The Kur people speak Kur-Ba or Kur. It is part of the Trans-New Guinea language group. Their homeland is West Papua, Indonesia.
The Kur people have always been farmers, hunters and food gathers who look for edibles in the forests. They are skilled with making wooden and woven handicrafts.
The Kur people are Sunni Muslims who believe that the supreme God, Allah, spoke through his prophet, Mohammed, and taught mankind how to live a righteous life through the Koran and the Hadith. To live a righteous life, you must utter the Shahada (a statement of faith), pray five times a day facing Mecca, fast from sunup to sundown during the month of Ramadan, give alms to the poor, and make a pilgrimage to Mecca if you have the means. Muslims are prohibited from drinking alcohol, eating pork, gambling, stealing, slandering, and making idols. They gather for corporate prayer on Friday afternoons at a mosque, their place of worship.
The two main holidays for Sunni Muslims are Eid al Fitr, the breaking of the monthly fast and Eid al Adha, the celebration of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son to Allah.
Sunni religious practices are staid and simple. They believe Allah has pre-determined our fates; they minimize free will.
In most of the Muslim world, common people depend on the spirit world for their daily needs since they regard Allah as too distant. Allah may determine their eternal salvation, but the spirits determine how well they live on a daily basis. For that reason, some Muslims appease spirits using charms and amulets to help them with spiritual forces. More orthodox Muslims consider these practices heretical and un-Islamic.
Because of development projects, the Kur people have been displaced from their homeland. This has led to conflicts with the Indonesian military.
Prayer Points
Pray for a "Book of Acts" type of movement to Christ among the Kur.
Pray God will have mercy on the Kur, doing whatever it takes to place them in a position to receive him.
Ask God to open the hearts of the Kur to the gospel.
Pray for an unstoppable movement to Christ among them.
Scripture Prayers for the Kur in Indonesia.
| Profile Source: Joshua Project |
