CBN News, April 19, 2002
WORLD NEWS
Voice of the Martyrs
Recovery Begins in Sulawesi and Ambon
By Greg Musselman
A peace agreement between Muslims and Christians in Indonesia is allowing
Christians on Ambon and Sulawesi Islands to rebuild their ruined homes.
CBN.com - A peace agreement between Muslims and Christians in Indonesia is
allowing Christians on Ambon and Sulawesi Islands to rebuild their ruined homes.
Christians still live under the threat of attack, but opposition may have actually
strengthened the church.
This is a Sunday morning service in the village of Sangginora in central Sulawesi this
Presbyterian church has experienced some incredible growth. In just in few months
it's gone from around 200 to over 500 people but it's a church that has grown through
the fires of persecution.
The Laskar Jihad were attacking village after village in November of 2001. Even a
barricade couldn't hold back the radical Muslim group, bent on burning down churches
and the homes of Christians.
Knowing the Jihad troops would soon be arriving, women, children and the elderly
were evacuated from Sangginora. Pastor Marson Moganti of the Calvary Presbyterian
Church helped get them to safety.
"The troops entered the village with guns and were throwing bombs," said Pastor
Moganti.
While that was happening eight men joined the pastor in the church and they prayed
together.
"God please protect the civilians who have fled into the jungles to that they would be
strong in the Lord and safe," said Moganti.
Soon after the men left the church, it, too, was soaked with gasoline and set ablaze.
"God allowed this to happen because the people of the church were far from him, they
were lukewarm," said Pastor Moganti. "After the church was burned I asked the
congregation to come back to church. Some were afraid, but many returned from the
jungle. That first Sunday there were many tears. I told them we must be patient in
facing this persecution. Jesus has already experienced it and God will give you
strength to go through it, so don't get depressed," said Moganti.
The church now is being rebuilt, and the Christians here said that their faith is
stronger and they have a greater hunger for God.
No one was killed in Sangginora that day.
In the town of Tentena where more than 50 thousand Indonesian Christians sought
refuge fleeing the advance of Laskar Jihad troops. In late November, early December
as the radical Muslims were closing in, Christians in North America got on their knees
and began to pray.
As a result of prayer and international pressure a massacre was averted in the fishing
village on Lake Poso.
Andreas Bandola, pastor at a Pentecostal church in Tentena had this to say: "The
Christians in this world are pray for us, and you also pray for us over here and God
answer our prayer because still, look, in Tentena more people are true in the Lord."
While the Christians in Tentena feel stronger and closer to God, they still fear that
further attacks from the Laskar Jihad will occur.
It was in a Pentecostal church in Tentena where the Voice of the Martyrs handed out
life packs to more than 250 families who are now refugees from all over central
Sulawesi. They have been left homeless because of the attacks by the jihad troops.
V.O.M. have handed out more than six thousand life packs in Indonesia. The packs
include a small cooking stove, cooking pot, utensils, toiletries, a bucket, and
Christian books including the Bible, and a copy of Richard Wurmbrand's Tortured for
Christ.
The people were very grateful for the life packs as they began to rebuild their lives.
Gary Lane from Voice of the Martyrs, said, "The initial stage of course, as refugees, is
to give them the necessities of life, the material supplies they need to continue with
their lives because they have been chased from their homes. Many times these
refugees when they leave their homes they leave with nothing, they're just fleeing for
their lives into the jungle, so they need basic necessities of life."
The next stage will be to help these refugees rebuild their homes.
"Many of their villages have been just devastated by the radical Muslims," said Lane.
"They want to rebuild their homes. They want to go back to their villages but they
don't have the means to do that so we will try to help them in the future to rebuild their
homes," Lane said.
One of the many casualties of the attacks in Poso was Nadia. In June of 1999 three
Jihad troops tried to burn her house down. That failed. Eventually they broke in and
terrorized Nadia and her family shouting "Allah akbar", which means God is great. Her
Muslim husband, mistaken as a Christian, was shot in the head. They also took a
machete to his stomach and he died instantly. Nadia was shot in the face. Her
parents and five children also survived.
Nadia said that as she lay on the floor after being shot she prayed, "Lord if this is my
time to come to you, then take my life. But I want to come back to you again Lord."
Only two churches in Poso were not damaged by the Laskar Jihad including Pastor
Ticoalu's church.
Pastor Ticoalu said, "The churches began to gather together, they prayed together,
there are no denominational differences between churches. I don't believe this was
God's punishment, but Jesus' prayer, so the churches can be united as Jesus and the
Father are united."
Meanwhile, on nearby Ambon Island Christians have initiated a one thousand-day
prayer movement to bring revival and unity to the area's churches.
The deputy governor and the Mayor of Manado have expressed their support. And
believers are hoping their efforts will help guarantee peace and transform their
communities.
For more information, visit www.vom.org.
The Christian Broadcasting Network, Inc. © 2002
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