Despite facing threats
of violence in the country with the largest Muslim population in the world, a
group of Christians in Indonesia is standing strong.
According to Bruce Allen of Forgotten Missionaries
International, a group of believers, led by FMI-supported church planter Pastor
Yudianto, was holding a meeting when about 20 radical Muslims interrupted.
The Muslims told the Christians to disperse and
never meet again, threatening them with machetes and taking their pictures for
future intimidation. Later, when the police arrived, Allen says boxes of
weapons were found outside for quick access.
Pastors
like Yudianto persevere under difficult conditions.
“Pastor Yudianto stayed a while longer with the
family who had hosted the church meeting,” Allen says. “They just shared their
heart with him, wondering, ‘How do we go on from here? We’re nervous, we’re
scared, but what do we do next? We still want to be discipled by you.'”
Yudianto has a fairly well-established ministry
site in Central Java, and has recently been pioneering evangelism in this
second village where the attack occurred. Yudianto individually disciples about
15 believers in this village, and had gathered them together in one of their
homes to discuss the idea of beginning a formal church when the attackers broke
in. Despite the possibility of being killed, Yudianto plans on returning to the
village later this month to continue his ministry.
“He’ll hold a meeting with all those Christians
again, several different families and parts of families represented in that new
congregation, and really encourage them, saying, ‘This is what we face as
Christians in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim dominant country,'” Allen
shares.
“Even though Christians enjoy protection
constitutionally, on a local level, practically, they may not enjoy that
because of radical elements that like to go from village to village and hunt
down Christians.”
It’s hard for them to know who to trust. This past
summer, Yudianto told Allen that in the village of his primary ministry site,
there is a police officer affiliated with a radical extremist mosque, which
stirred doubts in the Christians about their safety.
“So if the Christians need the protection of the
police, if there is an attack, or churches are burned or bombed, or a Christian
is physically harmed or threatened, sometimes they wonder, ‘Will the police
really come to my aid?'”
That’s where FMI comes in. Allen says Yudianto will
need to get creative to continue having an effective ministry, so the team is
working to give him the training he needs to succeed.
The
congregation meeting at this site continues to gather for weekly worship as the
walls of their church building grow up around them. (Photo and caption courtesy
of FMI)
“FMI’s
leadership is helping him think through those types of issues, and in fact,
even during my visit to Indonesia this summer, part of our ongoing training
conference was talking about how our identity in Christ makes us more than
conquerors,” Allen says.
“That whole concept is still what Paul says. We are
like sheep led to the slaughter, but even in the middle of all these hardships
and difficult circumstances, we can remain more than conquerors. We do not have
to let these difficulties — tribulations, famine, persecution, things like that
— they don’t have to defeat us. We can have victory even in the middle of
them.”
BY REAGAN HOEZEE
No comments:
Post a Comment