SURABAYA, Indonesia, September 20, 2023 (Morning Star News) – A Muslim mob protesting a church site outside Jakarta, Indonesia on Saturday (Sept. 16) has forced the congregation to temporarily move worship services online, sources said.
The Indonesia Bethel Church (Gereja Bethel Indonesia, or GBI) reached a police-brokered agreement to forego worship services at their building in Depok, just south of Jakarta, for at least two weeks after the protestors shouted and pushed against the front gate at 7 a.m., detiknews.com reported. There were no church members in the building at that time.
The church had used the small three-story building for the first time on Sept. 10, under police guard, after the lease on their prior location expired, according to published reports.
“At 7 a.m., more than about 50 people wearing turbans and other religious attire gathered around the chapel,” Arif Syamsul of the GBI church told detiknews.com. “They came to our chapel, and while shouting, they banged it [the perimeter fence gate] and then dispersed.”
Arif heard about the demonstration from area residents and approached the venue as the Muslims were walking to it, he told Kompas.com. The building is on Bukit Cinere Raya Street, Gandul, Cinere, in Depok.
“In front of the chapel, they pushed the gate, but not hard. There was no [church] activity then,” Arif said, adding that the mob dispersed after about 30 to 45 minutes.
Depok police, a commander of the district military command, staff members of the Institute of Civil Empowerment (Lembaga Pemberdayaan Masyarakat) and the neighborhood head ensured that the mob did not damage the building, Arif reportedly said.
Police forged an agreement between the church and area Muslims to move worship services online for two weeks while permit processing is completed, according to Depok Metropolitan Police Chief Ahmad Fuady.
“The result of the agreement is that temporary worship will take place online for two weeks,” Fuady reportedly said. “Why two weeks? Because documents will be processed for two weeks. After the permit is issued, they can then carry out offline worship.”
Normally no permit is necessary to worship in a rented building, Arif told Kompas.com.
“We always rent shop-houses because the law requires us to obtain no permits,” Arif reportedly said, adding that the church had obtained permission from the neighborhood head (Rukun Tetangga), the citizens head (Rukung Warga) and the head of the sub-district.
Local members of the Institute of Civil Empowerment (Lembaga Pemberdayaan Masyarakat) had demanded church leaders obtain approval from area residents, Arif told detiknews.com. The church obtained the approval of 80 residents, but the institute refused to acknowledge it, Arif said.
Rights Objections
Rights advocates said that, beyond security agencies ensuring no damage was done to the church’s rented building, government officials need to ensure freedom of worship.
Andreas A. Yewangoe, a member of the Steering Committee of the Presidential Working Unit for the Development of Pancasila Ideology, said from The Hague that the government needs to ensure rights when religious minorities are under attack.
“The state should be present for the sake of law enforcement. Should there be an impression that the state is weak, the same thing will keep on repeating in the future – it will become habitual,” Yewangoe told Morning Star News by phone from Netherlands.
Hendrik Tangke Allo, deputy chairman of the Depok People Representative, visited the site on Saturday (Sept. 16), saying, “The government must be present to provide a sense of security and comfort for all people of whatever religion to carry out their worship properly, including at this chapel in Cinere.”
He added that congregation should not have been forced out of their building even temporarily.
“I heard that the Depok government, through the National and Political Unity Body [Badan Kesatuan Bangsa dan Politik], held a meeting and decided that worship activities here would be temporarily stopped,” Hendrik said. “This is what I regret most now; it is only possible online.”
Bonar Tigor Naipospos, deputy chairman of Setara Institute, which advocates democracy and human rights, particularly religious freedom, in Indonesia, said lack of government support leaves Christians and other minorities feeling “ambiguous.”
“There is an ambiguous feeling among minorities; on the one hand, they are aware that they are part of a plural nation-state, but on the other, they are aware that to be part of that nation-state, they can’t take it for granted,” Naipospos said. “They must continue to fight for their social identity.”
Indonesia ranked 33rd on the Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2023 World Watch List of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. Indonesian society has adopted a more conservative Islamic character, and churches involved in evangelistic outreach are at risk of being targeted by Islamic extremist groups, according to Open Doors’ WWL report.
“If a church is seen to be preaching and spreading the gospel, they soon run into opposition from Islamic extremist groups, especially in rural areas,” the report noted. “In some regions of Indonesia, non-traditional churches struggle to get permission for church buildings, with the authorities often ignoring their paperwork.”
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ABUJA, Nigeria, September 18, 2023 (Morning Star News) – Fulani herdsmen on Friday (Sept. 15) killed 15 Christians in southern Kaduna state, Nigeria, sources said.
The attack on Dogon Noma village, Kajuru County came amid disclosure that such attacks have led to the death of 23 pastors and the closure of 200 worship buildings in Kaduna state in the past four years.
Besides taking 15 lives, the assailants also kidnapped 32 Christians from Dogon Noma village, area residents said.
“Fulani herdsmen surrounded the village in their hundreds, shooting anybody in sight; the attack occurred at about 7 a.m.,” David Musa told Morning Star News in a text message. “Pray for Dogon Noma community.”
Moses Ishaya said he lost two relatives in the massacre.
“It is with a heavy heart that I notify you about an attack on our community, Dogon Noma village, by Fulani herdsmen on the morning of Friday,” Ishaya told Morning Star News in a text message. “The attack has resulted in the killing of two of my family members, who include our sister from Karamai village, who got married at Dogon Noma village, and the second victim, the daughter of my relation, Mr. John Zango.”
He identified other Christians killed as Bala Laya and Gimbiya Coaster. Among others kidnapped, he named three abducted as Set Alkali, Saviour Christopher and Sico Nicholas.
Ernest Maidawa, a youth leader in the area, urged government officials to urgently take action.
“We are saddened with these renewed acts of attacks and gruesome killings of innocent Christians in Dogon Noma community by Fulani herdsmen,” Maidawa told Morning Star News in a text message. “We are urging law enforcement agencies as a matter of urgency to check the spate of these attacks on innocent Christians in our communities. Governments both at state and federal levels in Nigeria must also be seen to be doing more as they have not shown capacity in their core mandate and responsibilities to protect lives and properties.”
On Tuesday (Sept. 12), Christian leaders in Kaduna state met with police officials in the city of Kaduna and advised them that attacks by armed Muslim Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists have resulted in the killing of 23 pastors, the abduction of 215 Christians still in captivity and the closure of 200 church worship buildings in four years.
The Rev. Joseph Hayab, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), and Christian leaders from 23 Local Government Areas told Kaduna State Commissioner of Police Musa Garba and other senior officers that Christians have faced fierce persecution.
The meeting between Christian leaders and police officials was held at Albraka Baptist Church in the city of Kaduna. The purpose of the meeting was to strengthen the relationship between the police and Christian leaders, and for police to listen to their challenges and together find solutions, Garba said.
“Security is the responsibility of all and not only that of the government,” Garba told the Christian leaders. “While the government takes the lead in the protection of lives and property, individuals are also expected to play their parts, particularly in the area of providing information.”
Nigeria led the world in Christians killed for their faith in 2022, with 5,014, according to Open Doors’ 2023 World Watch List (WWL) report. It also led the world in Christians abducted (4,726), sexually assaulted or harassed, forcibly married or physically or mentally abused, and it had the most homes and businesses attacked for faith-based reasons. As in the previous year, Nigeria had the second most church attacks and internally displaced people.
In the 2023 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Nigeria jumped to sixth place, its highest ranking ever, from No. 7 the previous year.
“Militants from the Fulani, Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and others conduct raids on Christian communities, killing, maiming, raping and kidnapping for ransom or sexual slavery,” the WWL report noted. “This year has also seen this violence spill over into the Christian-majority south of the nation… Nigeria’s government continues to deny this is religious persecution, so violations of Christians’ rights are carried out with impunity.”
Numbering in the millions across Nigeria and the Sahel, predominantly Muslim Fulani comprise hundreds of clans of many different lineages who do not hold extremist views, but some Fulani do adhere to radical Islamist ideology, the United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG) noted in a 2020 report.
“They adopt a comparable strategy to Boko Haram and ISWAP and demonstrate a clear intent to target Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity,” the APPG report states.
Christian leaders in Nigeria have said they believe herdsmen attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt are inspired by their desire to forcefully take over Christians’ lands and impose Islam as desertification has made it difficult for them to sustain their herds.
If you would like to help persecuted Christians, visit https://morningstarnews.org/resources/aid-agencies/ for a list of organizations that can orient you on how to get involved.
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Article originally published by Morning Star News. Used with permission.
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NAIROBI, Kenya, September 15, 2023 (Morning Star News) – Muslim extremists on Sept. 6 beat a 33-year-old evangelist to death for leading Muslims to faith in Christ at an event in eastern Uganda, sources said.
After the evangelistic event in Kituuti town, Philip Bere was pulled from his bicycle while returning to Katiryo, Kibuku District and killed when the assailants bashed him with a large rock, an eyewitness said.
Mudenya Sirasi, who had assisted Bere at the evangelistic event, was with him as the two neared Katiryo on the Kataka-Katiryo road. Sirasi said many people accepted Christ at the event, including Muslim women and two young Muslim men.
The two evangelists were ambushed at about 7:40 p.m., he said.
“We heard people talking from both sides of the road at a nearby bush saying, ‘They are the ones who converted our members today – they are not supposed to live, but to be killed,’” Sirasi told Morning Star News. “From nowhere, one man who was stationed in front of us grabbed our bicycle that we were riding on and hit Bere with a blunt object on his back.”
Bere fell as Sirasi jumped off the bike and entered a tunnel under a bridge, where he hid, he said.
“I could see the attackers brutally injuring my friend,” Sirasi said. “One of the attackers hit him with a big stone, and he bled to death.”
When the assailants left, Sirasi found the body of Bere in a pool of blood, he said. He alerted other area Christians and police, and officers took the body to a hospital for postmortem, Sirasi said.
The pastor of Bere’s church, unnamed for security reasons, said officers at the police station in Katiryo, Kibukuand took statements about the killing of the evangelist and that they were searching for the killers, who have gone into hiding.
“Our evangelist was killed because his passion for preaching the good news of Jesus Christ, especially to Muslims,” the pastor told Morning Star News.
Bere was well-known for his preaching among Muslims in Buseeta, Lwatama, Katiryo and other parts in eastern Uganda.
The attack was the latest of many instances of persecution of Christians in Uganda that Morning Star News has documented.
Uganda’s constitution and other laws provide for religious freedom, including the right to propagate one’s faith and convert from one faith to another. Muslims make up no more than 12 percent of Uganda’s population, with high concentrations in eastern areas of the country.
If you would like to help persecuted Christians, visit https://morningstarnews.org/resources/aid-agencies/ for a list of organizations that can orient you on how to get involved.
If you or your organization would like to help enable Morning Star News to continue raising awareness of persecuted Christians worldwide with original-content reporting, please consider collaborating at https://morningstarnews.org/donate/?
Article originally published by Morning Star News. Used with permission.
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Giggle
