Lausanne World Pulse – A Focus on South Pacific and Southeast Asia: 661 Least-reached People Groups Remain

June 2007

Prayer Points

  • Resourcefulness. Pray that God causes people from the body of Christ to work with his divine creativity and in the unity of the Spirit to overcome every barrier to the gospel among every people group.
  • Rapid. Pray for the Word of God to spread rapidly and be honored as it is proclaimed by faithful men and women before those around them, especially among the remaining least-reached peoples.
  • Remainder. Pray for the remainder of the least-reached groups to be reached and to join hands with God, one another and believers around the world.
  • Expatriate and indigenous workers. God would bring many more workers and provide creative means of access to the least-reached peoples throughout these regions for the gospel.
  • Contextual evangelism. Pray for God to help believers creatively communicate the gospel and his truth through familiar means with an eternal message of hope and salvation.

Links

  • Resources to pray, to mobilize prayer and to do outreach.
  • Discover more about these 661 least-reached peoples.
  • Pray for the least-reached peoples of these regions.
  • Obtain daily prayer guides for peoples of these regions.

Background

The number of Malay people can rise to 285 million people separated into 766 different subgroups

scattered across Southeast Asia.

Does One Have to Be Muslim to Be Malay?
(By Keith Carey, managing editor, Global Prayer Digest)
To hear the term “Malay” would make you think that the Malay peoples all live in the country of Malaysia, but they don’t! Out of twenty-five million Malay people, only about half live there. The other half live in Indonesia (ten million), southern Thailand (2.5 million), Singapore (500,000) and Brunei (231,000). However, if you broaden the linguistic definition, the number of Malay people can rise to 285 million people separated into 766 different subgroups scattered across the Malay World of Southeast Asia. It is worth stating that this Muslim population is one-fifth of the world’s total Muslim population, making Southeast Asia a key region for ministry to Muslims.

Language is key in defining the Malay peoples. However, the Malay peoples add one more very important element to how they define themselves. To them, to be Malay is to be a Muslim. How did this come to be? Let us take a look at the historical context.

Why the Malay Do Not Want to Be “Christians”
Malays founded several trading empires and their language became the major language of commerce in Southeast Asian ports. During this time period, Arab traders were trading with the Malay peoples. They were on friendly terms. Arab missionaries were spreading Islam throughout the region. Most people embraced Islam by choice.

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