Testimonies from the Field – Indonesia

Indonesian Man

Pray for some new believers, mostly youth, who have been imprisoned for nearly a month now due to “Christianising” Muslims in a small town in the west of the most populous island. Pray also for unity as a colleague has slandered another leader for creating “Rice Christians” through financial incentives. These lies cause confusion and distrust in communities of believers that are already under pressure from unbelievers and do not need the added stress of disunity and personal attacks from within.

Hinduism in Indonesia

Hinduism was the main religion in Indonesia before Islam came to the country through Muslim traders in the 12th and 13th centuries. Hinduism came to Indonesia as early as the 1st century. By the 4th century, Hindu states had been established on Java. Hinduism spread throughout the rest of Indonesia and reached its peak in the 14th century. Although most of Indonesia was Muslim by the end of the 16th century, Bali remained Hindu. In 1959, the Indonesian government recognized Hinduism as an official religion. Indonesian Hindus practice Dharma Hinduism because of this. It was a major reform movement that lobbied for Hindus’ rights in Bali. This reform helped start a revival of Hinduism in Indonesia.