June 2004: This page is being reconstructed with new information.
The information on this page may no longer be accurate.
DAMPELASA OF INDONESIA
LOCATION : northwestern peninsular area of the island of Sulawesi
POPULATION : 13,000
LANGUAGE : Dampelasa
PEOPLE CLUSTER : Kaili / Tomini
RELIGION : Muslim (Sunni) 99.9%
% OF CHRISTIANITY : 0%
SCRIPTURE : None
RADIO BROADCAST : None
JESUS FILM : None
GOSPEL AUDIO RECORDING : None
CHURCH PLANTING TEAM / MISSION AGENCY WORKING AMONG THEM : 0
The Dampelas are part of a larger group of people known as the Tomini, which includes several other sub-groups. They are located on the northwestern peninsular area of the island of Sulawesi. Their close neighbors are the Gorontalo, the Bulo, and the Western Toradja. Although linguists formerly thought that all Tomini languages were mutually intelligible and that the different names merely referred to dialects, recent research has asserted that each group speaks its own separate language.
The coastal Dampelas are very much engaged in commercial clove production, as well as in copra (dried coconut meat yielding coconut oil) and palm plantations. A number earn their living as merchants, and others are lumberjacks or sailors. The highland Dampelas cultivate dry rice, maize, and sago (a palm grown for its starch, which is used in foods and as textile stiffening). They also gather rattan (palms with stems that are used for wickerwork) for trade along the coast.
Marriages follow a Muslim pattern and are arranged by mediators, who also negotiate the bride price.
The Dampelas are mainly Sunni Muslim, though there are still small groups of animists in the inland mountain areas. The animist population is known as suku terasing, meaning "foreign tribes," and they have been the object of the Indonesian government acculturation programs, including relocation.
Few Christian resources exist to reach the Dampelas; consequently, the number of known believers among this tribe is small. Only prayer can break down the spiritual strongholds that have kept these people bound for so many years.
PRAYER POINTS
- Ask the Lord to call full-time missionaries or group of church planters who will go to Indonesia to work among the Dampelas.
- Take authority over the spiritual principalities and powers that are keeping the Dampelas bound for many generations.
- Ask God to raise up prayer teams who will begin breaking up the soil through prayer and intercession.
- Pray for the spiritual eyes of the Dampelas to be opened to the truth of the Gospel.
- Pray that Christian radio broadcasts, evangelical literature, and the Jesus film will be made available to the Dampelas.
- Ask the Lord to save key leaders in the Dampelas tribe who will boldly declare the Gospel.
- Pray that the Dampelas will hunger to know Jesus and that God will reveal Himself to them through dreams and visions.
- Ask the Lord to establish strong local churches among the Dampelas.
links to related information: www.joshuaproject.net , http://www.bethanynorth.com/profiles/profile1.html
