The Lampungese of Sumatra 30 Days of Prayer Table of Contents Day 1 – Losing Ground Day 16 – Teachers Wanted Day 2 – Lost in Translation Day 17 – A Painter’s Desire Day 3 – City Girl & Country Folk Day 18 – The Smell of Cloves Day 4 – Swept Over Day 19 – Not Another Wedding Day 5 – A Growing Crowd Day 20 – A Rare Commodity Day 6 – Traditions Day 21 – Help Me, Please Day 7 – Reborn Day 22 – Desperation Day 8 – Mushollah at McDonald’s Day 23 – Mugged in Broad Daylight Day 9 – Herbs & Hexes Day 24 – Sleeping Giant Day 10 – In the Dark Day 25 – Two of the Few Day 11 – No Strings Attached Day 26 – A New Affinity Day 12 – Live It Out Day 27 – A Church without Walls Day 13 – A Picture of Good News Day 28 – Deep Water Day 14 – The Odds Are...Irrelevant Day 29 – Crossing the Lines Day 15 – Pray for Us Day 30 – 10 Points of Light Introduction Thank you for opening this book; you’re an answer to prayer! We’ve prayed for you so many times as we’ve prepared this prayer guide. We believe God’s response in answer to your prayers is what will change the course of history and all of eternity for Lampung. The southernmost province of Sumatra, Indonesia is home to the Lampungese (lahm- poong-ese). This strong, determined people reigned in southern Sumatra for hundreds of years despite a long history of foreigners entering their land. Once known as the Dutch East Indies, Indonesia has seen merchants, traders, Dutch colonists and Jap- anese invaders traverse her rich, lush land for centuries, exercising their power and bringing with them their various languages and religions. Arab merchants introduced Islam to the island nation in the 16th century. The Orang Lampung (or-ahng lahm- poong, Lampung People) demonstrated their characteristic tenacity and resolve when they were the last to convert to Islam. Despite its history, today foreigners are a rare sight in Lampung. Yet, the now staunchly Muslim Lampungese are becoming dis- dained strangers in their own land as other ethnic groups from the nearby island of Java migrate into the province. The Lampungese have largely been pushed out of the provincial capital of Bandar Lampung (bahn-dar lahm-poong), where they now comprise a mere 10% minority. The 2.5 million Lampungese mostly live in villages and towns scattered across the marshy lands on the eastern side of the province, the rolling green mountains to the west, as well as along the stunning coastlines of the Indian Ocean and Java Sea that frame the province. In hundreds of years of history, there has never been an ethnically Lampungese church. We believe your prayers will lift the weight of history, a change we labor in Lampung to see. Our desire is for God to establish a mature Lampungese church — one that worships God in a culturally Lampungese way and is able to reproduce herself in the communities and cultures around her. God has promised that the Lampungese will be drawn into relation- ship with Him (Revelation 7:9,10). Only He can accomplish this. God acts in response to His people’s prayers. We know for a certainty that God wills to save everyone (2 Peter 3:9). We know that He will build His church (Matthew 16:18). We know that if we ask any- thing according to His will, He hears us and will give us what we request (1 John 5:14-15). Therefore, we need to ask. Though the names have been changed, this prayer guide contains stories of real people living in Lampung. Ask for these people to enjoy relationship with the Triune God. Ask for Lampung. The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice! — Psalm 97:1 Note: Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Additional Information IMPORTANT SECURITY GUIDELINES Due to the sensitive nature of the work taking place in Lampung, it is very important that you respect the following: • Please distribute this prayer guide only to those whom you know personally and who have an interest in being a blessing to the Lampungese. • Please do not post on a Web site or bulletin board, reproduce or distribute where Muslims can read. • Please dispose of this prayer guide wisely. Your help in following these guidelines will help ensure the continuation of the work in Lampung and the protection of any Lampungese who are seeking to establish or grow in their relationship with God. Thank you. QUICK FACTS ABOUT INDONESIA AND SUMATRA INDONESIA: • Fourth most populous nation in the world • Home to 180 million Muslims, more than any other country in the world. More than Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Iran, Iraq and Kuwait combined. • 350 ethnic groups speaking 726 languages • 17,000 islands spanning the same distance as between London and Baghdad • Three time zones • Miles north of Australia • Timber, rubber, rice, coffee • Volcanoes, rainforests, rice paddies, cosmopolitan cities, remote villages, open-air markets, malls and movie theaters • 90 degrees Fahrenheit • 30-minute ride on public transportation: 15 cents SUMATRA: • The largest unevangelized island on earth • If it were a nation, only nine other nations would have more unreached peoples. • 52 known unreached people groups, most of whom are staunchly Muslim • Of the 52, 48 have no indigenous churches and 34 of them have no known gospel workers. Source: Operation World. 21st century ed. Patrick Johnstone and Jason Mandryk. 2001. Published by Paternoster Lifestyle. Operation Mobilization and WEC International. Day 1 Losing Ground For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. — Ezekiel 36:24 Maulana remembers when the markets rung with the sound of Bahasa Lampung (bah-hah-sah lahm-poong, Lampungese language), before the Indonesian Gov- ernment instituted transmigration to the nearby island of Java. As a child, to be Lampungese was all he knew. These days in the Lampung province, he is embar- rassed to use his own language in the mar- ket place. The Javanese, Chinese and Batak run the economic world here now, so he is now an outsider. His family feels deep shame at losing ground in Lampung. Their people have retreated into the villages, forced to sell off land to the Javanese and other ethnic groups. This land can never be reclaimed and neither can the respect and power ownership brings. This saddens Maulana — he longs to be proud again to be Lampungese, other than shamed, when his children have greater opportunity and need not hide their identity. Prayer Points • Lord Jesus, bring the true dignity to the Lampung heart by filling them with yourself. • Strengthen their resolve, hearts and sense of self as they find their identity in You, who loves them, their language and culture. • Take hold of their economic situation and give them a good standing in the business community so they can bring a better life to their children. • Lord Jesus, give them an understanding that You want to sustain them, physically and culturally; that You are the one who imprinted aspects of Your character in their wonderful culture and rejoice in it along with them. Lost in Translation Day 2 … We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues! — Acts 2:11b Agun points to the sign. “Jalan Way Abung! That’s my street,” with a sense of pride, he reads the words that look like scribbling to most others. “We stud- ied Lampungese a little bit in school. I’ve stud- ied on my own and can read it now!” Although all the street signs of Lampung are in Indonesian and Lampungese, most people cannot read, speak or understand the dying language with its unique 20-letter alphabet. Less than a dozen foreigners in the world can speak either of the two major Lampungese dialects. Agun’s face fades as he continues, “I went to visit my grandmother in the village. I tried to use Lam- pungese with her since she speaks it more than Indonesian. But she just scolded me saying that I was speaking the ‘wrong’ dialect. She said I’ve wasted my time learning it and that if I wanted to learn real Lampungese, I would have studied Nyow. I don’t know why I ever bothered,” Agun complained. “It’s even disappearing in the village, much less the cities.” What’s the point?” Prayer Points • Creator of All Peoples, thank You for the uniqueness of the Lampungese language. • Please build bridges between Lampungese sub-groups so that when the Gospel reaches one group, it might freely spread to others. • Our Helper, enable all those learning this language to be able to speak it as if it were their own. Day 3 City Girl & Country Folk …choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living... — Joshua 24:15b “Yeah, I have friends that are Buddhist, Hindu, Protestant, Catholic. What’s im- portant is that we all believe in God,” Lita explained. However, in the village where Lita’s parents grew up, everyone was Muslim. As Lampungese, they would never even conceive of being anything else. Lampungese are Muslim, period. Lita’s parents had the rare opportunity to receive a job in the city of Bandar Lam- pung. Here, she is a small minority since less than 10% of the city is ethnically Lampungese. Javanese, Chinese and Batak peoples are dominant. Because of her parents’ employment, she is able to get further education, a futile dream for her relatives in the village.