Spring 2000

Week one

What’s inside:

The Acehnese of Indonesia, URGENT spring break projects, a student missionary's story, God's Heart for the Nations Bible study by Jeff Lewis

Unreached People Group (UPG) focus: The Acehnese of Indonesia

The Muslim versus Christian riots through Indonesia have often made the news this past year. The Acehnese [pronounced Ah-chuh-NEEZE] have recently been in the middle of the melee as an almost entirely Muslim province which wants independence from Indonesia.

Indonesia is an archipelago—a chain of more than 3,000 islands—located directly north of Australia. You may have heard Indonesia referred to as the Eastern Spice Islands or the Dutch East Indies, named after the colonial power that ruled there for more than 400 years. The Acehnese live primarily in Aceh [pronounced AH-chay], the most northwest part of the large island of Sumatra.

Approximately 3 million Acehnese live in Indonesia—about the same population as Los Angeles. The Acehnese are a blend of many races which explains why they are generally taller and fairer skinned than most Indonesians.

In Indonesia it is commonly stated that to be Acehnese is to be Muslim, and Aceh is the only province where Islamic law applies. This law strictly controls society and is rigidly enforced. The Acehnese have been very instrumental in spreading Islam throughout Indonesia and Southeast Asia, often at the point of a sword.

Many Acehnese have died defending their faith, first battling the Portuguese and British in the 1800s and then the Dutch colonial powers until shortly after World War II. Currently the Achenese are fighting their neighbors to the south, the Bataks, a predominantly Christian tribe. Their fight for independence has always been for religious motives, although the Indonesian government sympathizes with neither Christians or Muslims.

The Acehnese believe that their land is holy and that Christians living there pollute the land. There are fewer that 300 known Acehnese believers in Christ—any Acehnese who confesses faith in Jesus is targeted to die.

Prayer Points:

• Pray for laborers to go into the harvest field of Aceh, including Bible translators who will translate the Scripture into Acehnese.
•  Pray for the physical, mental and emotional protection of believers—both Acehnese and non-Acehnese—within Aceh province (John 16:11b-12; 15). Pray for boldness and courage to testify to their faith in Jesus even at the cost of physical harm (John 15:26-27; 16:2b-4b).
• Ask Jesus to reveal Himself as the Way, the Truth and the Life to the Muslim Acehnese who revere Christ as a great prophet (John 14:6). Ask the Holy Spirit to convict the Acehnese and guide them into all truth (John 16:8-11).

This information is taken from IMB Youth Newsletter (Summer 1998) and Bethany World Prayer Profiles.

For more information about the Acehnese, see www.bethany.com, or e-mail the IMB prayer strategy office at prayerplus@imb.org.

Project List

URGENT!! URGENT!! URGENT!! URGENT!! URGENT!! URGENT!! URGENT!! URGENT!!

Impact the nations during your spring break! Make this spring break count for eternity!

Spring Break Mission Projects

*Any spring break week during this time frame.

For a complete description of these projects, check the Web site at www.thetask.org/students under the Mission projects link.

TO APPLY: Download the application and references from the Web site OR call 1-800-789-4693 or e-mail studentteam@imb.org  to request an application.

A student missionary’s story

“I had been in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, long enough to make some friends in the neighborhood where I was staying. One friend, Asep, was open to talking about religious things, so I asked him if he had ever heard the story about Jesus. He said he had, but he could not tell me anything he had heard about Jesus.

I then asked Asep if I could tell him the story about Jesus. Again he said yes, so I proceeded to share the gospel in a nutshell. I told him about a Book that told the entire story about Jesus and offered to give him one of these Books. He thought that was a great idea. I marked significant passages that could lead him to faith in Jesus.

The next day Asep came to bring me a gift—a Koran in English. I accepted it and thanked him, knowing the gifts to be eternally unequal, but wanting to respect Asep’s thoughtfulness. I told him that I would read the Koran to discover what he believed if he would read the Bible to discover more about Jesus.

To my knowledge Asep is not a believer (yet), but the Word of God is powerful to change his heart and to reveal Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life. My part was to plant a seed. I pray for God to cause spiritual growth in Asep and for another believer to reap the harvest!”

Bible study:

GOD’S HEART FOR THE NATIONS