Azure seas and sweeping white sand draw thousands to the tropical isle of Bali. The artistic, vibrant and camera-perfect culture that attracts tourists holds in bondage 3 million people in fear of evil spirits. The message of Christ has barely brushed the surface of Balinese Hinduism. Some 49,000 temples and indescribable sunsets set Bali apart as "paradise, still lost."

Ethnicity

Malayo-Indonesian

Language

Balinese. Nearly all speak Indonesian as well. The Bible is available in Balinese.

Population

3 million

Location

Indonesia is a large cluster of islands just between the Philippines and Australia. Bali is a small but well-known island just east of the main island of Java.

Culture

The Balinese are creative, theatrical people with elaborate art and music, spicy food and a passion for pageantry. Women work hard in their fields and keep market gardens for their personal incomes. They are responsible for observing traditions associated with significant days in family life. The Balinese community is a little republic known for its cooperation. It is run by a banjar, something like a town council, that keeps village culture intact. The banjar provides financial backing for major feasts, farm equipment and family celebrations, and regulations on religion, marriage and morals. The banjar leader is elected by the members of the banjar, and must be approved by the gods through a medium. Dualism is a significant factor in Balinese thinking. Everything is polarized: gods and demons, day and night, man and woman, clean and unclean. The goal of life is to keep life in balance and achieve harmony.

Livelihood

About 70 percent of the people are farmers. They also fish, raise pigs and chickens and grow vegetables. Tourism is a major income source in some villages, along with rice, sweet potatoes, soybeans and peanuts. The very fertile soil also produces cloves, vanilla and fruit of many kinds. But Balinese have joined the government transmigration program and moved to other less crowded islands.

Political

Hinduism came to Bali in the 9th century. By the 14th century Bali was part of the Hindu Majapahit empire of East Java. When that fell to Muslim invaders, Majapahit aristocrats, scholars and artisans moved to Bali. Hinduism became concentrated there. Rajahs reigned over their own small kingdoms until the Dutch came in the early 1600s. Princes are still well-respected.

Religion

Bali is the largest Hindu outpost outside India. Balinese Hinduism is practiced by 90% of the population and is still considered their greatest art. It differs from Indian Hinduism in that the caste system is dying out in all but the older generation, cremation is often postponed until money is collected, widows remarry, and group worship is more important than individual or family worship.

Bali Hinduism is based on the animistic belief that multiple spirits are everywhere. These spirits are so pervasive and easily offended that sacrifices and rituals must be kept to appease them. These rituals burden many Balinese with all the classic symptoms of paranoid and neurotic disorders. Every occasion calls for rituals: baby’s first days, birthdays, stages in the agricultural cycle, cockfights, and festivals that celebrate nearly every aspect of daily life. Bali has over 60 religious festivals a year. Temples fill the country; every town or village has several, every home has its own, and temples protect rice fields, beaches, caves, banyan trees, and hill tops. The Balinese concept of the hereafter is simple - heaven will be exactly like Bali.

Openness to Christianity

Bali has long resisted the message of the gospel and there is still opposition for any who believe. More Balinese have become Christians outside Bali than on the island itself (especially in transmigrant farming settlements).

Missions

The first convert on Bali came to Christ through the work of two missionaries from Holland in 1873. The Dutch then closed the Bali field when that same convert was involved in the murder of a missionary eight years later. In 1929 a Chinese bookseller with the CMA was permitted to preach to Chinese on the island. By 1932 over 100 Balinese were baptized, but the tourism industry, artists and anthropologists were so threatened by the possible effects of Christianity on the Balinese lifestyle that the authorities withdrew permission for the CMA to continue ministry. A Dutch missionary statesman suggested the East Java Church supply Bali with Javanese evangelists. Those evangelists established a small church, which has the strength of being home grown. Less than 1% of Bali’s population claim to be Christian, and of that 0.5% would be Protestant. Few mission organizations work in Bali. The Christian Missionary Alliance and the Reformed Church serve there, and recently radio broadcasts have been made available to them.