June 2004: This page is being discontinued.
This people group is no longer on our least reached list.
ANEUK JAMEE OF INDONESIA
LOCATION : western coast of Aceh Province, Sumatra
POPULATION : 50,000
LANGUAGE : Aneuk Jamee
PEOPLE CLUSTER : Aceh people
RELIGION : Muslims (Shafiites) 99.9%
% OF CHRISTIANITY : 0%
SCRIPTURE : None
RADIO BROADCAST : None
JESUS FILM : None
GOSPEL AUDIO RECORDING : None
The Aneuk Jamee live on the western coast of Aceh Province and also around the small bays found along the south coast of Aceh. They are also spread out over the low plains hemmed in by the Bukit Barisan mountain range. In their daily life, they are in direct contact with the Aceh and Kluet people who live in southern Aceh. The language used by the Aneuk Jamee is called Jamee or Jamu. For the Aceh in southern Aceh this Jamee language is easy to understand because the Minangkabau vocabulary mixed with Aceh is similar to the national Indonesian language. However the Aneuk Jamee themselves do not understand or use the Aceh language.
Many Aneuk Jamee are fishermen, while others work in irrigated rice farming (basawah), unirrigated agriculture (baladang), and growing fruits (bakabun). There are some Aneuk Jamee who are permanent traders (baniago), but others, known as penggaleh, sell goods from village to village. They have three levels of society. The nobles (datuk) form the highest level. The middle level is formed by district chiefs (hulu baling) and religious leaders (ulama), such as the prayer leaders (tengku), priests (imam) and Islamic judges (kadi). The common people are the lowest level. Traditional leadership in a village contains a combination of Minangkabau and Aceh elements. These leaders are the village headman (kecik), prayer-house leader (tuangku manasah) and youth leader (tuangku surau).
Islam is the religion followed by the Aneuk Jamee people. As among other Indonesian peoples, the Aneuk Jamee also exhibit some elements of previous beliefs that are not easily forgotten. The services of a dukun (shaman/healer/occultist) are still frequently used for various things. For example, a dukun is sometimes asked to put a love spell (sijundai) on a girl, or to recover a girl who has been bewitched in this manner.
Many of the boats used by the Aneuk Jamee fishermen are owned by residents of Medan or Banda Aceh. Thus, a program to finance their purchase of boats would be very strategic. Also, Aneuk Jamee farmers could use agricultural training, more efficient irrigation, and the provision of good seed and fertilizer to increase crop yields so that their economy can improve.
PRAYER POINTS
- Pray that God will send qualified and anointed linguists to translate the Bible into the Aneuk Jamee language.
- Pray that God will strengthen, encourage and protect the small number of believers living among the Aneuk Jamee.
- Pray that God will raise up qualified laborers who can effectively cross the Muslim cultural barriers.
- Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to the Aneuk Jamee that believing in Christ will give them life.
- Pray that the hostility towards Christians will cease and that they will be allowed to freely preach the Gospel.
- Pray that God will equip and strengthen the non-Aneuk Jamee Christians and will be given open doors and opportunities to share Christ with the Aneuk Jamee.
links to related information: www.1040window.org , www.joshuaproject.net
