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The Baduy
The Baduy have been living here in the hilly forests of Banten, Java for hundreds of years, faithfully following their ancestral traditions of animism and asceticism. Wikipedia describes them as “an uncontacted people, a group who are almost completely isolated from the outside world.” I was invited to join Lusia, my Indonesian friend, and her Singaporean friend, Anna, to visit and minister to the Baduy for 3 days. We were led by Yustinus, a Christian Indonesian who feels his life calling is to reach these people. He’s been visiting this tribe regularly for 32 years. Over this time period he has seen 70 Baduy become Christians and come out to the outside world. Presently he knows and disciples about 30 people inside that are undercover Christians. The information and statistics presented here are according to Yustinus, which contradicts sometimes with Wikipedia. I don’t know why they are different, but some of the differences I saw personally as well. Enjoy - it’s a completely different world among this unreached people group!
Divided into two categories, only three of their 87 villages remain in the “inner circle”. Because they are now in the middle of a 3-month fast, we were not allowed to go deep inside. Actually, foreign visitors are not technically allowed to visit either group - only Indonesians. Visitors are also not supposed to take pictures or spend more than one night inside. We were allowed to take as many pictures as we want, and spend two nights inside because we were with Yustinus. He has such a good relationship with all the chiefs, we had our picture taken with several of them! On the left is a picture of the chief over all 87 villages. On the right is a chief of a village that burnt down. The government gave support to rebuild most of their homes, but didn’t have enough for 30 families. Currently they are just living with others in their village. Yustinus is trying to get help from Christians to help.
Those who live on the inside circle are not allowed to wear shoes and are permitted to only wear white and black clothes. These they must weave from scratch, making thread from the bark of mahogany trees. The villagers on the “outer circle” as well as those on the “inner circle” are not allowed to go to school. No one can read. They cannot use any transportation (meaning they can only walk). They are not interested in politics. The Indonesian government leaves them alone, letting them forego paying taxes or voting. They have offered to build schools and teach them to read and write, but they refuse, saying this is against their tradition. Those on the “outer circle” are restricted to wearing blue and black, though I saw some that wore an occasional T-shirt from the outside world. They cannot have any electricity. A few near the entrance of their district have a small solar panel, but if the elders from the inner circle see this, it will be taken away from them. They are not supposed to have electronics, internet, phones, or anything with modern technology. We saw a couple phones but these too were just on the outskirts. Those in the three inner circle villages are banished to the outer villages for up to 40 days if they disobey any of these rules. During this time they are retaught their traditions by the elders. If they agree to comply and follow the rules, they are allowed back in. Both those living in the inner and outer villages are not allowed to raise or eat any farm animals. They cannot even chicken eggs, since they can potentially grow into a chicken. But they are allowed to eat fish. None are permitted to use cement or metal, not even nails. They have to use wood pegs when they build. Everything they have must be made from wood, bamboo, or cloth, which they weave themselves from natural fibers in their trees. We didn’t see any chairs, beds, couches, or tables. We just sat and ate on bamboo floors and porches. Beds consisted of woven mats only. Interestingly, we saw many inconsistencies. Perhaps these are limited to just a few living on the border of the outside world, but we saw some with metal pans, plastic utensils, and phones. They would charge their small solar panels and phones by walking past an invisible line between them and the “outside world” to a house that had electricity. That house even had a TV, which the kids would watch. It was odd to see the kids singing a modern song they had learned from the TV, while at the same time knowing they weren’t allowed to go to the school down the street.
The men spend their days tending their fields where they grow vegetables, roots, and rice. Their fields are small, as they are not allowed to change the natural landscape even though the villages are rocky and hilly. Wikipedia says they are not permitted to grow a cash crop, but I saw bags of fruit which they gathered to sell on the outside. They cannot use modern tools, and use only natural fertilizer. They also harvest and sell honey and fruit from many types of tropical fruit trees in the jungle. Some men harvest the bark from the mahogany trees to make brown and red thread. To make yellow thread, they use turmeric. With this thread, all the women weave material to sell to the tourists that visit their outlying villages.
The women begin their day no later than 6:00 a.m. with the crowing chickens diligently waking the entire village every morning at 5:30 a.m. No need for an alarm clock! Every household seems to have a weaving loom on the front porch. Sitting with a straight back on the bamboo floor with the loom built over their legs, a female family member weaves beautifully designed cloths up to 10 hours a day. I even saw an 80 year-old lady working on her weaving next to us as we stopped for a snack on Yustinus’ friend’s porch. (pictured here on the left)
Yustinus is currently encouraging the Baduy to sew useful sellable items made from their weavings, instead of just pieces of material. Their main source of income is selling fruit, honey, and weavings to the outside world. But even with this limited selection of goods, they are not marketed well. Yustinus is trying to get their name and goods known to the outside world. The chief of the entire tribe with all 87 villages told him, “If you can better our economy, we will all follow your God.”
Knowing they think education is good, but are afraid to break the rules about schooling, I asked our host in the village, “What makes you stick to your traditions?” He answered, “Our ancestors are watching us. If we break the rules, they will curse us.”
After having an enjoyable dinner with them, we asked if he or his wife had any pain or illness that we could pray for. He said his back has hurt for years and it is very difficult for him to carry his daughter or sleep at night. We prayed for him and his pain went away by 50%. We told him it was Jesus that healed him. He said, “I don’t care who healed me, just as long as the pain leaves.” The next day we prayed again, but there was no change in his pain level. The area of the pain moved around. On the third day I noticed strings around his wrist. Recognizing these familiar strings from Mozambique, I asked if he had been to the witch doctor. He said yes. He says he believes in Jesus, but in not ready to make him Lord of his life. We believe he is not far from that decision however, especially since he is desperate for his healing.
His wife complained of a lung infection. She said she has gone into the city and seen doctors, gone to the hospital many times, gotten X-rays, and taken antibiotics, but “nothing helps.” Strangely, she said she coughs up blood every Tuesday and Friday. Allowing us to pray for her, she suddenly felt something lift off of her chest and said she felt lighter. Her breathing became easier and her cough lessoned. Our third day there was Friday. By the time we left she had not coughed up any blood. Her faith seemed stronger than her husbands, but I learned later that she too wore witchcraft given by the witch doctor - a string around her waste which we couldn’t see. Yustinus will continue visiting this couple, gently teaching and showing the love of God. Please pray for their salvations and potential impact on the other tribes. Their humble home is strategically located at the entrance to all the Baduy villages and is used to host many travelers.
Our plan was to walk to as many villages as possible, offering prayer for healing to those in pain and burdened with illness. Upon arrival, however, soldiers and tribal elders gathered on the porch next to where we began a little time of games and story telling with the children. They came over at the end of our story and wanted a group picture with us and the kids. We turned our heads so we would not be caught in the photo. We could not pray publicly with anyone or ask if they wanted to make a decision to follow Jesus.
The rest of that day and the next we did a few more simple children’s programs, singing, telling stories, playing games, and passing out some treats. At one point my teammate noticed a mom sitting with a group of moms on the porch next to ours. I was telling the story about Daniel in the lion’s den and how God protected him and can protect us too… She heard this mom baulk at this statement to the other moms, “We believe in many gods!”
We soon discovered that we could not ask anyone if they wanted prayer if they were in a group of people. They would fearfully say, “No!” A young lady standing near an elder woman on the porch next to us, who scrutinized every word we said, actually ran away when we asked her if she would like any prayer. Seeing we were a bit disappointed in our inability to pray for people, Yustinus explained that we were being followed by a man from another faith. He was spying on us to make sure we didn’t try to convert anyone, since this is the law of the land and is punishable by imprisonment. This is why we spent most of our time just hanging out with people on their porches, eating and talking. We walked many miles up and down the rocky mountain with cobblestone paths, village to village, 8 total, making friends and loving on them. Many of these villagers know Yustinus and know that he is a Christian. They accept him into their villages, seeing his kindness over the years with their children and truly having a heart to help their economy. Please pray these seeds of love will grow in their hearts and lead them to follow Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
Yustinus says there are currently 30 underground Christians on the “inside.” Please pray for their continued spiritual growth and courage to share their faith to others in their villages. Over these 32 years of befriending, loving on, and gently ministering to the Baduy, Yustinus has seen 70 converted and baptized. These 70 now live happily on the outside. He continually asked us for strategy ideas on how to reach this unreached people group. I suggested showing them the power and love of God through healing, signs, and wonders, and invited him to a healing conference we are conducting in Jakarta next week. Please pray he is filled and empowered. I have a standing invitation to go back to these villages with him. I’ll go as Jesus leads.
Bless you!
Lorena
