate places of worship in poorer rural areas. Having a physical place to worship that looks good is often very important to the people here. They hope that being rich towards God by having a nice worship house will result in God blessing them materially.

The Apostle Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 6:19 that it is important to invest on the inner-life because our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Many people here miss that fact. In their desire for material blessings, they miss the need to invest in their internal spiritual life.

It’s all about priorities. We always have time and resources for the things that are important to us. At the Last Day it will not be important how nice a cellular phone you had or how nice the place looked where you attended worship. The state of the heart will be the true measure of a life well spent or a life misspent.

Pray for the grip of materialism to be broken among the people groups of Sumatra.

Pray for people here to have a deep heart hunger for holiness.

Pray for Sumatrans to invest in their inner-man by generous time being spent in prayer and in reading the Bible with the result of transformed, yielded lives.

Simeulue People Group Profile

“And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13, NIV).

The heartland of the 50,000 Simeulue people is a small island off the west coast of Aceh Province. The island has beautiful beaches and lush green jungles. Earthquakes frequently affect both the island and its people. The infrastructure is minimal; most villages are along the coastline. Health care is almost non-existent.

Most Simeulue families make their living from fishing or farming. Many men work as lobster divers. Because of poor equipment and dangerous practices, many of these divers end up paralyzed or dead. Those who work as divers are considered daring and brave.

The Simeulue speak a language called Ulau at home, but they can also speak Indonesian. They are simple people who live communally. They fish, work the fields, wash laundry by hand, collect firewood for cooking, watch over each other’s children, play volleyball or soccer, and eat fish and rice together.  Weddings and funerals take place in their homes and are attended by the entire village.  Most of the Simeulue people have little knowledge of the world beyond their island.

To be Simeulue is to be Muslim, although they also have many animistic beliefs about spirits and magic. The Mosque (place of worship) and Musholla (place of prayer) are present in every village. These places are central to the Simeulue village social structure. To be cast out of the Mosque is to be cut off from village life.

There is no indigenous church among the Simeulue Only a handful of Simeulue people are followers of Jesus.

Pray that:

Simeulue believers will grow in spiritual wisdom and maturity.

Believers will help with community development and health needs in order to share the Gospel.

Scriptures and appropriate tools will be developed to share the Gospel with the Simeulue.

New believers will have boldness and courage to face persecution and opposition.

God will call out workers with a heart to reach the Simeulue, and will open the local culture to be more accepting of outsiders.

God will prepare many Simeulue hearts to receive the Gospel.

God will call out thousands of intercessors to pray for the Simeulue people.

Flowers for the Dead

These flower pedals were being sold in a market in Padang, Sumatra. They are used for funeral ceremonies. It is still common and traditional for the family to prepare the body for burial. In a Muslim funeral the body is supposed to be buried within one day of the death. There are many traditions as to how the body is to be prepared.

Many of these traditions stem from animistic beliefs about how to keep the spirit of the dead person from haunting the family. There are still much fear of spirits bound up in the beliefs and practices of the people groups on Sumatra. These practices are still very common among people who claim to be followers of Christ.

Pray for workers to have wisdom as they help new believers from Sumatra’s unreached peoples to let go of their animistic traditions.

Pray for believers on Sumatra in traditional churches to stop following their animistic traditions.

Pray for the Holy Spirit to cause the peoples on Sumatra to consider the shortness of life and the need to have a restored relationship with God.

The Fasting Month is Starting Today

Download this prayer guide and pray for the people's of Sumatra - http://ge.tt/8xm89AH2

Home from School

These Tamiang girls are heading home from school. Interestingly enough, the Indonesian school year is the longest in the world. More days in school, however, does not necessarily translate into a better education. Many children in the rural areas of Sumatra stop going to school after 6^th grade. It is also not unusual to have teachers fail to show up to teach their classes. Many schools lack equipment to help their students engage in the 21^st century.

In many areas of Sumatra children do not learn the national language until they go to public school. For these students, the first few years of school is primarily taken up with language learning. Because of this, these students are often behind in other subjects that they were unable to understand when they first started school.

Education is a huge open door to minister to communities on Sumatra. Providing quality education in rural areas gives tremendous access to families to be able to share the Gospel multiple times over a long period of time.

Pray for believers to minister to the educational and spiritual needs of children in the rural areas of Sumatra.

Pray for the Holy Spirit to prepare the hearts of families in these rural areas to hear and respond to the Gospel.

Pray for educational reforms on Sumatra so that children in rural areas have more educational opportunities.