by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) - A pastor in Jombang Regency, Indonesia was last month dragged out of a shop his church had been meeting in by around 50 government officials who then sealed the shop shut, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.
Although Christianity is legal under the country’s Constitution, Muslim-majority Indonesia ranks 42 on the Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.
Leader of the Good God Church (Gereja Gembala Baik, or GAB) in the Simpang Tiga Shopping Compound, Pastor Herri Soesanto has described the government seizure of the church’s shop building on August 18 as “violent and anarchic,” MSN reports. The drastic action taken by the Jombang officials is believed to be part of the local government’s effort to repossess shops it says it owns at a business compound in the Weru area of Mojongapit village, East Java Province.
During a podcast interview with Gus Aan Anshori, son of a leading Muslim cleric, Soesanto recounted: “I was harassed and dragged by a mob that I estimated was about 50 people. What was disappointing was those people who closed my church were my friends.”
Adding that the authorities threatened him with imprisonment, Soesanto noted: “This is the anarchic act that embarrasses the city of Jombang. The city of Jombang is wise. But the regent’s actions are violent and anarchic. I never imagined the violence that government officials made, causing upset among the congregation.”
In a 2024 website statement about the situation facing Christians and churches in Indonesia, the Open Doors international Christian advocacy organization reports: “If a church is believed to be proselytizing, they will likely run into opposition from radical Islamic groups. Depending again on the region, some church groups also face difficulties getting permission for building churches. Even if they manage to fulfill all legal requirements (and win court cases), local authorities may still ignore them.”