Where's the Beef?

Seeing cows on the side of the road or in a soccer field is common here on Sumatra. Every year Muslims celebrate Idul Adah. On the way to church one worker witnessed several cows like the ones pictured here being sacrificed. Many Muslims believe that giving towards the sacrifice on Idul Adah will help to pay for their sins. Some people even write out their sins and put them under the blood as the animal is being sacrificed.

In one city on Sumatra there were signs of sacrificial animals with seats on their backs. The sign said, “Let me carry you to heaven.”

The meat from the sacrifice is supposed to be given to poor Muslims. This again is seen as a meritorious good work that will pay a person’s sin debt. The friend of one worker was on the committee that decided who gets the meat from the sacrifice. This man offered some of the meat to the worker. This is extremely ironic because the worker is neither poor nor Muslim.

The idea of sacrifice is deeply pictured in the Old Testament, which Muslims accept as being stories from God. What many Muslims do not know is the story of the Great Sacrifice of the Lamb of God. Believers on Sumatra have an incredible opportunity and responsibility to share this important story with their friends and neighbors. If people here are ever to have their sins paid for, they need more than the blood of bulls, sheep, and goats. These sacrifices are not able to carry them to heaven.

Pray for believers to overcome their fears and boldly share the story of the Great Sacrifice with their friends and neighbors who are still trying to pay for their own sins through good works.

Pray for the Holy Spirit to reveal to Sumatrans the insufficiency of the blood of animals to atone for the wages of sin.

Pray for God to visit all the peoples on Sumatra with the knowledge of the truth that can set people free and give them eternal life.