CBN News, June 5, 2002
PERSECUTION
From the Ashes of Jihad, a Harvest of Souls
By Andrea Garrett CBN News Reporter
WARNING: Information in this story may not be appropriate for small children.
CBN.com – It has not been front page news, so many Americans may not have heard
what is happening to Christians in Indonesia. But for three years, Christians in that
island nation have been persecuted, tortured, and killed by Muslim extremists. In fact,
the Indonesian Islamic jihad has already claimed 10,000 lives.
Late last year, Muslim radicals threatened to massacre Christians on the Indonesian
island of Sulawesi. But Christians from around the world prayed, and the United
States government got involved, calling on the Indonesian government to stop the
Muslim radicals from attacking. As a result, the planned massacre never happened.
But after a few months of calm, the attacks started again. The latest attacks on
Indonesian Christians left 14 people dead and hundreds homeless on the island of
Ambon. Muslim extremists, believed to be with the Laskar Jihad, have declared holy
war on Christians in Indonesia's only Christian area, the Maluku Islands.
Australian missionaries Jeff and Annette Hammond were among the first to see the
damage. In a home video taken just after the attack, Jeff described what happened
there.
"I'm standing at the location where a mother and her 8-year-old child were brutally
killed on April 28, 2002. Their bodies were found right here at my feet. The child was
killed when a bayonet was thrust through its nose and out the back of its head," Jeff
explained.
An elderly couple was burned to death in their house. Bullet holes riddle what is left of
other buildings. In the midst of the devastation and horror, someone left handwritten
messages behind on the walls of their ruined home: "I love Jesus," and "Jesus is my
life."
In the small village of Soya on Ambon Island a tiny church stood for more than 100
years. Now it lies in ruins, another victim of the Laskar Jihad.
But the Christians on Ambon Island press on, growing stronger in the midst of
ongoing persecution, still gathering to pray and praise God. On a day that the
Hammonds attended a church meeting there, gunfire and mortars were being fired
outside the building.
In his video of that meeting, Jeff explained how the church service was over, but the
Christians could hear gunfire and bombs going off, so the people stayed to worship
and pray, believing that Jesus Christ is more powerful than the enemy.
"Just a week before this video was recorded, a mortar came through the church roof
during the service, but didn't go off," he said.
Jeff said that many of the Christian villages destroyed by the jihad warriors are far
away from Islamic areas. So as soon as they attack, the Muslims blame Christians
for the destruction. In a predominantly Muslim country, that kind of propaganda gets
widespread credibility.
The jihad against Christians in the Maluku Islands has been going on since 1999, with
10,000 people killed and 600,000 left homeless.
A seven year old girl named Christine cried as she told how she and her mother were
held captive by jihad warriors for 18 months, and her mother forced to marry a Muslim.
"I didn't want my mother to be married. I have a father. I'd rather die. I didn't want to
join Islam, but they forced me. I cried until I became ill. That's why I became ill and
almost died," Christine said.
Eventually the two escaped and the family was reunited in a refugee camp.
A woman named Alwina and her family were attacked in a church. Jihad warriors
killed her husband while he held their 4-year-old son.
"As soon as we saw the army, I said to my husband, run to them and take refuge.
Get protection from them. But as soon as my husband went to the army, a soldier
pulled out a gun and shot him. My husband was holding our son as he fell to the
ground. [Laskar] Jihad came and cut his head off. When they did, the edge of the
sword cut my son's face. My husband got cut to pieces by Jihad. My son, 4-year-old
Christopher, was still with him when he died," Alwina said.
The Muslims then tried to force Alwina to convert to Islam. "They ordered me to make
a ritual to convert to Islam. They ordered me to take off Christian clothes and put on
Muslim clothes. They also wanted me to confess there is only one god, Allah, and
there is only one prophet, Mohammed, but I refused to do it," she said.
Today, Alwina says her son is terrified of anyone in Islamic clothing.
Those are just two of the thousands of stories of terror at the hands of the Laskar
Jihad, a group believed to be tied to al Qaeda.
But persecution has not extinguished the Christian church in the Maluku Islands.
Instead, the Hammonds report a time of harvest. During the last 15 months, they have
seen 8,000 Indonesians give their lives to Jesus Christ.
The Christian Broadcasting Network, Inc. © 2002
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