Category Archives: Prayer

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Focus UPG: Wolio of Indonesia

Map source: Copyright © IPN – Indonesian People Network. Used with permission.

Who are they?

  • The Wolio (also known as the Baubau, Buton or Butung) primarily live on the island of Buton, around the city of Baubau, but can also be found on Muna, located in the SE Sulawesi province. Their ancestors were immigrants from Johor, Malaysia at the beginning of the 15th century, who also founded the Buton dynasty. In 1540, the sixth king became a follower of Islam. He reshaped the kingdom to become a sultanate and set himself up as the first sultan. The sultanate of Buton lasted until the death of the last sultan in 1960. With his death, the Buton sultanate ended its formal reign, though the influence of Buton is still felt throughout all of the islands in the region. The Wolio are at the heart of the culture of Buton. Buton today is known for its production of asphalt and is currently being explored for oil and other minerals. Many people have moved to other islands to find work. At present, some Wolio people live in the areas of Maluku and Papua.

What language do they speak?

  • They speak the Wolio language, which is from the Wotu-Wolio language cluster that includes the following languages: Kalao, Laiyolo, Kamaru, Wotu. Arabic is also understood by some and its script is used in religious writings and older written materials in the Wolio language.

What do they believe?

  • Almost all Wolio have beliefs centered in Sufi Islam. According to their teachings, they practice mediation in order to receive visions from God, or to find hidden truths far beyond their own reasoning. Belief in reincarnation is also adhered to as a result of Hindu influence. They also believe that evil spirits cause illnesses to occur while helpful spirits give guidance.

Do they have Bible or partial of the Bible, or other materials?

  • No.

How can we pray for them?

  • Ask God to give wisdom and strategies to the workers to gain access and favor among the people group. Workers need the wisdom of God to navigate cultural, political and religious issues.
  • Ask God to touch the people’s hearts and give them hunger for Him and His word.
  • Ask God to reveal the culture keys.

(Resources: Prayerguard and Joshua Project.)

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Focus UPG: Dondo of Indonesia

My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD Almighty. (Mal 1:11)

Map source: Copyright © IPN – Indonesian People Network. Used with permission.

Who are they?

The Dondo live in the districts of Baolan, Dondo, Galang and North Dampal in the Toli-Toli regency of Central Sulawesi. They tend to live in groups which are scattered over this entire area. Generally, they prefer to live by the riverbank in the jungle. The population of Dondo is about 16,000 people. They are one the Least and Unreached People Groups in Indonesia.

What language do they speak?

The Dondo speak the language of Dondo. According to the Dondo people themselves, this language is different from the Toli-Toli language. The Dondo language is part of a larger linguistic grouping called the Nothern Tomini subgroup which also includes the Lauje and Tomini languages.

What do they do for living?

Farming, fishing and hunting.

How their lives look like?

The traditional house of the Dondo is built on a raised platform and made from wood, bamboo and rattan. Houses are raised off the ground as high as two meters. The houses are rectangular, roughly five by seven meters. Usually they have only one door and a ladder at the front of the house. Roofing is made from the leaf of the sago palm. In the past, Dondo was a sultanate. The Dondo sultan and his nobles and aides were chosen through their ancestral lines. During those times, there were four classes among the people: royalty, nobility, commoners and slaves. At 16 years old, a Dondo person is considered an adult. This status is symbolized by the young person having his or her teeth filed in a community ceremony. After marriage, the new bride and groom may choose to live with either the husband’s or the wife’s family. According to the Dondo custom, a man may have more than one wife. Divorce is permitted if the couple is no longer compatible. However, the divorce has to be witnessed by a traditional leader (Kapitalau).

What do they believe?

The Dondo have embraced Islam for many generations. However, many Dondo continue to practice animism, especially those who live in the highlands. Historically, the Dondo kept the body of a deceased family member inside a sago palm trunk that had been scraped out. The burial took place in the yard of the family residence and the family members bid farewell to the spirit of the deceased by sleeping around the grave for several days.

Do they have God’s word and resources?

No.

(source and for more detail: Joshua Project)

How can we pray for them?

  • Ask God to send His workers to reach out and share the Good News with the Dondo people.
  • Ask God to prepare their hearts, open their ears and show to them Himself.
  • Ask God to rise up His churches to go and reach out to them.
  • Ask God to open the way and make the way for His workers to go.
  • Ask God to make the way that the people of Dondo will have His word in the language they understand best.
  • Ask God how He wants you and your church can be part of His work to reach out these people.

(More prayer ideas you can visit: Prayerguard)

Thank You for praying for them today!

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The Lord’s Plan

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Up until now I still cannot figure out what’s the next step for us to take in this Partnership Development journey. I just know that this journey we have been taking since 16 months ago is not as easy as we thought.

Not knowing the certainty of our next steps really bugs me a lot. Then this verse came back to me since couple of days ago. God reminded me that his plan for me and my family. That He never ever forget, nor forsake, nor abandon us.

He is the one who gives us the desire to serve Him as missionaries and supporting Bible Translation works.

He is the one who leads us to where we are now.

He is the one who put this plan in our lives.

He is the one who will work it out.

For He is the one and the only one who can make it happen.

For His faithful love in our lives.

For He made us.

For He is GOD!

For once again, He speaks to me, “Why worry, my daughter? For I will work out My plans in your life, for I love you so, for I made you.”

In a 2 hours I will be go to a ladies’ retreat with my ladies friends from church at Scioto Hills Christian Camp, we will be rejuvenated, refreshed and reconnected with God. I pray for His new revelation of Himself to me and all the ladies.

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I link up this post at:

Missional Women
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Prayer of Trust

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It has been about 3 weeks I have some things that trouble my heart and mind.

I scare.
I worry.
I feel uncomfortable.
I feel lost.

Instead of praying & be still in Him, I focused my eyes on those feelings that distract me from God & who He truly is.

I found this prayer post back in May from Roy Lessin. I even bookmarked it on my iPad screen. Today, I clicked on it and prayed to God. Pray of trust in Him and in His promises for me, my family and the mission work He has put in our lives.

Prayer of Trust
Lord, I trust in You. I believe in You. I hope in You. You are my confidence, my assurance. I lean upon You, for You are my Rock; I depend upon You, for You are my Provider; I delight in You, for You are the joy of my life. My heart rests in You; my faith responds to You, my soul rejoices in You.

You are the true God who cannot lie and will not fail. You are the Lord, the Almighty God, the Creator of all things. You are my Lord, My God, and my Creator.

You are my Keeper, and I am secure; You are my Father, and I am cared for; You are my Counselor and I am guided; You are my Shelter and I am safe.

I trust You in life—for the wisdom of Your ways, for the blessings of Your favor, for the sufficiency of Your grace, for the power of Your Spirit, and for the endurance that comes from Your strength.

Lord, I trust in You—my mind trusts in You, my will trusts in You, my soul trusts in You—from the depths of my being, I trust in You.

I trust You for all things.
I trust You with all things.
I trust You in all things.
I trust You through all things.
I trust You above all things.

Father, I entrust my future into Your hands, for You who are the Beginning and the End, know the end from the beginning; I entrust my hopes into Your hands, for You never lie; I entrust my labors into Your hands, for You are my exceeding great reward; I entrust my life into Your hands, for You are the only one who does all things well.

Scriptures: Psalms 5:11, 7:1, 9:10, 18:2, 20:7, 25:20, 34:22, 36:7, 37:40, 62:8, 91:2, 118:8, Proverbs 3:5-6 (source: Meet Me In The Meadow)

I am thankful that we have the God who is trustworthy and faithful.

We can trust Him.
We can trust in Him.

We will have peace when we put our trust in God. Because Jesus has overcome the world!

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 NLT)

We will have peace to go through our every day life when we trust in Him and fix our hearts and minds in Christ and His words.

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:6-9 NLT)

I pray for you today, may your put your trust in God & He strengthen your faith in Christ Jesus, our Savior. I pray He will bless you as you walk with Him. Amen.

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Let’s End It Now!

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On August 19th morning before we flew back to Ohio, we were invited to share about Bible Translation and the needs with the Elementary students of Canyon Creek Christian Academy, Richardson, TX. We were honored to share with them about the vision, the Bibleless people’s needs, how they can be part of this mission work and prayed together with them and the teachers at their Morning Assembly Meeting.

And Couple of days ago I got a text from my friend, Stefanie. She sent us this picture from one of the class from their Lower School Mission Project 2013-2014. The 3rd Grade students and teacher adopt us as their mission project! They pray for the country, for the people group we will be living with and for us, too. How amazing is that? We are thankful, humbled, honored and blessed.

I bring praise to Him only! Our God is the unlimited God. He is resourceful. He also can use school students to bring the Gospel to those who don’t have any verse in the language they understand best.

These people group in Southeast Asia will hear God’s Good News. Because I have full confidence in Christ that God, our Father in Heaven, is listening to these students and teacher’s prayers every time they lift them up. God will provide the way for this people group to hear and to have the Bible in their language.

But there are still about 109 Million people around the world who speak about 2000 languages who don’t even have 1 single verse in their languages. This is not fair! We have more than 20 version of Bible in English, but they don’t have even 1 word! We have to end it. They need God’s word. They need to hear about Jesus. They need to know who the true God is. So that they will come to trust in Jesus and worship God in His holy name!

But how will they hear? Where is our part in this plan bring them the Gospel?

Together we can end this spiritual poverty. Together we can END THE BIBLE POVERTY! I would like to encourage you to start praying. Pray ask God how he wants you to get involved and ask Him which area He put in your heart.

The Seed Company, a partner organization with Wycliffe Bible Translators, has a new website called, End Bible Poverty. It not a new organization. This is a website where you are offered an AMAZING opportunity to make a huge impact in the efforts to end Bible poverty in around the world. You can start up a campaign to raise the fund for Bible Translation projects. And every dollar given through a church campaign will be matched! 

START HERE to start your campaign in bring the Living Word to the Bibleless People Groups in the world! You also can find some resources and videos here.

I will have my first New Testament in my first language in early 2014! That the most amazing news I ever had in my whole live! God speaks my language! I cannot wait to have it in my hand and to read it! This is the joy that I also want the other 109 million people to experience and to know. The joy we have in our Lord Jesus Christ when we can read and hear His life changing word in the language we can understand best in our hearts.

This is why we join Wycliffe Bible Translators, to go to Southeast Asia. This is the reason why we do what we do. This is why I want to meet you, talk with you and share with you what God has put in our hearts for these people groups in Southeast Asia. To know more about us you can visit our website here and over there you also can subscribe to receive our newsletter and to pray for us.

Won’t you be a part of this amazing journey to see more and more people to come to know Christ and worship our God?

Would you join us?

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