Masariku Network, June 2005
Duma - Village of Martyrs
Update, June 2005
Background
Duma was a small yet significant village of around 1500 people on the island of
Halmahera in the Province of North Maluku. It was the first village to receive the
Gospel when a Dutch missionary, Rev. Van Duijken came to the island in 1866. From
this village the Gospel spread throughout Halmahera and North Maluku.
On June 19, 2000, Duma was attacked for the 21st time by jihad troops. Jihad troops
assisted by an Indonesian military unit, Brawijaya 512 from East Java, overran Duma,
bombing the church where over 600 of the women, children and the elderly gathered
for protection. As the church was bombed and being burned to the ground many of the
woman and children ran from the church. The jihad troops used them for target
practice shooting them down at will. 211 were massacred in the church that day.
Another 140 were badly wounded and needed urgent medical treatment. On June 29,
100 were on a boat, the Cahaya Bahari, with more than 600 passengers racing to
Manado, North Sulawesi. It never arrived. Duma lost another 100 of its people.
From August 2000, YBI began helping people from Duma. Initially this was a group of
medical refugees who had arrived on an earlier boat. There were 112 in this group.
They were housed in a church hall in Kleak Campus, Manado, North Sulawesi while
some were still in the Malalayang Hospital. YBI extended its care for this community
to Tobelo, North Maluku where the remaining 1100 people from Duma were housed in
refugee camps.
The Restoration of Duma
In October 2002, the Duma community began making tentative steps to return to their
village. Snipers and night time attacks against people walking alone killed and
wounded several more of the community. However, they were determined to return
home and re-occupy the land where the Gospel had first entered their island. Slowly
the people returned. At first during the days only, then staying for a few days at a time
and then staying permanently. It was not without risk, even to the present. Today 80%
of the reconstruction of houses in Duma is complete.
On June 19, 2003, the slain martyrs of Duma were moved from their mass graves and
reburied in a Martyrs' Cemetery beside the ruins of the old church. In October 2003, a
monument to the loss of a further 100 on the Cahaya Bahari was completed next to
the 211 graves of those who died in the church. It is an amazing site to see. It is a
beautiful, yet tragic memorial paying respect to those who lost their lives for Christ.
The people of Duma accept that they have a responsibility to maintain the Gospel and
to be a witness not just to the surrounding community but to be a witness for the
Gospel throughout the nation of Indonesia that there is forgiving and healing power in
the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In April 2005, the rebuilding of the new church began. It is 15m (47ft) wide and 40m
(130ft) long and is designed so that the whole community can attend church together.
The Mayor of North Halmahera gave US$25,000 to help them begin this project. The
Governor of the Province has promised US$28,000. It will take a further US$117,000
to complete the whole of this new church building.
The remains of the old church which was built over a 12 year period of time will have a
new building built inside the ruins of the old building where the existing walls still
stand. It will become a House of Prayer for All Nations. The new building will have
walls joining the new to the old to create prayer and Bible Study rooms. The roof of
the new building will extend out over the old walls to preserve them. On the inside of
the new wall will be painted a pictorial history of Duma, from their days in heathenism,
the coming and spread of the Gospel, the tragic massacre through to the return of the
people back to their village. This project will cost US$75,000.
Some other projects in Duma
1. Providing bore water. Although Duma is situated near a beautiful lake it is
considered too expensive a project at this stage to build a pumping station and
provide water to the community. A cheaper and more practical option is to drill a
couple of bores at strategic points of the village where water can then be moved by
gravity to the houses. This project needs US$30,000.
2. Medical Clinics. As part of the restoration of this village, medical care and some
tender loving care are vital ingredients in resolving issues of trauma. YBI teams
(medical and evangelism) regularly visit Duma as part of the long term recovery and
transformation of this devastated community. Some of the community has now joined
the School of Health Care Workers. Some we would like to sponsor to do nursing,
mid-wifery and even to have one of their community be trained to be a dentist and
another as a doctor so that Duma can become a center for healing and reaching out
to other communities. The ongoing routine medical care for the next 12 months for
this community will cost US$5000 and medical sponsorships will need to be raised.
3. Fish Farm. As a result of the massacres that took place there are a number of
widows needing support. The initial project is a Fish Farm. The local government has
provided the netting for the structure; YBI is helping to provide good fish stock and
training to assist the widows in attaining and maintaining economic independence.
Another US$5000 will see this project fully functioning.
4. Guest House. As Duma is seen to be a potential tourist location, both for Church
tourists wishing to spend time at the Martyrs Memorial locations and as a place for
spiritual and recreational retreats. The nearby lake is a beautiful sight to behold. The
Guest House would give the widows of Duma an extra outlet for their fishing industry.
Part of accommodating guests would also be providing specialties of baked fish with
other local delicacies. To establish the guest house with the needed facilities to be
operational will cost US$50,000.
5. Empowerment Projects. To continue to develop Duma's economic viability YBI is
assisting in a number of empowerment projects.
a. This began when YBI adopted the small refugee community in Kleak, Manado and
began assisting with a coconut oil manufacturing project. This has struggled along
and is now beginning to develop successfully with the ability to produce both cooking
grade oil as well as medical quality oil. It is estimated that another US$10,000 will
have this project supplying all the oil this community needs as well as a good quantity
for exporting to other parts of the country and even overseas.
b. The community in Duma lost several hundred cattle in the jihad attacks and cattle
are vital for the transporting of materials to and from their farms. Initially YBI provided 3
oxen and carts to the community. These were then "hired" by the members of the
community as they needed them. Since the need was far greater than the supply, YBI
added another 7 teams of oxen and carts. The village was divided into 10 sections and
each section had an ox and a cart. To complete this project another 40 oxen and
carts are needed to fully service the needs of this community.
c. YBI will be providing a variety of training programs including carpentry, computers,
English language etc as we seek to further develop the potential of this community.
Future Key Target Dates
1. Mid-September 2005
As part of a survey trip to other parts of North Maluku, the YBI delegation will visit
Duma to assess the construction program of the Church, House of Prayer and
Widows' projects and to begin to make preparations for the Peace Project, a project
aimed at reaching out to Muslim villages.
2. June 19, 2006
a. Exactly 6 years after the Duma massacre is the target date for the completion and
dedication of the Church, House of Prayer and Memorial Site. It is planned that this
event will be a time of major reconciliation and the launching of a Peace Project where
the people of Duma will help rebuild other destroyed Christian villages and even do
some development projects in the Muslim villages that attacked them. It is planned to
have the Indonesian President officially dedicate the buildings and open the Peace
Project. Leaders from all of Indonesia's main religious organizations will be invited as
well as international Church leaders.
b. The goal is to have an event that will demonstrate the power of Christ's love and
forgiveness. To this end, community leaders will publicly ask forgiveness of the
Islamic villages that attacked them for the hatred and animosity that has been in
them. Two of the worst deformed victims of the attacks will stand and offer forgiveness
to their attackers who perpetrated this violence against them.
c. As part of the Duma community's ongoing witness, they will spearhead the Peace
Project, and demonstrate Christ's unconditional love by launching development
projects in the Muslim villages. To assist the Duma community to be able to
successfully undertake the Peace Project they will need at least US$50,000. They
will give of their own labor in undertaking these projects as they see it as a
tremendous opportunity to do something practical for the Muslim villages that has
never been done before and not even thought possible. It is an act of sowing seed
from the love of Christ.
The Duma Project is an amazing opportunity to fully restore a village that has suffered
the loss of many martyrs. It is a key to launch new evangelistic outreach to Muslim
villages and to demonstrate the power of Christian forgiveness and the love of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Special kairos moments like this
are rare and we, as the Body of Christ, have a tremendous unrepeatable opportunity.
Let us not waste it!
The remaining cost of this project is around US$350,000 but we believe that such a
project as this should be supported by all in the Body of Christ. We urge you to pray
about ways in which you can help raise the necessary funds and let's continue our
task of plundering hell and populating heaven!
Jeff &Annette Hammond
MASARIKU NETWORK
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