5 Minutes Monday

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Today’s Focus UPG is the people of Belitung. They live

The Belitung live on Belitung Island in Bangka-Belitung Province. The Belitung call themselves Urang Belitong. The Belitung language is a branch of the Malay language cluster. A distinctive feature of their language is that it does not have the letter ‘h’ and that they use the letter ‘e’ (as in the vowel in the word ‘bet’) at the end of words that normally end with an ‘a’. For example hujan (rain) becomes ujan, putih (white) becomes pute, and apa (what) becomes ape. Another distinctive feature is that they use derived terms from two or more words. For example, hendak kemana (where do you want to go) becomes nakmane. This is similar to Bangka language, but Bangka uses the phoneme /e/, which is similar to the “a” in the English word ‘mate’.

The Belitung island is considered important because of its tin mines. Many earn their livelihood from mining tin and kaolin (a soft white clay essential in the manufacturing of china and porcelain). Others work as traders, fishermen, boat builders, iron smiths or office workers. Only a small part of the land is suitable for rice cultivation. Planting rice is usually done with slash-and burn farming techniques. Besides dry rice farming, they also plant corn, cassava, sweet potatoes, and banana trees. Other crops include rubber, pepper, cloves, and coconut. The handicraft industries developed by the Belitung are porcelain, ceramic, and rattan crafts. The traditional Belitung house is built on wooden supports with bark walls and roofs of sago palm leaves. They also build temporary villages near the jungle to be used during the harvest. Currently, the traditional homes have begun to be replaced with homes made of brick and concrete. These homes are built on the ground rather than off the ground, due to increasingly restrictive regulations on forest logging. The ancestry of the Belitung can be traced through the line of either the father or the mother. A village is formed by a group of families, called a keleka. The keleka is led by a traditional chief and his assistants and has its own regulations. The religious leader is a shaman who leads the religious ceremonies of the village.

Besides Islam, many Belitung also believe in animism and superstitions. These beliefs are focused on seeking protection through magic by either appeasing or controlling both good and bad spirits. This can be seen in their ceremonies for working the rice fields, fishing, and weddings. They still believe in magical forces that inhabit sacred places. They also have many taboos. One of these can be seen in how they believe tin must be mined. They believe that tin is a ‘hot’ object and guarded by a spirit. If the miner is not Belitung, he will not be successful.

They need guidance to develop their job skills. The small industries that already exist, such as handicrafts and ironworking, need more professional management so that they can achieve greater success. They need help to develop alternative sources of income, as the tin reserves are being depleted and mining it has taken a toll on the environment.

(Source: Joshua Project)

Would you spend just 5 minutes today asking God to lead in prayer for them?>

5 Minutes Monday

Today I have something excited to share with you. But first, Thank You for spending your 5 minutes to read and pray with me today for the Unreached and Bibleless People Groups.

Our Focus UPG today is Penghulu People. They are about 30,000 people live in this area in Sumatra Island.

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Their language is a mixture of the Minangkabau language and the Jambi Malay language, widely spoken by every one, every day. They don’t have one verse of God’s word in their language. The largest religion is Islam. Though in general the Penghulu are Muslims, they still cling to traditional animistic beliefs for everyday life. They believe that strong spirits inhabit sacred sites. Some are still in the habit of giving offerings to appease the spirits. Many people seek help from the shaman for daily needs like treating the sick or casting out evil spirits.

Would you join me today to pray for them?

  • Ask for God to send His workers to this people, to reach them strategically.
  • Ask that doors will be open for translation work to give them access to God’s word.
  • Ask God’s Kingdom will be there, His will be done for this people as it is done in Heaven.
  • Ask God to show you how you can be part of His works for this people.

And here’s the exciting news!

One of Wycliffe’s partner organizations, The Seed Company, released a new Devotional e-Book, Joy In All Circumstances. It’s a beautiful devotional designed to both encourage the reader and prompt them to pray for the Bibleless People Group.

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You can download the free devotional HERE (or click on the picture to download). And please feel free to share this blessing with your families and friends 🙂

And would you please consider to join us as a Prayer Partner? Visit TSC Prayer page to join as a Prayer Partner!

THANK YOU! Your partnership in prayer and financial give these people access to God’s word that will change their lives when they read it in the language they can understand best! Our prayer that God bless you abundantly!

Don’t Be Afraid and Don’t Be Silent

Every time I read the book of Acts, God teaches me different things from the same book, He is unlimited source of knowledge and wisdom! He speaks differently to His children to meet their needs. Isn’t He the amazing Father?

God knew how to speak to the people Paul visited. He knew their hearts and how they would react to the truth that Paul shared with them. He knew that they would reject and oppose Paul and the message. But God had prepared Paul for all of these, he said to Paul clearly,

“One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and told him, “Don’t be afraid! Speak out! Don’t be silent! For I am with you, and no one will attack and harm you, for many people in this city belong to me.” (‭Acts of the Apostles‬ ‭18‬:‭9-10 NLT)

We all can read the result after that. Paul extended his staying for another 1,5 year just to continue preaching and teaching God’s word among the people.

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This portion of passage speak a lot to me this morning that there are many Christians here and in my home country have heard about Jesus, the Messiah, but they have no idea that they only know “about” Him, not knowing Him personally. We are sent to share the Gospel not only to those who have not yet heard of the Good News, but to those also who have heard but have not yet having relationship with the Father.

I grew up in a small where you can literally see a church in every one mile! But watching their every day life that did not show what they told others about Jesus or what the Bible says. They just tried to get people to go to church, but not never leading them to understanding that they need to repent and leave their old life style and have relationship with the Father through Jesus Christ.

As a non-Christian, I though, well then if they lived like that, what’s wrong with my life style? I could just go to church and not changing my life so people could see the outside.

That was sad. Sad because I got the wrong ideas of what being a Christian is. Sad because there was no one came to me and taught me the truth. Sad because I had to wait for 21 years of my life to finally came to know the giver of my life who loves me so much and even gave His so that I may come to life. Sad.

But this is truth I read in Acts 18 this morning confirmed what God has put in my husband’s heart and mine that we need to go to preach and teach the truth not only to the people who never heard of it but also to those who have heard of it but not yet understand the truth. It is not by our human wisdom, but by God’s wisdom. It not by our own knowledge, but by the knowledge of the Holy Spirit given to us.

It is only God can lead people to repentance and change their hearts. But He will use each of us – you and me – to go and tell them this Good News!

This can be hard. For this kind of ministry can be tough and we can be rejected, but important. Their lives mean a lot to God. He wants them to repent and walk away from their old lives. He wants them to walk in the truth, not just knowing the truth. He loves them too.

Let’s not forget them in our prayer today. Ask God that they may come to see His face, seek repentance and run back to His loving arms.

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Missional Women

The True Freedom and The End Goal

“Jadi sudara-sudara, torang kase tau pa ngoni kalo ngoni pe dosa-dosa bole dapa ampun lantaran Yesus so mati di kayu salib.” (Cerita Yesus Pe Utusan-utusan 13:38)

“Sebab itu Saudara-saudara, haruslah kalian tahu bahwa melalui Yesus ini berita tentang pengampunan dosa diberitakan kepadamu;” (Kisah Para Rasul 13:38, BIMK)

“Brothers, listen! We are here to proclaim that through this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins.” (Acts 13:38, NLT)

This is why we wanna go to SEA*, to proclaim among the people of SEA* that salvation is only through Jesus Christ. There are about 18 million people who speak about 400 languages and have not yet have God’s word in the language their heart languages.

How can they hear about this good news if there is no one go to there to translate the Word, share with the people and teach them the truth?

How can they be saved if they never heard of this news, believe in their hearts and confess with their mouth that Jesus is the Lord of their lives?

How can they know that they can have eternal life through Jesus if there is no one tell them about it?

How can they live their lives in righteousness and please God’s heart when they have no instructions how to live in God’s way?

pd_photos_woman-reading-bible-220x150These are fundamental questions asked to us every day. We are who are new creations in Christ and called ourselves as God’s children and Jesus’ followers receive the same commands when we read our Bible, the God’s Word to us. He command us to be the salt and light to the world. Jesus said that the world will know us as his followers and friends through our love to each others. And we are commanded to go and share the Good news with every people, in every tongue and language, in every land, and teach them so they may come to believe in Christ and be baptize in His holy name. The end goal of all of what we are called and commanded to do are:

  • God will be known among the nations.
  • God be the God of all people.
  • God is the one who will receive all the glory from every people, tribe and nation in every tongue and language.

We can read about all of these from the beginning of the book of Genesis until the last page of the book of Revelation. This is the end goal of all….

After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands.  And they were shouting with a great roar, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living beings. And they fell before the throne with their faces to the ground and worshiped God.  They sang, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength belong to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

Nothing that the men could do to save themselves from the eternal death. Jesus is the answer to their hope! They have been waiting too long to hear this good news and it is only a good news until it is shared with them.

You know the truth from God’s word will set you free (John 8:32). And the very same truth they will know in their heart languages will also set them free. This is the true freedom that they have been looking for!

What can you do?

  • You can pray from where you are sitting right now. PRAY for the people in the world and especially those who are in SEA*
  • You can get involved with God’s work through your church or mission organization to reach out the people locally and globally.
  • You can be financial partners to support God’s work through missionaries. God use His people and churches to provide the needs of His projects all around the world!
  • You can be the one who answer the calling to go to these Bibleless People Groups and Unreached People Groups.

In the last 2,5 years we are waiting for God’s specific assignments to us and finally, last month we got the answers. We got accepted as Wycliffe Associates volunteers. Dave and I will be working close and side by side with the local organization to equip, motivate, mobilize the workers, volunteers and churches. And also while we live among the people, reach out to them. God can use anybody with any skills and any education backgrounds. There are so many needs out there in the mission fields! You might one of the people God has called to meet the needs of the workers… Would you be praying for that?

So, my dear friends and families… What will you do?

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Missional Women

Prayer, Where It All Starts

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Always be one of my 1000 gifts every day that I am able to read God’s word in my heart language! We’re still waiting for the completion the whole Bible. But there are about 200 million people who speaks over 2000 languages are still waiting to have 1 verse of God’s word in their heart languages.

Today’s HelloMornings reading is from Acts 11:1-30, It’s all begins with prayer. In the whole passage Peter explain to the Apostles in Jerusalem what had happened and why he ate with Cornelius, the Gentiles (Acts 10:4) that is because the Angel of God had appeared to both of them at the same time, different places.

Pe degar itu, tu orang-orang Yahudi yang percaya pa Yesus so nyada se sala pa Petrus. Dorang puji pa Tuhan Allah kong ba bilang, “Jadi, orang-orang bukang Yahudi lei Tuhan Allah so kase kesempatan for bertobat supaya dorang bole dapa hidup kekal.” (Kisah Para Rasul 11:18, Manadonese)

Ketika mereka mendengar hal itu, mereka menjadi tenang, lalu memuliakan Allah, katanya “Jadi kepada bangsa-bangsa lain juga Allah mengaruniakan pertobatan yang memimpin kepada hidup.” (Kisah Para Rasul 11:18, Terjemahan Baru)

When others heart about this, they stopped objecting and began praising God. They said, “We can see that God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life.” (Acts 11:18, NTL)  

This happened because Cornelius were praying and God heard him. God gave Peter a mission to go and reached out Cornelius and his households. God changed Peter’s perspective of sharing the Good News not only to the Jews but also to the Gentiles. God showed Peter that what God knew Peter would understand the best.

This is one of the prayer I have been praying for since I went to a small village in East Borneo, Indonesia. A group of people who speak the language I couldn’t understand and cannot speak. They do not understand Indonesian at all because there is no school at all there. Nothing. They were left behind. God showed me the way I could understand best what He wants me to see. He showed me the needs. He changed my perspective and motive to go back to school and finished my study. God leads people because He hears others prayer. He hears the people calling out to Him.

Would you be the answer today to end this Bible Poverty? How about start with praying?

Would you join me in prayer asking God to send more workers like the Apostles in the book of Acts to go translating, preaching and teaching God’s Word to them?

Would you pray for us asking God to open doors & provides the needs for us to go to SEA*?

THANK YOU for saying “Yes, I will be praying.” God is listening and will answer all your prayers according to His will and His glory in Jesus Christ!