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. 

Photo from Muko-Muko area

Transmigrant Javanese People Group Profile

“For my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples” (Luke 2:30-31, ESV).

By far, the largest people group in the country of Indonesia is the Javanese. The most densely populated island in the Indonesian archipelago of over 13,000 islands is Java. For this and other economic reasons, the government sanctioned a massive relocation program during the 1970s -1980s in which millions of Javanese farmers moved to rural locations in Sumatra. Today, Javanese are located throughout the island. There are 15 million of them which makes the Transmigrant Javanese the largest people group on Sumatra - over twice the size of the next largest unreached group.

These farmers were asked to “tame the jungle” or work on Sumatran plantations. These transmigrants endured a broad spectrum of hardships; however, due to their hard work and perseverance, many have prospered. Most of the indigenous Sumatran tribes are prejudiced against these “newcomers.”

Most Transmigrant Javanese are Muslim, yet there are over 60,000 Javanese believers on Sumatra. That sounds like a lot, but it only represents .46% of the total population of Javanese in Sumatra. There are around 2,000 Javanese churches in Sumatra. Most Javanese believers don’t think about praying for or sharing the Gospel with the lost living around them. A spiritual renewal among the Javanese believers on Sumatra could have a large and far-reaching impact on the island.

Pray that:

God will bring spiritual awakening among the Javanese believers in Sumatra.

God will call many cross-cultural workers from among Javanese believers.

Training efforts among the Javanese believers will equip them to share with the unreached peoples.

There will be a massive turning of Javanese to faith in Jesus Christ.

The Javanese work ethic will be turned to building up God’s Kingdom.

Workers focused on the Javanese on Sumatra will have wisdom, boldness and perseverance.

The Javanese churches will rapidly multiply and carry the Good News to all the peoples of Sumatra.

This Little Piggy

The pig is a divisive animal on Sumatra. Amongst the Nias and Batak cultures it is a symbol of wealth and prosperity. Amongst all the Muslim people groups it’s the epitome of unclean or haram. Pork literally entered into the deliberation of the Nias and Batak peoples – if they couldn’t continue to eat pork they didn’t want to become Muslim. The photo of this pig was taken on the island of Nias.

One worker, on his way to church services, was involved in a traffic accident. His vehicle was rendered undriveable. As is normal in Sumatra, a large crowd gathered. This was a dangerous situation. The worker could have been badly beaten. In God’s providence, one of the worker’s neighbors, a Muslim man, told the crowd to calm down and not do anything rash to the worker.

Many of the people in the crowd asked the worker, “Mau piggy (pigi).” The worker was very confused. The word “mau” means “to want.” The word “piggy” in English means a “young pig.” He could not comprehend why these Muslim people would be asking him about pork at an accident scene. It turns out that “pigi” is slang for “pergi” which means “to go.” They weren’t asking him if he wanted pig. They were asking him if he wanted to go, as in to leave the scene of the accident. They were taunting him.

In the end, the worker was able to get his car in driving order and take the injured person to the hospital. After the person was released from the hospital the worker took her home and got to share the Gospel with this young woman’s family. Isn’t it amazing how God can take a bad situation and turn it into something good?!

The point of the story is that every worker on Sumatra knows that pork is a sensitive issue.

Clean and unclean foods were also a major issue in the Jewish culture of Jesus’ day. In Mark 7:15-23 Jesus teaches that it’s not the food that a person eats that makes them unclean, but rather the things that come out of a man’s heart such as evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness that causes a person to be defiled. According to Jesus dietary restrictions are too narrow of a view of what constitutes a person being clean or unclean before Holy God. Like the worker who misunderstood the meaning of, “Mau pigi?” there are many people on Sumatra who misunderstand God’s standards of righteousness.

Pray for Sumatrans to comprehend the Holiness of God and the true standard of what it takes to be truly clean before Him.

Pray for the Holy Spirit to overcome cultural barriers that keep people from giving the Gospel a fair hearing.

Pray for workers as they struggle with cultural and language barriers in their attempts to share God’s plan of salvation to the peoples of Sumatra.

Words of Life

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life” (John 5:39-40, ESV).

The Words of God are words of life. This Minangkabau woman is reading her sacred book. To her, even if she doesn’t understand them, these sacred words have power in and of themselves. She’s hoping that by reading these words that it will give her merit before Holy God. She’s hoping that her good works will outweigh her sins.

In Jesus’ day there were a group of religious leaders who carefully read and memorized and debated the scripture. In John 5:39-40 Jesus chides these leaders at how carefully they search the scriptures as if they can find life by doing such things. He exhorted them that the scriptures testify about His person. All who want to find life must come to God’s Incarnate Word, Jesus Christ. Those who come to Jesus, and they alone, are the ones who will find eternal life.

People all over the world are religious. They put their faith in many things, but only One object of faith is sufficient to deal with the problem of sin. There is only One who is able to open the doors to heaven.

Pray for this woman and multiplied thousands like her to encounter the Living Word of God.

Pray that Sumatrans will not miss Jesus in the midst of searching the scriptures.

Pray for Sumatrans to recognize the hopelessness of trying to merit salvation through good works.

Pray for believers on Sumatra to be bold to introduce many people to Jesus.

Photo from Medan

Rambang People Group Profile

“Thus says the LORD: ‘Keep justice, and do righteousness, for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed’” (Isaiah 56:1, ESV).

The 140,000 Rambang live in the lower Ogan Komering Regency. They often work in farming and are known for their traditional handiwork in bamboo, rattan, and wood. They are among the river people of South Sumatra. They are sometimes called the Rambang Senuli for the two rivers that outline their heartland.

The Rambang follow Sunni Shafi’i Isalm and trace their heritage to a historical leader named Lord Bintang Ruano. It’s said that this leader was the first to denounce animism and spread Islam in the neighboring Bengkulu area. High value is placed on reading the Qu’ran; reading competitions are held annually. They also give great honor to those who are able to make the pilgrimage to Mecca, called the Hajj. The Rambang are highly ritualistic people. They have rituals for all activities of life. Marriage is very important in Rambang culture as it’s seen as a way to unify the greater family and community.

There are no known Rambang believers. They live in an area with very few followers of Jesus, so they often have never heard the Gospel. They are friendly enough to visitors, but are suspicious of anyone trying to live among them.

Pray that:

The Holy Spirit will prepare the hearts of the Rambang to hear and receive the Gospel.

God will call workers and then grant them favor to live near or among the Rambang people.

The Gospel will be broadly, boldly, and contextually shared among the Rambang.

There will be first-fruit believers among this group.

God will grant wisdom to establish and follow up with Rambang believers as they come to faith.

God will raise up leaders from among these first believers.

Christian professionals will come and help develop the economic sector for the Rambang while sharing the Gospel.