Quiet Streams

Sumatra is home to many places of natural beauty, such as this stream in Aceh Province. A place like this is reminiscent of Psalm 23:2-3, “He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.” Such beauty cannot fail to turn a man’s thinking to God the Creator.

This place also points to God’s proclamation about Himself in nature in Romans 1:19-20, “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”

The peoples of Sumatra have many clear evidences and signs of God, but they still deserve to hear the Gospel before they pass on. The people who know God need to be faithful to share with those they meet in the way.

Pray for the Holy Spirit to flow like a stream into the parched souls of lost people on Sumatra convicting them of both sin and righteousness.

Pray for believers on Sumatra to declare the glory of God with those living in darkness around them.

Pray for believers to encounter God beside the quiet streams of life so that they have something to share with the lost and thirsty people around them.

Pray for believers to not let opportunities to share the Gospel slip by them like water flowing down a mountain stream.

It’s funny the things that come to mind beside a quiet stream.

Sweet Wood

These Kerinci farmers are stripping bark from a cinnamon tree. They call it kayu manis or sweet wood. In the days of colonialism this area was controlled by the Dutch. There are still bridges in use that were built by the Dutch. The mark of colonialism still runs deep in many Sumatran cultures.

These farmers grow and harvest the cinnamon, but they outsource the processing to other countries. The net result is they don’t get a fraction of the value from their crops. The profit is made outside of Indonesia. This is a result of colonialism.

Many Sumatrans will accept what a foreigner says as being true because there is still a subservient attitude that is left over from being ruled for 350 years by the Dutch. Some Sumatrans are angry about the amount of wealth that the Dutch gained from their rule of Indonesia. Others are whimsical about the good ‘ole days of better roads and buildings that the Dutch built.

 The problem comes in that many Sumatrans desire to have the “foreigner” take care of them. This cultural attitude makes it very difficult for workers to share the Good News without creating a dependence that causes the movement of the Gospel to be limited by the reach of the “foreign” worker. The independent, can do confidence is often lacking from new believers on Sumatra.

Sumatra has tremendous potential, but that potential will never be realized until Sumatrans are willing to take ownership of their own destiny and follow the Lord with confidence. As long as they are waiting for someone else to do the work for them, they will continue to be taken advantage of and will experience limited advancement.

Pray for Sumatran believers to be filled with confidence and a can do attitude by the Holy Spirit.

Pray for the churches on Sumatra to own the Great Commission without looking to outsiders for leadership and finances.

Pray for Sumatran business people to set up businesses that create finished products so that the people of Sumatra will receive the full value of their natural resources, and this will result in all the people being able to advance to a better standard of living.

Do You Really Understand?

It is often humorous to see the English on hats and shirts of Sumatrans. This Penghulu man certainly looks like a die-hard Iron Maiden fan, doesn’t he? Another time a worker met with a Rejang man who had a shirt that said, “I’m an alcoholic”. When asked if he understood the meaning of his shirt, he said that he did not. It just goes to show that it is not wise to wear something in a foreign language if you don’t know what it means!

In a similar way many Sumatrans hold religious views without really understanding the meaning of what they claim to believe. For example, most Muslims on Sumatra believe that they will have to spend some time in hell before they will be able to get to heaven. They share this belief without any concern or emotion about the reality of what that means.

One worker likes to challenge this by asking for a lighter. Most Sumatran men smoke, so it isn’t too difficult to find a lighter. He then asks the man to hold out his hand. “What finger do you use the least?” he asks. When the man tell him, he says, “Okay, I’m just going to burn this finger for five seconds. Is that okay?” The man always jerks back his hand. The point is made.

Pray for Sumatrans to realize the gravity and reality of hell.

Pray for Sumatrans to see the beauty and reality of the Gospel.

Pray for a harvest of souls from among all peoples on Sumatra.

Malam Minggu

This young couple is sitting along the banks of the river enjoying the sunset together in Jambi, Sumatra. It is Saturday evening or malam Minggu. It is not socially acceptable to be alone with members of the opposite sex in public unless it is malam Minggu. That is the one night that couples are allowed to date. It is not unusual to see dozens of couples together at scenic places like this on malam Minggu.

Societal norms and pressure exert a tremendous influence in every area of a Sumatran’s life. Questions such as who you can date and when you can date lead to who you can marry, what work you do, what religion you follow, how you raise children, and the cycle repeats. Such influence is not necessarily negative, but it can become so when the societal norms prevent people from obeying God. In many of the Sumatran people groups the Gospel is unilaterally rejected because it does not conform to societal religious norms.

Pray for new believers on Sumatra to have courage to stand against societal norms for the sake of being obedient to God.

Pray for people groups on Sumatra to have courage to examine their own societal norms and reject those norms that keep them from following God’s truth.

Pray for workers to have courage as they go into new areas and challenge existing societal norms for the sake of the Gospel.

Family Planning

Keluarga Berencana (KB) is a common Indonesian term for family planning. As with many agricultural cultures, it was seen as a blessing to have lots of children. As population increased to the point that the land couldn’t support the people, the Indonesian government started education campaigns to encourage families to have fewer children.

This sign connects the words for independence and prosperity below family planning. It then says, “Two children are better.” Many of the wealthier, better educated urbanites have embraced this idea. The families in rural areas still often have three to five children per family. Many times they aren’t financially able to care for them.

Thinking outside the cultural norm is often met with resistance, and change comes slow. More important than having more or less children is having a right relationship with God. The Gospel is the way to have a right relationship with God, but it’s currently outside the cultural norm among the people groups of Sumatra. Therefore, it’s often met with resistance. Acceptance is slow.

KB is the abbreviation for family planning in Indonesia. It’s also the abbreviation for Good New or Kabar Baik. We need more of the second kind of KB to be shared on Sumatra!

Pray for those who are hearing the Gospel for the first time on Sumatra to have open minds and hearts to hear and receive God’s way of salvation.

Pray for those sharing the Gospel on Sumatra to be bold and to persevere when the message is received coldly by the peoples.

Pray for Kabar Baik (KB) to be shared to every person living on Sumatra.

Football to the Rest of the World

These Acehnese boys are playing sepak bola (foot ball) in their neighborhood street. Boys grow up playing soccer like boys in America grow up playing baseball or basketball. It is many boys’ cherished dream in Indonesia to grow up to be a professional soccer player. It is a dream only realized by the very few.

But even those who never become professional soccer players still get good exercise, learn how to work with a team, and learn how to show good sportsmanship. These are all good things. The Apostle Paul commended this type of discipline, but recommended something even better.

“Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:7-8, ESV).

While every boy on Sumatra knows how to train for soccer, very few know the skill of training for godliness.

Pray for the truths of God’s Word to be broadly proclaimed on Sumatra so that people can discover the value of godliness.

Pray for discipleship with new believers on Sumatra to succeed in building up true godliness among all peoples of Sumatra.

Pray for the Holy Spirit to give young boys on Sumatra the desire to be holy that is as strong as their desire to be a professional soccer player.

Balancing Act

Okay, so you have 50 pineapples that you want to carry to market. You only have a bicycle for transportation. Your basket on the back will allow you to carry 25, so you make two trips, right? No, that would be silly. Instead you take plastic string and tie the other 25 to the handlebars of your bike. Problem solved!

Sumatrans are amazingly good at putting more stuff on a bike or motorcycle than you’d think would be humanly possible. Indonesians have astoundingly good balance. They have also learned to make do with what they have. They have a high risk tolerance in order to keep from duplicating effort.

It’s not that big a deal if you take a risk and lose 50 pineapples, but millions of Sumatrans are taking the risk that their good works will be enough to balance their sin. While they have astoundingly good balance, this balancing of the sin debt through good works will never work. It is an eternal wreck waiting to happen.

Pray for Sumatrans to see that only Jesus can pay for their sin debt.

Pray for Sumatrans to realize that taking risks in some areas is good, but in the matter of eternal destinations it is disastrous.

Pray for believers on Sumatra to carry the Gospel to those who need to hear.