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.