Indonesia

Indonesia

Republic of Indonesia

 

Geography

Area: 1,919,317 sq km
The Republic’s 17,500 islands (6,000 inhabited) stretch over 9.5 million sq km of the Indian/Pacific Oceans, with 33 provinces, 5 of which have special status. Includes the world’s second-largest rain forest and vast coral reefs.
Population: 232,516,771    Annual Growth: 1.19%
Capital: Jakarta
Urbanites: 53.7%
HDI Rank: 111 of 182 (UN Human Development Reports 2009)

Peoples

Peoples: 784 (26% unreached) All peoples
Unreached Peoples Prayer Card

Official language: Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia). Its increasing use is unifying the nation and lessening the importance of smaller languages to the younger generation    Languages: 722 All languages

Religion

Largest Religion: Muslim

Religion		Pop %	Ann Gr
Christians	36,853,908	15.85	1.6
Evangelicals	13,010,751	5.6	2.8
Muslim	186,734,219	80.31

Answer to Prayer

Praise God for the sustained growth of the Church over the last 50 years. During this period, evangelicals have grown from 1.3 million (1.4% of the population) to 13 million (5.6%). Several of the following have a long-lasting legacy.
a) Great people movements to Christ have occurred in many animistic peoples, among three of the eight Java sub-groups and among Indonesians of Chinese descent. Over 50% of the latter are now Christian.
b) The lives and vibrant witness of committed Christians have made an impact on a society influenced by the power of the occult and have offered many the path to freedom.
c) The government mandate that all citizens adhere to one of six recognized religions impels many animists to consider the claims of the gospel.
d) The development and use of Indonesian as the national language make sharing the gospel across geographic and ethnic boundaries easier in many areas of the country.

Challenge for Prayer

Indonesia’s vast diversity is both its strength and its peril. With 17,500 islands strewn across nearly 10 million sq km of ocean, 33 provinces, 722 languages, even more ethnic groups, myriad religious expressions and deeply divided political agendas, holding this nation together is a monumental task. Pray for political strength for the maturing democracy to stay balanced between national unity and regional identity. Pray also for the government to act with righteousness in honouring all peoples and communities; Indonesia’s history, especially recently, is characterized by discrimination, exploitation and favouritism.