Prosecution of Christians in Indonesia -- Coed Five Prayer Request

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Date Posted: 12:13:05 11/29/01 Thu
Author: Cyndi Budhi
Subject: Prosecution of Christians in Indonesia

The following message was sent to us by the Baptist Foreign Mission Board's Indonesian Administator, a close friend of our ours Charles Cole. Do lift these missions up in your daily prayers!

TO: FELLOW PILGRIMS
FROM: C W COLE

29 NOVEMBER 2001

A little after one p.m. I received an urgent plea via fax from the Christians of the Poso area of Central Sulawesi. By one p.m. Thursday morning Indonesian time three large villages (Tangkura, Sangginora and Dewua) had been destroyed by attacking Muslim jihad warriors. The jihad warriors were on the move to Tentena the last large town held by Christians. The town and the surrounding villages have been flooded with almost thirty thousand refugees, more than doubling the population. The Christians believe this is an assault to gain control of Tentena by 1 December.

The plea came to me as a copy of a fax to the Indonesian Minister of Defense and Security. Security forces have withdrawn from the area under attack and are providing no protection for the Christians. Yesterday I was given a copy of a longer fax pleading to the Indonesian government for help. This week village after village and town after town has come under attack. The Jakarta Post articles telling of the violence are copied below. These articles are not pro-Christian.

A little history of the area and people helps one to understand what is happening. Poso is located in the homeland of the Pamona people. They are considered one of the great success stories of missions. The Dutch Reformed Church missionary Albertus C. Kruyt landed on the southern shores of Tomini Gulf in 1892 from his post in Gorontalo, and began his efforts in the town of Poso. Displaying incredible patience and tolerance --all the while documenting local customs that his missionary work would eventually cause to disappear--Kruyt waited 17 long years before celebrating his first baptism. Within five years after that, however, a school for missionaries had been founded at Pendolo at the southern tip of Lake Poso, and in 1947 an independent Church of Central Sulawesi was established. Today most of the highland Pamona are Christians. (Periplus Adventure Guides, Sulawesi).

On December 28, 1998 the city of Poso was attached by Muslim and since that time there has not been peace in the area. This is an area that has a large Christian population. But the Christians have been driven from Poso to Tentena and other villages in the mountains. The Laskar Jihad groups has sent thousand of Muslim jihad warriors into the area to take the area for Islam. As America fights against the Tabilan and Usama bin Laden in Afghanistan several Afghanistan and Pakistan jihad fighters have been training the Indonesian Laskar Jihad fighters. A police report has been filled on the presence of these fighters from Afghanistan and Pakistan. Since these men arrived the number of bombings has increased. Sources report a bomb factory in Palu the capital of Central Sulawesi.

Today my staff has met with a group of women from Poso to gather information. We are making a map of the area to help people see what is happening. We are trying to get as much first hand information as possible.

Two Americans from International Christian Concern made a visit to the area last week. The report is on the ICC web site. I can send you a copy if you want one.

Please pray and encourage others to pray for Poso. May the Christians of Poso not be surprised by the suffering but may they rejoice. May their actions be a witness to others. May the terrorism be put to an end. Police have reported that the Laskar Jihad are being supported by men from Afghanistan and Pakistan. Pray that this will be a peaceful Christmas and not a bloody Christmas.

Charles W Cole

Clash erupts after church burned in troubled Poso
Badri Djawara, The Jakarta Post, Poso
Fresh religious fighting broke out in the Central Sulawesi riot-torn town of Poso on Tuesday in retaliation to the earlier bombing and burning of a church by rival Muslims in the regency, police said.
No casualties were reported, but the town was plagued by renewed religious tensions over the clash between Muslims and Christians.
The riot lasted for more than one hour, from 2:30 p.m., at Betalemba village in Poso regency. As local authorities subsequently imposed tighter security, the situation remained tense.
Poso Police precinct chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Unggung Cahyono immediately went to the riot site, his staff said. "It is true there was a clash in Betalemba. Pak Cahyono is heading there," a police officer told The Jakarta Post.
Witnesses said the fighting was triggered by the burning of the Betany Church, located on Jl Kalimantan, around 50 meters from the Poso regent's official residence.
Early on Monday, one of the large churches in Poso was bombed and burned to the ground, allegedly by a Muslim mob. Despite the huge blast, there were no reports of casualties during the incident, which caused an estimated loss of tens of millions of rupiah.
The attack destroyed the roof and walls of the bombed church. Witnesses said there was no immediate clash after the huge blast, as security forces quickly arrived to control the situation.
A witness said the bombing of the church occurred one day after a neighboring house was set ablaze by unidentified persons, who are still at large.
Cahyono said the police had yet to identify and arrest the suspected bombers.
He said the church was burned down following the arrival of Muslim paramilitary fighters in the regency.
However, members of Laskar Jihad (holy war fighters) denied being responsible for the bombing. "Why should we bomb a church? It could even disadvantage our struggle," one Laskar Jihad fighter said.
Last Saturday, two residents, Wisnu and Samsuddin, sustained serious gunshot wounds after being involved in a shooting incident with a group of unidentified people on Jl Kalimantan.
The two victims are still undergoing intensive medical treatment at the Poso public hospital.
More than 2,000 people have been killed since the sectarian conflict exploded in May, 2000, and dozens from the two conflicting groups have been put in jail for their involvement in the killings.
Fabianus Tibo, 55, Marianus Riwu, 43, and Dominggus da Silva, 37, were sentenced to death after they were found guilty of committing a series of mass killings between May 2000 and June 2000. The Supreme Court rejected the trio's appeal recently.

5 killed in fresh Poso communal conflict
Badri Djawara, The Jakarta Post, Poso
At least five people were killed and five others were injured when two rival sectarian groups clashed in the Central Sulawesi riot-torn town of Poso late on Tuesday.
The clash between the Muslim Laskar Jihad (holy war fighters) and Christian fighters occurred in Tabalu, Betalemba and Patiunga villages in Poso Pesisir district, Poso Regency. The clash was apparently a continuation of a riot between the two rival groups in Betalemba village on Tuesday afternoon.
Sources at the Poso Police precinct said that two of the dead were identified as 29-year-old Abdullah and 14-year-old Masudin from Laskar Jihad and 26-year-old Saad from the same group, who suffered gunshot wounds. The sources said the other three dead and four wounded were from the Christian side. The sources, however, did not identify them.
At least 76 houses, one church and one elementary school building were burned during the clash in Betalemba village. In Patiunga village, ten houses were also burned in the riot.
The tragic clash prompted a wave of people to leave their home villages for safer areas. Some of them left for the provincial capital Palu and others to nearby villages.
Chief spokesman of the Central Sulawesi Police, Adj. Sr. Comr. Agus Sugianto said that the three villages had been plagued by renewed religious tension when 800 to 1,000 people crowded the villages on Tuesday afternoon.
Poso police, he said, had deployed dozens of officers from the police elite Mobile Brigade to the troubled villages. "By (Wednesday), the police had managed to control the situation," he said.
Agus said that they had not yet been able to arrest any member of the rival groups involved in the clash. "Besides we were outnumbered, the group members were very quick to flee into the jungle to avoid the police," he said.
He also said that chief of the provincial police Brig. Gen. Zainal Abidin was in Poso to monitor the situation.

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