Indonesia

On February 14, 2024, Indonesia is going to the polls. Although there is a thirty percent quota for women candidates, the majority of the eighteen political parties in Indonesia have deep patriarchal roots. As a result, only a handful of women will appear on the ballot. It undermines the effective implementation of reforms to give women rights in the Southeast Asian archipelago. The role of women should be more visible and relevant in Indonesian society for their rights.

Pray for God’s supernatural intervention to give Indonesian women candidates a winning mandate in the upcoming elections (The Bible, Matthew 19:26).

Pray for the Holy Spirit to minister to Indonesian men to generate more empathy and compassion towards their women (The Bible, John 14:26).

Having Southeast Asia’s strongest economy, Indonesia is also one of the G20’s wealthiest. It is the world’s fourth most populous nation. It also has the largest concentration of Muslims, yet Indonesia has an astonishingly high level of Christian presence. More than twelve percent of the population are Christians, over 33 million people, with church growth continuing to increase. While Christianity is not illegal, provincial laws can override it and Islamic law is sometimes used. Muslim extremists continue to spread anti-Christian messages in the public sector. President Widodo’s agenda to shift Indonesia from secularism to Islamization would seem to predict elevated levels of Christian persecution in the future. Indonesia has been the worst affected nation in Southeast Asia during the COVID-19 pandemic. They currently hold the 2022 presidency of the G20 and during the Summit in Bali, Indonesia called for urgent attention to be paid to the current global food and fuel crisis.