Praying for Indonesia: A 365 Day Global Prayer Journey - July 13

Today we conclude our prayer for Indonesia by praying for Papua - also known as Irian Jaya. If you've read the famous book on missions, From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya, you now know where Irian Jaya is located! Please read about it on pages 462-463.

My prayer for today: Lord Jesus, we thank You for the last century of Christianity on Irian Jaya. We thank You for the Christian presence here, for the role of Christian aviation and even the progress toward Bible translation. Lord, we pray for strong, mature churches led by Papuan believers. We pray for wisdom, courage, and profound faith for the challenges facing the church. We pray for You to end the oppression brought by the relocation of Javanese to Papua. We pray for the world to become aware of the violence against the native Papuans and the mistreatment of the Melanesian Christians through economic and employment disparity. Bring true justice and righteousness to Papua in the name of Jesus, amen.

Praying for Indonesia: A 365 Day Global Prayer Journey - July 12

Today we pray for Sulawesi and Maluku islands of Indonesia. Please read pages 460-462.

My prayer for today: Lord, we pray for revival for the churches on Sulawesi. We pray for You to raise up a banner of truth - raise up Bible translators and teachers who can proclaim Your Word faithfully. We pray for protection against cults and nominal Christianity. Breathe life into Your church. Give each believer a deeply personal experience with You. Guide the church to be stronger and aware of the opportunity You've given them among the Muslim majority. For Maluku, Lord, we grieve over the ethnic cleansing that occurred. We pray for those who remain refugees from this horrific season. We pray for true peace through Jesus and for Christians to reach out as co-sufferers to Muslims who also endured persecution from extremists. Lord, we are awed at the long life span of the Maluku Protestant Church and pray for its revival. We pray for healing for the people and that they will be equipped to love and serve their Muslim neighbors and even former persecutors. Let Your love flow through them, in the name of Jesus, amen.

Praying for Indonesia: A 365 Day Global Prayer Journey - July 11

Before we continue with today's prayer, I feel prompted to ask you a question.

Do you ever feel distracted, confused, or unengaged when you pray for the world? 

I ask that question because honestly, I struggle with this every week as I write these blogs. Over the past six months, I've come to recognize this as the work of the enemy. Missionary friends have told me how much less confusion they face when they are home visiting than when they are on the field. This year, I've experienced that personally. I suspect it might be the same with you, because Satan does not want prayer happening - especially prayer for corners of the world where he has a firm stronghold that God wants to tear down! So I want to share with you the solution the Lord has given me:

Pray earnestly for God to give you a heart for the country for that day. Then simply move forward in faith, not waiting on the feeling. Begin to read and pray and watch the video, and every time a distraction, confusion, or sense of disengagement hits you - pray again for a heart for that country. You'll probably be amazed, like me, how God answers that simple prayer.

Press on, dear friends. Stay in the battle! It matters, or you wouldn't be experiencing opposition.
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Today we pray for the Indonesian island of Kalimantan. Please read pages 459-460.

My prayer for today: Oh Lord, we thank You for the Christian presence on this island, but our hearts are grieved that the church is not making a clear break from the spirit world. We ask You to raise up leaders for the churches. Train those called to leadership and bring the church to maturity, Give them a vision for outreach. Guide leaders to discern culturally appropriate forms of the faith that do not compromise in the least area. Lord there are so many unreached as well. We pray for Christians to surrender their anger to You about these migrants and be filled with love instead, to reach out in love for Your glory. Bring a strong church to this island, in Jesus' name, amen. 

Praying for Indonesia: A 365 Day Global Prayer Journey - July 10

Today we pray for two more islands of Indonesia. Please read about the Sunda Islands (west and east), also known as Barat and Timor, on pages 458-459. Today we also have special insights from a servant of Christ who lives in the slums to carry His message of hope. Please read her words and pray as the Lord leads. Significantly, we are praying for Indonesia as they hold elections tomorrow!

Indonesia is the most populous Muslim nation on earth. Often when people hear Muslim they think of the middle east and not Asia. But the call to prayer cries out 5 times a day through the islands, often with multiple mosques in hearing distance competing for attention. "God is great. God is great" they call out in Arabic. And this I agree with...God is great. How I wish my friends knew WHY he is so great. That it is his love, his mercy, his kindness which leads us to repentance that is so great about him.

One of my main prayers for my friends here in the slums is for wholeness. So many families are broken. Secrets and adultery, arguments and abuse. Children who have no good examples of parents have children (they themselves are just teenagers). Brokenness on multiple levels. Problems that can only be overcome with the help of the Holy Spirit. It is my prayer, and I hope you will join me, that as these folks encounter the grace and love of God, that as they are able to accept it themselves, that they would in turn be able to extend grace and kindness to other people who are also unworthy of it. That such behavior would heal the wounds that go back generations.

Corruption is rampant in Indonesia. A friend once told me "Indonesia used to be second in the world in corruption...but we paid someone off and now we are number one!" Clearly a joke, but it shows the underlying sentiments of many in Indonesia who have lost faith in leaders on all levels. Elections (including for a new governor of Jakarta, a very powerful position) are to be held July 11. Pray for a peaceful election and for those who are given positions of power, that they would use their power for the good of all and not just for themselves.

Pray for the Indonesian church. In a country where the vast majority of people are Muslim, sometimes churches can get an "us vs. them" rather than and "us for them" mentality. Many churches are inwardly focused and have few activities which reach out to the larger community. Pray that there is a revival in the churches, that people would have the desire to serve outside the walls of the church and love those who are around them. Pray that they would have the love that drives out fear.

My prayer for today: Oh Lord God, our heart breaks for Indonesia. We pray for wholeness in the slums, for the people to encounter Your grace and mercy. We pray for the church in Indonesia to catch a vision for the world around them. Lord, we confess that we too sometimes have an "us vs. them" instead of and "us for them" mentality. Break our hearts when we sense this Lord. We join with the Indonesian church in learning Your way over our own ways. And for the elections, God, we pray for leaders who will bring justice and righteousness to the country, for a glimpse of Your kingdom to be born in Indonesia. We pray for the people of Barat and how unreached they are. We pray that You will use the two churches that are there to bring about a breakthrough for Your kingdom. We pray for young people to be deeply in love with Jesus and refuse to convert to Islam just to marry. Raise up Christians spouses for them and use their families to strengthen the churches and reach the island. Lord, we pray for laborers to be called to this island specifically and work for the completion of the task of reaching the whole world with the message of Christ. For Timor, Lord, we pray for a revival among the Catholic church. Send prophets who are willing to exhort the people to put away their idols and follow Christ along. Lord, how hard it must be to follow You without Your Word. Send translators who will quickly and accurately translate into the major languages of this island. Send teachers to share Your word with the people to help them understand why they should not mingle their pagan idolatry with worship of Jesus. Show Your power and love in a strong way. In Jesus' name, amen. 

Praying for Indonesia - A 365 Day Global Prayer Journey - July 9

Today we focus our prayers on two islands of Indonesia that reflect the vast diversity of this land - its most populous (Java) which is primarily Muslim, and a much smaller one (Bali) that is predominantly Hindu. Please read pages 456-457.

My prayer for today: Lord, we are incredibly grateful for the receptivity to the Gospel shown over the years by the people of Java. We thank You for the growth of the church on this heavily populated island. We pray that the growth would continue to flourish and be incredibly fruitful. We pray for all religions to be protected against the violence that some radical Muslims have brought into this traditionally tolerant island. We pray for the persecution to purify and grow the church, and for Muslims who are persecuted by other Muslims to turn to Christian friends out of solidarity and mutual understanding. We pray for laborers for the harvest of the many unreached here. For Bali, Lord, we recognize the high cost of following You when they leave an already-minority religion to follow Jesus. We pray for boldness and wisdom for Christians who are sharing with Bali Hindus. We pray for those Bali migrants throughout Indonesia to be especially open to the Gospel and for Christians to be willing to befriend them. We pray for Scripture in the common language of the Bali people so that missionaries can have a tool that is useful to share the Gospel. Be at work in Bali for You glory, in Jesus' name, amen.

Praying for Indonesia: A 365 Day Global Prayer Journey - July 8

Today we begin to zero in on the major islands of Indonesia. Please read about Sumatra on pages 454-455, then watch the video below to focus our prayers on one of the major indigenous peoples here.

http://youtu.be/9VjXmUeThLo

Praying for Indonesia: A 365 Day Global Prayer Journey - July 7

Today we continue praying over some of the "Challenges for prayer" on pages 449-453. Please review these requests and join me in prayer.

My prayer for today: Lord, we lift up Indonesia to You today. We pray for the displaced peoples of Indonesia, who have either been forcibly relocated, fled natural disasters, or journey due to persecution or financial reasons. Lord, we pray that as these people move voluntarily or involuntarily they will encounter Christians who will love them and share the Gospel with them. We pray that You will bin the powers of darkness that seek to hinder the presence of Christ within Indonesia. We pray for the church in Indonesia to be strong and wise in the midst of persecution and opposition. We pray for the Muslims who are becoming victims of extremists who seek to intimidate and even kill them. We pray that Muslims will grow so disillusioned with the violence and oppression that they will see a different path and find true relationship with God through Christ. We pray for the Christian response to this Islamist aggression to be loving, tactful, and firm, always commending the Gospel to onlookers as worthy of serious consideration. We pray for boldness, for heartfelt repentance, and for great wisdom. Guide the church to have wisdom with new believers from Muslim backgrounds. Help them know how to best transition as they and their families follow Jesus. In Jesus' name, amen. 

Praying for Indonesia: A 365 Day Global Prayer Journey - July 6

Indonesia is an amazing country, filled with amazing people. There is a spiritual conflict, though, that is real and rages over this land. Today and tomorrow we focus our prayers on the general "Challenges for prayer". Please read pages 449-453.

As you saw, the needs are great. There are so many directions our prayer could go today. My heart today for our prayer time, though, is to pray for the workers in Indonesia. The country is truly a different world for many who are serving there. Even the Indonesian believers who go within their own country can find the differences on other islands as profound as being in a different country. For this reason, I'm sharing below some insights from a friend who is serving there. These were written years ago during her early months of service. I hope you learn a little more about how to pray for any missionaries through her words, but today let's focus on the missionaries serving in Indonesia.

With so much need around us, why do we feel the need to come and spend our first year learning? Why not just get in there and start doing things? Here is a story the local leader told us (and he had more) of people trying to help before they stopped to really understand the problem.
Most folks in the slums use gas burning stovetops (like a camping stove) for cooking. A few years ago the government required everyone to switch from kerosene (which most of the poor used) to propane, which would also require the use a different stove. Through the generosity of kind people as well as some government help, over one thousand new propane stoves (along with a bottle of propane), worth about 20 dollars each, were distributed to poor families. This was a few months before the switch over and, as many of the families either didn’t understand that kerosene would not longer be available or because they had more pressing needs (like the need to go to the hospital) they sold the new stove to some middle class person who offered to pay them 5 dollars for it. A few months passed, the switch over happens and they now have no way to cook for themselves and must buy their own stove back (the one they sold for 5 dollars) but now the price is 20 dollars. Supply and
demand. Somehow a gift meant to help the poor has served to make the rich richer and keep the poor in their poverty. We will certainly make mistakes along our journey but we hope to learn from the mistakes of the past, learn from the people who live there, who have a better understand of what the real issues are, what the strengths of the community are, and how we can work together to be a part of Kingdom come in this place.

Options, or the lack thereofWhen most people think about poverty they think simply about people who don’t have money. This is certainly true but as I have come to understand poverty more in the past few years I understand it to be much bigger than just a lack of possessions. Poverty, among other things, also means a lack of options. I have moved into this neighborhood because I choose to do so, because I believe it is where God is leading me, because I know God associates himself with the poor and I want to follow his example and bring good news to the poor. But the great majority of my neighbors do not live here because they choose to;they live here because they have no other choices. This idea struck me particularly hard a few nights after I moved in. My new home has no running water and so I ,
along with the rest of my neighbors, use the public restrooms about a 2 minute walk from my home. Before moving in I asked the very important questions: What time do you open? (5 am) and what time do you close? (10 pm). Between those hours, you are out of luck. One night, about 9:40 pm I headed to the bathroom and as I turned the corner the women gathered at the local gathering spot said “Closed” I looked and to my (dare I say) horror, the door to the bathrooms was indeed locked
up. I had been misinformed. The bathrooms close at 9pm not 10. As I stared at the closed door, trying to figure out what I was going to do now. (There was NO WAY I could hold it till 5 am) I started thinking, “Well maybe I could call my teammates who live about 5 minutes away and use their bathroom” The women sitting there said “What are you going to do now?” I asked “What do you do?” (Surely I can not be the first person to encounter such a problem). They pointed me in the direction of a gutter, an idea I was none too excited about. Then they said the bathroom guard was nearby eating dinner. I said I didn’t want to bother him, he had worked all day and deserved a rest. But I guess we were talking loud enough that he could hear us anyway and graciously came out to open up the bathroom especially for me. Thankfully, that night, I was given some options.

Honestly, I will always have more options than my neighbors. If I get sick I can go to the international hospital rather than the government subsidized health post. If my shoes break, I can afford to buy new ones. But as we live here we want to associate as much with our neighbors as we can. Please remember our team as we learn to live smaller lives, willingly letting go of some of our options as we follow the example of the one who left heaven to live among us and subject himself to human limitations.

My prayer for today: Oh Lord God, Lord of the harvest, today we come before You to ask prayer for the laborers You have sent to the harvest in Indonesia ... the laborers from all over the world, from the west, from the global south, from Indonesia itself. Lord, You have blessed the work of missions in Indonesia in SO many ways. Lord, we thank You for what You have done and pray it will be an encouragement to those serving there. We pray for servants to learn Indonesian well and quickly, and have many opportunities to show Your love while practicing language skills. Lord, we pray for workers to be solidly grounded in Your Word, to recognize spiritual warfare when it happens, to have strong discernment. Help them develop deep relationships and truly love the people of Indonesia. Bring unity among teams and churches. Lord, we pray for strong relationships with senders and family back home. Protect the team members from extremes of loneliness and homesickness. Help them truly engage and connect in deep ways with the culture You've sent them to. Guide them to have wisdom when to take little or longer breaks, and give them creative and fun things to do to sustain their service for the long haul. Lord, love the missionaries. Remind them of Your presence when they need it most. Be glorified through them to Indonesia. In Jesus' name, amen.

Praying for Indonesia: A 365 Day Global Prayer Journey - July 5

Today we begin 9 days of prayer for a country with a goal of communal peace and monotheism. A majority-Muslim country, Indonesia also official recognizes five other religions including Catholicism and Protestantism. The Muslim population is quite diverse itself, with many branches or "denominations" or Islam being practiced. The threat by radical Islamists is as much a threat to many of these Muslims as it is to Christians and other religions practiced in Indonesia. Indonesia was profoundly affected by the tragic tsunami in December 2004. As we read and pray for Indonesia over the next 9 days, let's ask God to bring a "tsunami" of His love and revelation to these precious people!

Please read pages 446-453 to get an overview of Indonesia. We'll focus in on "Answers to Prayer" today.

My prayer for today: Lord, we are grateful that You have been at work in Indonesia. We praise You for the growth of the church and specifically evangelicals. We thank You for the people movements and for the vibrant witness of the church. We thank You that You have used even the government's limitation to six religions to draw animistic religonists to Yourself as they explore the claims of Christians and believe in Christ. Thank You for establishing a common language to facilitate sharing the Gospel. As we see the democracy, the openness, and the national structures that are in place, we thank You for this kairos moment, this window of opportunity, in Indonesia. We pray for the church to be fully unified and focused on You as they move forward with the open door You have given them. In Jesus' name, amen.