Manggarai in Indonesia

Introduction / History

The Manggarai live in the western portion of Flores Island in the Indonesian province of Nusa Tenggara. They are close neighbors to the Bima and the Timorese. The Manggarai language is a member of the Austronesian language family and has 47 sub-dialects.

What Are Their Lives Like?

Many of the Manggarai are tropical farmers who grow corn, rice, coconuts, cinnamon, coffee, and tobacco. They also raise buffalo, horses, pigs and chickens. While most do not fish or hunt, some carve, weave, and work with metal.

Manggarai villages are often composed of small individual settlements arranged in a circular layout. In the mountains, the people live on swiddens (land that has been cleared by "slash and burn" agriculture) for part of the year. After harvesting the crops, they return to their home villages. Each village has a mosque. The head of the mosque is responsible for ceremonies, religious anniversaries and the rites of the agricultural cycle.

What Are Their Beliefs?

More than half of the Manggarai people are Catholic, primarily residing in the Borong region. Those near the coast usually practice Sunni Islam. Despite the Islamic influence, they continue to observe traditional beliefs, including ancestor worship and spirit dances.

What Are Their Needs?

The Manggarai are deeply religious and practice a wide variety of rituals. They have not encountered Jesus Christ and desperately need the truth of the gospel to be preached and demonstrated among them.

Prayer Points

Ask the Lord to send missionaries who will invest their lives in discipling the Manggarai.
Pray for the Lord to display his unrivaled power and set the Manggarai free from the oppression of evil spirits.
Pray for signs and wonders to follow Manggarai believers as they share Christ with their families and community.
Pray for the Lord to give them a spiritual hunger to seek his only Son, Jesus Christ.

Text Source:   Joshua Project