Run Free

These two Lampung Abung boys were playing at their Dad’s fruit stand in the traditional market. What this photo does not show clearly is that the 2 year old boy in the red shirt is playing with a sharp knife. It is a truism on Sumatra that children often have little supervision and are allowed a lot of freedom to do whatever they want. This freedom is both good and bad.

Many children on Sumatra are hungry for attention. This hunger makes them vulnerable to exploitation. The main form this exploitation takes is forced labor. But feelings of rejection from parents also open many Sumatran youth to drugs and sexual exploitation.

It is time intensive and physically hard to make a living on Sumatra. Parents are often stressed and stretched. They don’t have a lot of energy to put into their children. Education opportunities, especially in rural areas, are limited. So many children on Sumatra don’t have a lot of hope about the future.

Pray for parents on Sumatra to find strength and provision in Christ.

Pray for children on Sumatra to have positive opportunities for attention and for bettering their lives.

Pray for believers on Sumatra to model a better and more loving way of doing family.

Pray for believers who work as teachers to consider moving into areas that have Unreached People Groups to invest in the children.