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AirAsia Flight 8501 Carried 46 Members of Same Church, Pastor Says 'Don't Ask Why'

  • Amanda Casanova

    Amanda Casanova is a writer living in Dallas, Texas. She has covered news for ChristianHeadlines.com since 2014. She has also contributed to The Houston Chronicle, U.S. News and World Report and…

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  • Updated Jan 05, 2015

An Indonesia pastor is encouraging believers to stay faithful after the church lost 46 members in the AirAsia Flight crash last week.

Pastor Phiip Manofa, of the Mawar Sharon megachurch, lost 46 church members. Agustinus Tri Budi Utomo, vicar-general of the nearby Catholic church, lost 27 church members.

"My heart bleeds," he lamented. "I just pray to God that there will be survivors. We are yet to see that."

The flight disappeared last week about an hour into its flight to Singapore from Surabaya. There were 162 people on board the plane. No survivors have been found.

The cause of the crash isn’t known yet, and the plane’s black box has not been found. Some experts have theorized that the plan may have attempted to an “unbelievably” steep climb to avoid bad weather.

The plan had requested to climb to 38,000 feet in the bad weather, but air traffic denied the request. Air traffic did say they could climb to 34,000 feet, but the plane’s crew did not respond.

Said Agustinus: “Don't ask why, because why can weaken your faith and hope.” 

Publication date: January 5, 2015