Trivia question: Which country has the world’s oldest continuously reigning royal line?
Answer: The tiny nation of Brunei on the north coast of Borneo. Brunei is about the same size as Delaware. The current Sultan is the twenty-ninth absolute monarch of this Islamic state, and one of the richest men in the world.
Offshore oil reserves have made Brunei a very wealthy country, offering its citizens the benefits of free health care and education and even subsidized housing.
Brunei’s population consists of a mix of Malays, Chinese and tribal groups, with the Muslim Malay as the majority. Schools must teach only Islam, the state religion. The government prohibits conversion. Churches face intimidation and persecution. No foreign Christian workers are allowed in the country — and no Bibles or Christian literature. It’s illegal to celebrate Christmas. Only two Malays are known to be Christians.
How sad to have such wealth, yet to lack the greatest treasure of all — the gift of life in Jesus Christ.
- Population Roughly 250,000
- Religion 100% Muslim
- Pray for Malay studying in Britain and Australia, that Christian students will befriend them and share their faith in Christ.
- Ask
that the Muslim government would allow Christians greater freedom.
(They intend to make Brunei a “pure Islamic state” by 2020.)
