Indonesia: Church leaders attacked
21 Sep 2010
The Sunday morning attack on the Rev Luspida Simandjunktak and church elder Hasean Lumbantoruan Sihombing left the former with a concussion and the latter with a knife wound to the liver. According to eyewitness reports, a gang of about seven riding on motorcycles ambushed the two church leaders. After stabbing Sihombing and striking Simandjunktak on the head with a wooden plank, the attackers fled the scene. Both church leaders were then rushed to Mitra Keluarga Hospital in East Bekasi for treatment. Following the attack, Indonesia's president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, immediately called on authorities to investigate and hold accountable those responsible. Yudhoyono has been widely criticized in the media for failing to crack down on Islamic hard-liners, who were immediately suspected of carrying out Sunday's attacks. While most people in Indonesia practice a moderate form of Islam and abhor violence, attacks on religious freedom by hard-liners have been steadily increasing. Pray: for God’s protection around His people and for the government to have success over hard-liners. (Ps.32:7)
Indonesia: Church defies authorities
29 Sep 2010
Dozens of Christians have defied police and threats of attack from Muslim groups to hold prayers inside their boarded-up church near the Indonesian capital. The group held their Sunday service surrounded by hundreds of police and security guards saying they had as much right as any Indonesian to worship in the Muslim-majority country. Local officials used bullhorns to remind members of the Batak Christian Protestant Church that they were banned from the site following an attack last week by suspected Muslim activists on two church leaders. (See Prayer Alert 3810) ‘We just want to carry out our obligations as Christians but authorities are treating us like terrorists.’ said Advent Tambunan a member of the congregation. A local leader of the Islamic Defenders' Front, which has led calls for the Christians to leave was among 10 people detained by the police after last week's attack. Pray: for the wave of Christian revival in Indonesia to grow and overwhelm the darkness. (Is.60:1) More: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/09/201091944922621312.html
Indonesia: Church attacked by suicide bomber
04 Oct 2011A suicide bomber attacked a church packed with hundreds of worshippers in Solo, Central Java, Indonesia, on Sunday, killing himself and wounding at least 20 other people. The church is one of Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren’s sister churches and the pastor posted a notice on his Facebook page reading, ‘Purpose Driven Network Alert - Our sister church in Solo City, Indonesia, Bethel Full Gospel Church, has just been bombed.’ A Muslim suicide bomber, whose identity has not been revealed, was responsible for the attack. The site also says some news reports indicate 27 people were injured in the blast - one critically. Others put the number as high as 30 people. Indonesia’s President called the attack ‘terrorism.’ The city of Solo is also radical Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir's hometown. Bashir is considered the spiritual leader for the group that killed more than 200 people in Bali in 2002, according to media reports.
Pray: for spiritual, physical, and emotional protection for the millions of Indonesian Christians. (Mal.4:2)
Mainly Christian islands are at the heart of the three-fold disaster of earthquake, tsunami and volcanic eruption that have killed hundreds and displaced thousands in Indonesia this week. A 7.7 magnitude undersea earthquake triggered the three-metre high tsunami, which pounded the Mentawai Islands, off the coast of West Sumatra, on Monday evening. The following day Mount Merapi on the island of Java erupted, spewing out clouds of ash and jets of searing gas. The combined death toll has topped 300 with over 400 missing and tens of thousands displaced as homes were destroyed. Pray: thet the aid agencies and authorities would be enabled to bring speedy relief to those in desperate need.
At the prompting of Islamic extremists, authorities in Indonesia's Aceh Province have forbidden nine churches to worship, saying they are ‘illegal,’ reports Jeremy Reynalds, Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service. According to a story by Morning Star News, Illiza Sa'aduddin Djamal, Deputy Mayor of Banda Aceh, capital of Aceh Province, called pastors of nine churches and five Buddhist monasteries for a meeting on Oct. 15, said Veryanto Sitohang, head of rights group United North Sumatra Alliance. Representatives from five of the nine churches attended the meeting. Morning Star News reported they were forced to sign an ‘agreement’ saying they would stop all activities because they did not have official permits. Those permits are obtainable only by meeting very difficult requirements from local governments, Sitohang told Morning Star News. The other four churches will also be told to sign the agreement soon, he added.
Pray: for the Church in Aceh that it will stand firm against persecution. (1Cor.16:13)
More: http://www.christiantelegraph.com/issue17717.html
Indonesia: Anti-Christian incidents in 2011
12 Jan 2012Acts of violence and intolerance against Christians in Indonesia almost doubled in 2011, with an Islamist campaign to close down churches symbolizing the plight of the religious minority. The Indonesian Protestant Church Union, locally known as PGI, counted 54 acts of violence and other violations against Christians in 2011. Some are saying, ‘The the worst is perhaps yet to come if authorities continue to overlook the extremism threat.’ At least 36 regulations to ban religious practices deemed deviant from Islam were drafted or implemented in the Indonesia in 2011. The hot-bed of extremism is West Java which has about 520,000 Christians. 160 incidents against religious minorities were witnessed by West Java Churches, and on Christmas Day, two churches in Bogor city suffered Islamist vigilantes screaming and threatening Christians as they tried to hold a Christmas service.
Pray: for the growing Church in Indonesia to know God's provision as He builds his church in South Asia. (Ps.60:4-5)
More: http://www.christiantelegraph.com/issue15070.html
Indonesia: Angry Muslims attack churches
22 Feb 2011More than 1,000 Muslim protesters have stormed a courthouse and burned two churches in central Java after a Christian man was sentenced to five years in jail for distributing leaflets deemed insulting to Islam. Indonesian police said the crowd considered the sentence too lenient and were demanding the death penalty.The violence spread to surrounding neighbourhoods where two churches were set on fire and a third was damaged. A body which advises the US government on religious freedom has said Indonesia must act against ‘extremist’ attacks, and should be more intolerant of extremist groups. Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population but it is currently a secular nation. International observers say more hard-line fringe groups have been harassing religious minorities in recent years.The Indonesian president has been criticised for not doing enough to protect the rights of all citizens.
Pray: for God to lead the Indonesian government into actions that would end hate crimes and revoke a 2008 decree that encourages vicious attacks. (Ps.109:30-31)
India: ‘Blood bricks’ industry
09 Jan 2014Bricks are a crucial part of India’s growing economy as brick kilns supply the country's booming construction sector who in turn are raising buildings owned by Indian, British, and multinational companies. There are more than 2 million brick workers in India. Many kilns use bonded labourers working in conditions of near-slavery earning at best around £1.50 for a 12-hour day. Many suffer ill health from the acrid smoke and harsh working conditions leading campaigners to call the bricks they make ‘blood bricks.’ By a mound of coal, barefoot women and children squat to break pieces of coal with ungloved hands. Two of the children are barely four years old their faces smeared black as they break coal by hitting pieces against each other. All of this is against the law. Among many reports of abuses, last week labour contractors were accused of cutting off the hands of two workers who tried to leave their jobs.