Join Us in Praying for this Unreached City
Have you ever heard of Pangandaran? If you haven’t, don’t feel too bad. Most of us hadn’t either until a few weeks ago.
Pangandaran is a regency, similar to a city, located on the southern coast of Java, Indonesia’s most-populated island. It has around 424,000 people (1) and is a tourist area known for its natural beauty. Visitors enjoy surfing, exploring, and relaxing at its black or white sand beaches, serene waterfalls, and tropical rainforests.
Why Is It Important?
Pangandaran is a city with no Adventists and very few Christians. Its inhabitants have little opportunity to meet and experience Jesus as Lord and Savior. We know God cares deeply about people in cities like these. We’ve seen Him answer prayers for laborers in unreached cities in Thailand, and we believe He wants to do the same in Indonesia.
We recently started praying for Pangandaran as one of our prayer focus cities, and we invite you to join us as we pray that Jesus may be glorified in the lives of the people there.
A New Set of Challenges
Previously, the majority of our prayer focus cities have been in Thailand, a majority Buddhist country. Indonesia, however, is primarily Muslim. In fact, Indonesia–the world’s fourth most-populated country–boasts the world’s largest Muslim population.
Unlike Buddhists who know little about Jesus (except as an expletive in Hollywood movies), Muslims believe He was a real person and a highly-honored prophet. However, Muslims do not believe that Jesus is God or that He actually died on the cross.
Ministering to Muslims is possible, but it requires a lot of tact, love, surrender, and, most importantly, the presence of the Holy Spirit.
As you pray for Pangandaran, please pray for serious heart preparation, both for those whom God will send to work there (either foreign or native) and for the local people. The Big Picture
Pangandaran is one of many places in Indonesia with a need for missionaries. Many more cities, and even entire Islands, have no access to the Gospel. Indonesia currently has more than 277 million people (MacroTrends). According to Joshua Project, approximately 3.22% of Indonesians (around nine million people) are evangelical Christians (Joshua Project). Seventh-day Adventists, of which there are currently 226,447, make up around 0.08% of the population (Adventist Yearbook: WIUM) (Adventist Yearbook: EIUC). The church in Indonesia is organized in two parts: the East Indonesia Union Conference and the West Indonesia Union Mission. The West Indonesia Union Mission, where Pangandaran is located, stretches from Sumatra to West Timor and includes Bali, Kalimantan (the Indonesian portion of Borneo), and Java (WIUM). Around 245 million people live within their territory.
It has 97,153 members on the books as of June 2022 (WIUM). Essentially less than half of the very few Adventists in Indonesia live in the area with the greatest number of people.
What Can We Do About This?
If these numbers seem overwhelming, that’s because they are–by human standards. We cannot reach the people of Indonesia on our own. It’s impossible.
In 1 Samuel 13-14, the Israelites also faced an impossible situation. They faced countless Philistines, and no one had any weapons except for Saul and his son Jonathan.
Jonathan secretly took his armor-bearer nearer to the garrison of the Philistines. Even though they were only two people, Jonathan trusted that God could help them overcome the impossible. “It may be that the Lord will work for us.” He told his armor-bearer. “For nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few” (14:6).
Jonathan and his armor-bearer followed God’s leading and went up to the Philistines. Through their act of faith, God saved Israel that day.
We serve the same God as Jonathan, and God can still save by many or by few. As Jesus himself said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God” (Luke 18:27).
God has a plan for Indonesia, and we can participate in that plan, even if all we can do is pray.
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- Contributed by Jesus for Asia