Happy New Year! Happy 2016!

Pickin' & Grinnin'

Culture is often times the thing that tells us what is right or wrong, appropriate or inappropriate. This little Pekal boy is not just being a little boy. Culturally speaking, it is perfectly okay to pick your nose in public. It is not unusual to see grown men AND women with their fingers up their noses to the first digit. Digging for nuggets in them thar hills can be serious business here in Sumatra!

The men in Sumatra have elevated blowing snot out of their nose to a high art form. Driving down the street it is not out of the ordinary to see a man lean out the window and blow an incredibly large wad of snot to the pavement. One worker envies this ability, but he is afraid to try it for fear of ending up with snot all over his face or shirt or both. Some things just take a lifetime of practice, and aren’t worth trying to pick up later-in-life.

The point of this article is not to advocate for nose picking or blowing in the United States. The point is that cultural norms vary, and cross-cultural workers are constantly finding themselves in situations that stretch their cultural sensitivities. By the by, they think it’s gross that we blow our noses into tissues.

On the downside, it’s very rude on Sumatra to pick your teeth. So if you get something stuck in your teeth while eating in public, you have to make up your mind if you are going to be rude and give it a quick dig, or just suffer! It’s actually okay to dig as long as you use your hand and cover up while you’re digging!

Pray for workers on Sumatra to have wisdom and grace to deal with cultural differences.

Pray for the Holy Spirit to grant favor and grace to workers when they break cultural norms without knowing it.

Pray for workers to have courage to challenge cultural norms when those norms violate the Word of God. 

Chocolate in its Original Wrapper

This is the fruit of a coco tree. It is more recognizable to us in the United States in a Hershey’s wrapper than in its original form! Chocolate is a major crop in many areas of Sumatra. On a recent survey trip a worker traveled to an area that produced chocolate. A worm had infested the trees. The worm did not impact the amount of fruit produced by the tree, but altered the taste of the fruit in essence still ruining the crop.

All the labor of a farmer is looking forward to the time of harvest. There are so many things that can go wrong. Every good farmer knows that he must work as if everything depends on him, and pray as if everything depends on God. Ultimately it is God who brings in the harvest.

In a similar manner cross cultural workers in Sumatra are also looking towards a rich harvest. They too realize that many things can go wrong in the work of sowing Gospel seeds in hopes of a harvest of souls. There are several worms that can wiggle in and destroy the crop of a cross cultural worker.

One worm is tradition of the people. Tradition is not a bad thing if it is in line with God’s truth, but when tradition contradicts God’s Word, it is a powerful barrier to belief. Many people in Sumatra are unwilling to even consider the Gospel because it is not in line with their religion and their cultural traditions.

Another worm is language and culture. As workers learn a new language and culture one of the first things they learn is that they are outsiders. No matter how good their language becomes or how knowledgeable they are about local culture, they will always be seen as outsiders. As an outsider it is difficult to affect change and introduce new ideas so that the people will accept them.

A final worm among many is access to the people. One of the reason that many people groups remain unreached is because they are very difficult to access. The roads are not good. The infrastructure is non-existent.  The local government will not give permission to outsiders to come and live among the people. The living conditions are so harsh that workers don’t do well even when they gain access.

These are just a few of the worms that slow down the process of savoring a sweet crop among the least reached groups on Sumatra. These are worms that need to be treated with powerful believing prayer!

Pray that the Holy Spirit will convict the peoples of Sumatra to let go of traditions that do not square with the truth of God’s Word.

Pray for God to break down the barriers of culture and language that make it difficult for workers to effectively share the Gospel.

Pray for open doors and resilient workers to go into the difficult to access areas of Sumatra.

Pray for a huge harvest of souls among all 53 of the Unreached People Groups on Sumatra.

To Fix a Flat

This is a typical example of a tire repair shop in Sumatra. This particular shop is geared towards motorcycles. Roads being such as they are on Sumatra it is not uncommon to pick up a nail or screw in your tire and have it go flat. Some people here quip that all the nails and screws on the road were put there by owners of tire repair businesses like this one! It normally costs one or two dollars to repair a punctured tire.

Nobody likes having to slow down to fix a flat tire. It is inconvenient. It takes you out of the flow of traffic, which is at times challenging to reenter. It stops your forward motion. It makes you late for your next appointment. But to ignore a flat tire can create bigger problems and longer delays.

God often uses little irritations, like a flat tire, to slow His children down. We can push through these warnings, but to do so often causes bigger problems and longer delays. Whenever an unexpected slowdown occurs it is always best to slow down and become alert to ways that the Father is at work.

Pray for believers on Sumatra to be sensitive to God’s delays and interruptions as invitations to be involved in His work both in them and around them.

Pray for believers here to resist the urge to ignore or push through delays and miss what God is trying to do.

Pray for divine appointments to share the Gospel among all the people groups living on this island.

Many have never heard and believers here are too busy or inward focused to slow down and share.

Bengkulu People Group Profile

“‘Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation’” (Isaiah 12:2, ESV).

The Bengkulu people are descended from a mixture of different cultures including the Malay, Mingangkabau, Aceh, Bugis, and Jawa peoples. The 60,000 Bengkulu live in and around the city of Bengkulu on the southwestern coast of Sumatra. The Bengkulu language is a form of Malay. Because of their blended heritage, the Bengkulu are welcoming to many other ethnic groups. Therefore, there are several people groups living among the Bengkulu.

The extended family unit is very important in Bengkulu society. Very few family decisions are made without the consensus of parents and siblings. When community-wide decisions are made, the Bengkulu seek consensus through a council comprised of respected leaders from all the family units in the community.

Most Bengkulu people earn a living from fishing. Because of this, the Bengkulu still celebrate Tabot according to the Islamic calendar. This festival is held to honor the Sea Dragon so that their fishermen will not be harmed at sea. The Bengkulu are Muslim, but, as is seen in the celebration of Tabot, they still hold to some traditional, animistic beliefs.

There are only a handful of Bengkulu believers. There is currently no indigenous Bengkulu church.

Pray that:

God will turn the Bengkulu people into fishers of men.

Entire Bengkulu family groups will receive the Gospel together.

Dreams and visions will be given to the Bengkulu, awakening them to the truth of who Jesus is.

Believers living among the Bengkulu will become burdened to share the Gospel boldly.

Believers will receive training in how to share in a sensitive and relevant way with the Bengkulu.

God will call fellowships in the United States and on Sumatra to adopt the Bengkulu in prayer and through sending workers.

The first indigenous, reproducing church will soon be birthed among the Bengkulu.

What Snacks Lack

In just about any traditional market throughout Sumatra you will find a stall that has bags of snacks like this photo taken in Bandar Lampung. Most snack food like this will sell for around a dollar a bag. It is customary when you travel to buy something to bring back to your friends. The gift is called an oleh-oleh. Snacks like these are often times used as an oleh-oleh.

The idea behind the oleh-oleh is that while separated from our family and friends we thought about them a got them a little something. Doing little things to strengthen the bonds of relationships is an important value among many cultures here on Sumatra.

The difficulty comes when the number of people expecting an oleh-oleh exceeds your ability to buy or carry the oleh-oleh back from the place you visited. This cultural value is often set up to become a letdown and disappointment. It is kind of like the after Christmas letdown when the expectation doesn’t match the reality of what is received.

The root cause of the letdown is looking for satisfaction and meaning in things or relationships. Everyone who seeks satisfaction in life from people or stuff will ultimately be let down. God is the only source of ultimate satisfaction, but He is often the last source that people try after shopping around from other sources.

The best oleh-oleh is when we pray for and share the Gospel with those we love. To those who understand the value of such things, it will be more than enough. To those who do not understand, even the most extravagant oleh-oleh will only bring temporary interest. The best thing about prayer and the Gospel is that it has already been paid for by Jesus, it’s eternal, and it doesn’t take up any space or weight in your luggage!

Pray for Sumatrans to seek satisfaction in life from God.

Pray for believers on Sumatra to see the value of prayer and the Gospel so that they share both liberally with all the people around them.

Pray for the Holy Spirit to reveal the reality of how things and people can never replace God as the source of satisfaction in life.

Hurry Home

This Banjar man owned a speed boat that he used to ferry people from Tembilahan to several of the coastal villages in the area. Workers rented his boat to go to a Duano village that was over two hours away. The workers thought the ride was bouncy going, but they didn’t realize that the going part was going to be smooth compared with coming home!

It took over two hours to go to the village, but it only took an hour and a half to go home. Apparently the driver had not planned to spend so long waiting for the workers to head back, so he really opened the throttle on the way home. It was fun when the boat flies over a wake and is airborne for a couple of seconds, but when the boat slams back onto the water all the fun of flying is quickly forgotten. The workers joked with each other that it was a nice ride once you set aside the lost fillings and internal bleeding caused by the constant jarring of the boat on the waves!

There is something universal about heading for home that makes all of us like this Banjar man. We want to push a little harder and go a little faster. There is a longing in our hearts to return safely from a journey and come into the safe haven we all call home. Spiritually speaking we are all rushing along the journey called life, but we will at some point be called home. The question is, “What type of eternal home are people rushing towards?”

Most of the people among the Banjar, Duano, Riau Malay, Javanese, and Bugis people groups are rushing towards an eternal home, but eternity will not be as welcoming as they hope. They need to hear about a Savior who can prepare a home for them in heaven. They need the help of the Spirit to set aside religion and cultural belief to hear and comprehend this Gospel. They need to find their way to a new home in Christ. This is a difficult journey, but not nearly as difficult as staying on the path that they have chosen for themselves.

Pray for workers to meet people on their way home with the Good News of a new home in heaven.

Pray for the peoples of Sumatra to respond with faith to the Gospel.

Pray for strength and journey mercies for workers going to hard-to-reach areas with the Gospel.

Pray for grace and strength for people on Sumatra to let go of culture and religion in order to embrace God’s truth and be saved.