What Is the Opportunity?

Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia, which is the fourth most-populated nation in the world. Located in Southeast Asia, Indonesia is an archipelago of thousands of islands between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.

Almost 200 million people speak Indonesian (also known as Bahasa Indonesian), making it the eleventh most-spoken language in the world. It is a form of Malay which is mainly spoken by people in Indonesia, but there are also hundreds of thousands of Indonesian-speaking people in other Asian countries and in the Netherlands.

Indonesia has the largest Muslim population of any country. Christians have freedom to gather together for worship, with large churches established in the major cities, but it is illegal for Christians to evangelize. Although it is not forbidden in Indonesia for a person to change his or her religion, converts from a Muslim background can face significant opposition from their families and local communities. Generally, Muslims in Indonesia follow an animistic form of folk Islam, though there have been violent attacks on Christians in the country from Islamic extremists.

Ligonier Ministries is seeking to strengthen Indonesian-speaking Christians by providing them with trustworthy biblical teaching online, in print, and on satellite TV.

How Is Ligonier Meeting These Needs?

We strive to reach Indonesian-speaking pastors, laypeople, and unbelievers from all walks of life through the following outreach efforts.

Satellite TV

A Christian satellite TV station has begun broadcasting dubbed video teaching series from Dr. R.C. Sproul in Indonesian to several of the country’s major islands. The video messages from these series are also available on our designated-language website and on YouTube. The first series that have been dubbed are Moses and the Burning Bush and Justified by Faith Alone with Dr. R.C. Sproul.

The Ligonier Statement on Christology

There is tremendous confusion regarding Christology—the doctrine of Christ—among Indonesian-speaking people. As the church continues to grow, it is essential that believers learn the truths of Scripture as summarized in the great confessions of faith. We produced The Word Made Flesh: The Ligonier Statement on Christology to help Christians know what the church has historically taught and to provide clarity on the person and work of Christ. Our goal is to distribute this statement worldwide, and it has already been translated into numerous languages, including Indonesian.

Web and Social Media

By God’s grace, the truth of the gospel is reaching people in Indonesia. Ligonier’s dedicated Indonesian website, together with our Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram pages, are providing ready access to trustworthy teaching in Indonesian. Our dedicated-language website also contains several historic Christian creeds and confessions.

Books Available

• The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul
• The Race of Faith by R.C. Sproul
• Defending Your Faith by R.C. Sproul
• Essential Truths of the Christian Faith by R.C. Sproul
• Reason to Believe by R.C. Sproul
• John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine, & Doxology edited by Burk Parsons

What Is Needed?

• Digital outreach — $22,718 USD (annually)
• Dubbing select video teaching series — $12,400 USD (annually)

Funding needs reflect quoted estimates based on April 2023 foreign exchange rates and current translation fees. You can donate here.

How Do Your Gifts Help?

These are only a few of our many international outreach projects underway. We ask you to prayerfully consider supporting our efforts through your financial gifts and prayers for the Indonesian-speaking and global church. You can donate here. Your generosity helps us translate, print, and distribute trustworthy resources, providing countless opportunities to reach people with the truth of God’s Word.

Our policy is to apply gifts given toward a specific program. If we receive more contributions than can be wisely used for a given project, we apply these funds to meet other pressing needs in our outreach efforts. We are committed to stewarding all gifts wisely toward the goal of proclaiming the holiness of God to as many people as possible. Ligonier Ministries is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.