Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 073 | Wed 15 Sep 2010

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BEKASI, INDONESIA: THREAT LEVEL RISES
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The threat level facing Christians in Bekasi Regency, West Java, has
been rising continuously since 27 June when Bekasi’s Islamic leaders
publicly denounced ‘Christianisation’ of Bekasi (98 percent Muslim) and
urged Bekasi Muslims to prepare for jihad.

For more details see Religious Liberty Monitoring:

http://elizabethkendal. blogspot.com/2010/07/bekasi-west-java-
indonesiadhimmitude.html

http://elizabethkendal.blogspot.com/2010/06/indonesia-fitna-and-
apostaphobia-in.html

For some 15 years the authorities have refused Bekasi’s 1500-strong
Batak Christian Protestant Church permission to build a worship centre.
Recently the church was told they are not even allowed to worship
together in their homes as this would violate new local by-laws.
Commencing Sunday 31 July, a core group of members started meeting for
prayer and worship in the open air on the church’s own land. Each
Sunday the small group sings hymns, prays and hears the word while
Muslim fundamentalists hurl insults and abuse, shoes and other objects
across a police barricade. On Sunday 8 August, some 300 Islamic
militants pushed through the police lines and beat the Christians as
they attempted to flee. Several believers required hospitalisation.
(See RLPB 068, 11 August.) The following Sunday, 15 August, some 1200
representatives of religious minorities rallied in Jakarta to protest
government inaction in the face of escalating Islamic intolerance and
violence. (See RLPB 070, August Update.) Amongst the churches, Bekasi’s
Batak Christian Protestant Church has come to embody the struggle and
so has received the most media attention. However, it is actually only
one of numerous churches being repressed and persecuted in West Java.

On Sunday 12 September, as Pastor Sihombing — an elder in Bekasi’s
Batak Christian Protestant Church — walked toward the church’s land,
he was ambushed by Islamic militants. When the Reverend Luspida
Simanjuntak rushed to his aid, she was clubbed on her face, head and
back. Both pastors have been hospitalised, with Sihombing in a critical
condition in intensive care suffering multiple stab wounds to the
abdomen. It was reported on Monday that the attackers had been
identified and that Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY)
had denounced the violence and was appealing for justice. By Wednesday,
nine suspects had been arrested with others evading police. Police have
told reporters that, despite all suspicions to the contrary, they do
not believe the motive was religious, or that the attack was
necessarily premeditated, or that any of the attackers belonged to any
‘mass organisation’. Meanwhile President SBY told reporters that the
stabbing occurred because the Christians had chosen an inappropriate
place to worship, adding that he sees the problem as a difficult one.

President SBY’s political alliances leave him dependent on the support
of Islamic parties in the parliament. Consequently he will doubtless
want the Islamists appeased, which would only further elevate the
threat level for Christians. The case must be watched, for right across
the Muslim world there are two trends: ‘reconciliation’, with
Christians pushed to accept responsibility and drop all charges in
exchange for ‘peace’; or whitewashing and scapegoating, by denying
religious motivation and finding some low-risk individuals to blame or
punish for the crime. Through these means Sharia may be upheld,
Islamisation may be advanced and dhimmitude (subjugation of non-
Muslims) may be established, all behind a facade of fake civility.
These are critical days for Indonesia.

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT GOD WILL:

* move President Yudhoyono to make a bold stand in support of justice
and Indonesia’s constitutional pluralism and religious liberty.

‘The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord; he directs it like a
watercourse wherever he pleases.’ (Proverbs 21:1 NIV.)

* use the evil and hatred inherent in this violence to shock many
Muslims, awakening them to the inflexible religious totalitarianism
of Islam; may God’s intervention ensure that this persecution
produces the opposite of what was intended. (See Isaiah 35:5-7.)

* bring peace, comfort, healing and strength to Pastors Sihombing and
Simanjuntak, to their ethnic-Batak congregation in Bekasi and to all
West Java’s repressed and persecuted churches.

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SUMMARY TO USE IN BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE

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THREAT LEVEL RISING IN BEKASI, INDONESIA

The threat level facing Christians in Bekasi Regency, West Java, has
been rising continuously since 27 June when Bekasi’s Islamic leaders
publicly denounced ‘Christianisation’ of Bekasi (98 percent Muslim) and
urged Bekasi Muslims to prepare for jihad. Christians have since been
threatened with death and physically attacked during worship. President
Yudhoyono’s dependence on Islamic parties in parliament keeps him from
intervening. Last Sunday 12 September Pastor Sihombing was ambushed by
militants as he walked to the vacant land his church owns and meets on
for worship. As Reverend Luspida Simanjuntak rushed to his aid, she was
clubbed on the face, head and back. Both were hospitalised, with Pastor
Sihombing in a critical condition having suffered multiple stab wounds
to the abdomen. Please pray for the Church in Indonesia.

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We suggest that churches and fellowships using the above Summary might
also provide a copy of the listed prayer points to be used in their
worship by people who are leading in prayer.

For more information, updates and helpful links see Elizabeth Kendal’s
blog ‘Religious Liberty Monitoring’
.

This RLPB was written for the Australian Evangelical Alliance Religious
Liberty Commission (AEA RLC) by Elizabeth Kendal, an international
religious liberty analyst and advocate, and a member of the AEA RLC
team. Previous bulletins may be viewed at .

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