by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) - Muslims in Indonesia disrupted Christian Sunday services at a house church in West Java Province and at a church site in Central Java Province on 18 June, arguing that such worship is illegal and should be prohibited, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.
Video footage of the incident in West Java Province was posted on Twitter and shows a group of Muslims harassing a mostly women’s meeting at a private home in Tambun Selatan, Bekasi, on Jakarta’s eastern border, MSN reports. The video shows a woman identified as pastor Elysson Lase telling the Muslims that her congregation did not build a church, and that they were only worshiping as is their right.
“We want to hold a worship service – should I ask permission to worship from you when we want to hold worship?” Pastor Lase is heard to ask. “The important thing has been conveyed to the village office, that we are not building a church. So what’s the problem? When we pray, where is the problem?” Pastor Lase goes on to say that Indonesian law does not require a permit for worship in a private home “but unscrupulous residents insist” it does.
In the Central Java Province incident, a group of Muslims shouting the jihadist slogan “Allahu Akbar [God is greater]” blocked entry to a church building by putting up a banner saying the church was illegal, MSN reports. “They put another banner on the road in front of the building of the house church, a Javanese Christian Church (Gereja Kristen Jawa, or GKJ) in Banyuanyar village, Banjasari Sub-District, in the municipality of Solo,” MSN said in its report.
The head of Banjarsari Sub-District, Beni Supartono Putro, said in a statement the disruption arose because the church did not have a permit to hold worship services in the building, MSN reports. “The reason is because they got no permit and held an unlicensed worship service,” Putro is quoted as telling reporters. It is notoriously difficult for Christians to obtain permits for churches in Indonesia.
While Christianity is officially legal in Indonesia, the Muslim-majority country ranks 33rd on the US Open Doors World Watch List 2023 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.