Baptist Press, December 10, 2001
Muslim extremists threaten slaughter of Christians in Indonesian
villages
By Mark Kelly
JAKARTA, Indonesia (BP)--Thousands of extremist Muslim fighters armed with
automatic weapons are attacking Christian villages in Indonesia's Central Sulawesi
province, burning churches and thousands of homes and sending residents fleeing.
Perhaps as many as 63,000 Christians were trapped in the predominantly Christian
city of Tentena late last week. One missionary in Indonesia reported fears the "jihad
warriors" would break through to Tentena and massacre the Christians who had taken
refuge there.
Afghans and other foreigners are fighting alongside the Muslim militias in Sulawesi,
according to news services. A policeman said he saw Muslim fighters stopping
civilians at roadblocks and executing those found to be Christians.
"The Christians trapped in the Tentena area are waiting for the slaughter to begin," the
missionary reported. "They feel helpless as thousands flee their homes and watch th
Ins and outs of Christianity aren't easy in Asia eir homes, schools and churches
burned to the ground."
The Christians--and even some policemen and soldiers--have been terrified and largely
defenseless, he said. "The Christians of Poso (a nearby town) have seen the police
and military flee into the forest as villages are attacked," he said. "They are getting no
protection. The police stationed in the Tentena area are afraid for their lives. They have
three rifles to defend against thousands of armed men with automatic rifles."
The few Christians who have organized to resist the Muslim militia are armed only
with homemade rifles and bows and arrows, the missionary said. Five truckloads of
Indonesian troops arrived Nov. 30 to provide protection. Their arrival apparently
frustrated the advance of the Laskar Jihad on the city.
The Laskar Jihad is responsible for fighting in nearby Maluku province that has killed
about 9,000 people since 1999. At least 1,000 people have been killed in Sulawesi in
the past two years.
Almost 2,000 new Muslim fighters arrived in Sulawesi in the past two weeks,
according to police reports.
The attacks are part of a campaign by Muslim extremists to drive out Christians from
the parts of Indonesia where they are a majority and to turn Indonesia into a strict
Islamic state. The country's constitution guarantees freedom of religion. While 88
percent of the population is Muslim, Christians constitute an 8 percent minority and in
some villages are the majority.
"In a day when the dominant message to us as Americans is that Islam is a religion
of peace, the murders and horrific persecution of Indonesian Christians at the hands of
Muslim jihad warriors illuminate another reality," said Southern Baptist prayer leader
Randy Sprinkle. "As we cry out to God, beseeching him to stop the slaughter, may
we also ask his mercy upon those who perpetrate such atrocities.
"Pray that, supernaturally, hatred will be countered by love, ungodly zeal by godly
grace and violence by acts of peace, all in the name of the Prince of Peace."
Christians desiring to encourage the U.S. government to call greater attention to the
plight of Indonesian Christians should contact congressman with the "Find Your
Reps" feature at http://congress.org.
Letters on behalf of persecuted Christians in the Maluku Islands may be sent to the
U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, e-mail jakconsul@state.gov, fax 62-21-386-2259; or the
Indonesian Embassy in Washington, D.C., e-mail poldiv-kbriwash@erols.com, fax
(202) 775-5365.
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