By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
JAKARTA (Worthy News) - Indonesian Christians said Tuesday that several church congregations have been “disbanded” by angry Muslim protesters and local authorities. “In one of them, my children worship,” a concerned Christian told Worthy News.
The woman, who identified herself as Victoria, referred to the Mawar Sharon Church or ‘Gereja Mawar Sharon (GMS)’ in Indonesian. “It is mainly angry Muslims and local authorities interrupting worship services,” she added.
Backed by police, Muslims rallying against the Christian worshipers, including a hijab-clad woman, blocked GMS members on July 2 from attending their church service, witnesses said.
They were furious that Christians worshiped in a café in the Binjai Kota Sub-District, of Binjai city in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province, as the GMS currently has no church building. It was the second disruption in as many months, according to Christians familiar with the case.
The believers had been able to worship in the city’s government hall but were given a deadline to move somewhere else, Christians said.
The Communion of Churches in Indonesia (PGI), the country’s largest group of churches, regrets “the recurrence of acts of intolerance” against “Christian houses of worship.”
PGI Executive Secretary for Justice and Peace, Pastor Henrek Lokra, noted that in May alone, there were “acts of disbanding congregations in three different areas” of Indonesia. “PGI asks the government and security forces not to allow cases like this to recur without firm and transparent legal action," he added.
STATE OF SILENCE
PGI said that if “this state of silence continues,” it will “result in the fading of state authority” in the world’s largest Muslim nation.
Pastor Henrek expressed concerns about the disbanded congregations ‘GMS’ in Binjai, ‘GBI Gihon Pekanbaru’ in Pekanbaru, the capital of Riau province, and ‘GBI’ in Cilame village of West Bandung Regency in West Java province. He urged Christians there to remain calm.
"Stay steadfast in your faith in Christ,” he told the congregation members in remarks shared with Worthy News. “And follow the regulations that apply to permits to build houses of worship, and continue to establish brotherhood among the nation's children where you are.”
But authorities did support the return of the Indonesian Elim Christian Church or ‘Gereja Elim Kristen Indonesia’ (GEKI) to the Suzuya Mall Plaza Marelan shopping center in Medan city in North Sumatra province, Christians confirmed.
“Praise God, the GEKI congregation, which took place at Suzuya Mall [Plaza] Marelan, went orderly and smoothly,” backed by “hundreds” of Indonesian security forces and church supporters, the church said.
Church leaders thanked Medan’s Mayor Bobby Nasution, who played a crucial role in allowing the church services to continue in the mall despite Muslim protests.
The mayor, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo's son-in-law, had also opened his office for GEKI church services after Muslim protesters forced them to leave the mall, Worthy News reported earlier.
HISTORIC MOMENT
GEKI Pastor Octavianus Nathanael called the June 18 service a “historic moment” as after eight months, his congregation could once again “worship comfortably and solemnly” in the heart of Medan.
Yet the tensions have underscored concerns about rising anti-Christian sentiments in the country, Christian observers suggest.
Indonesia has taken “a more conservative Islamic character in recent years,” noted Christian advocacy group Open Doors. That’s why in “some regions of Indonesia, non-traditional churches struggle to get permission for church buildings, with the authorities often ignoring their paperwork,” the group added.
It ranks Indonesia 33rd on its annual World Watch List of 50 nations where Christians reportedly face the most persecution. “Christians, particularly women, who have converted from Islam face the greatest risks and pressure,” Open Doors stressed.
The worst situation is in Indonesia’s volatile Aceh province, governed by Sharia (Islamic law), Christians told Worthy News. “Churches were closed there on a large scale in October 2015, and the building of new churches is nearly impossible. Converts from Islam face the strongest pressure there,” Open Doors said in a recent assessment.
Christians comprise at least some 10 percent of Indonesia’s overwhelmingly Muslim population of nearly 280 million, according to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) citing official data.