(RAMADAN Oct 5 – Nov 4)
July 19
Jigia, Ethiopia
Estifanos (Steven)
Ethiopian Evangelist Killed for Refusing to Deny Christ
http://www.persecution.net/news/ethiopia9.html
The Voice of the Martyrs continues to receive news of persecution facing Christians in rural Ethiopia where communication is difficult and reports of their courage often take several weeks to reach the outside world.
VOMC sources reported this week of how a leader and evangelist with the Assemblies of God in the town of Jijiga, Ethiopia was shot and killed on July 19 for refusing to deny his faith in Christ. According to the report, Estifanos Abate (34) was traveling from Degahabour to Jijiga in eastern Ethiopia, when the bus was stopped by Islamic militants.
The militants boarded the bus, demanding to know the religion of each traveler. Of the 45 passengers, five were Orthodox and four were evangelical Christians. The gunmen ordered these nine to be separated from the Muslim passengers. The Christians were then ordered to repeat the Islamic creed and to bow three times toward Mecca. Everyone but Estifanos complied with the order and was allowed back on the bus. The gunmen threatened Estifanos, who calmly began to tell his attackers about Jesus, while his fellow travelers begged him to save his life by obeying their demands.
The Muslim leader then ordered the bus to continue on its way, without Estifanos. As the bus pulled away, Estifanos was executed. According to the report, his body was left on the side of the road for most of the day, presumably as a warning to others. At last report, authorities had not yet even begun an investigation into his death.
Such violence and injustice is not uncommon for evangelical Christians in Ethiopia. Continue to pray for their continued Christian outreach in regions where the pressure of Islamic militants is getting more intense. Pray for wisdom and direction for Christian leaders, as they lead their people in sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Used with permission from Voice of the Martyrs, Copyright 2005. All rights reserved.
October 30
Poso, Indonesia
Theresia, Ida, and Alfina
3 Christian Teens Beheaded
Attacks only the latest in effort to “exterminate the Christian community” in the Poso area
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/novemberweb-only/23.0.html
In what one Indonesian human rights activist describes as the latest attack in an ongoing terror campaign against Christians of Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, three teenage girls en route to school through a cocoa plantation were beheaded Saturday morning, apparently by Muslims.
Theresia Murangke, 14, and Ida Lambuaga and Alfina Yarni Sambue, both 15, were attacked one mile from Sayo village near the town of Poso, reports Indonesian human rights activist Ibrahim Buaya, who formerly lived in this volatile region of Indonesia. A fourth girl, Noviana Malewa, 14, escaped from her attackers with machete wounds to her face. Buaya reported that she is in Poso General Hospital under heavy guard. The Associated Press reported that Noviana told police the six attackers wore black shirts.
Two of the girls’ heads were found near a police station five miles from the village of Poso. The head of the third was left in front of Kasiguncu village’s Pentecostal Church of Indonesia (GPdI), eight miles from where the bodies were found in the cocoa plantation.
Christian human rights attorney Ann Buwalda, director of Jubilee Campaign USA¸ describes Central Sulawesi as “crawling with Laskar Jihad terrorist training camps.” The Indonesian Muslim militant group, whose name means “Holy War Warriors,” has killed thousands since 2000 in its attacks on Christian populations on the islands of Moluccas and Sulawesi.
Laskar Jihad is “determined to exterminate the Christian community in this region,” Buaya said.
Anti-Christian violence began in Central Sulawesi in December 1998, including assassinations, forced closure of churches, bus and market bombings, and the torching of more than 20 Christian villages. On June 19, 2000, Muslim militants massacred 211 worshipers, among them 45 children, in the Evangelical Christian Church in Halmahera (GMIH) in the Central Sulawesi village of Duma. In August 2003, a drive-by motorcycle shooter fired at six children in front of Poso Presbyterian Church; two children were hit, but survived.
Central Sulawesi province is located some 1,000 miles northeast of Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, which is the world’s most populous Muslim nation. Each of its 6,000 inhabited islands, however, has a distinct culture and religious atmosphere. Buwalda noted that some areas of Indonesia, such as North Sulawesi, are nearly 100 percent Christian and free of violence.
Compass Direct reported in June that congresses in Jakarta in 2004 and Sulawesi in March 2005 recommended that Shari’ah principles be introduced through a revision of Indonesia’s criminal law. In addition, provincial councils are including more Shari’ah principles in local bylaws. Some provinces have restricted Christians’ freedom of worship.
The BBC cites analysts’ reports that militants have targeted Central Sulawesi and believe it could be turned into the cornerstone of an Islamic state. Before a December 2001 peace accord that ended two years of conflict in Central Sulawesi, the area was half Christian and half Muslim. Buwalda estimates that during the peace accord, the Christian population began to plummet from the town of Poso, where Christian neighborhoods remain mostly empty as their homes were razed during the conflict. Poso district still has a population of Christians.
The Associated Press describes the Sulawesi strife as an extension of a “wider sectarian war” in nearby Maluku where up to 9,000 died between 1999 and 2002.
Buwalda, who has visited Central Sulawesi three times, disputes widespread media reports that the violence is a “sectarian war.” In reality, she said, it’s “Laskar Jihad who has tried to expunge the area of Christians.” Weapon bans leave Christians unarmed, virtually sitting ducks for Muslim attacks. “This is all being done to them. They are completely victimized,” said Buwalda, who in 2003 met the number-three leader of Poso’s Laskar Jihad organization. The leader claimed that the attacks were in response to Christians’ plotting against Muslims, a charge that Buwalda refutes. Of the most recent violence, Buwalda said, “I don’t think the three little Christian girls were plotting to do in the Muslim community. None of the arguments as to why this violence is happening is making any sense.”
Buwalda says the numbers of Christian casualties—approximately 90 percent of all deaths in the ongoing violence—is evidence that Central Sulawesi Christians have not taken up arms against the Muslim aggressors. “They would not have suffered the number of dead in the conflict, in the massacres, had they actually been able to defend themselves,” she said.
Christians continue fleeing to neighboring villages, notably Tentena, an almost entirely Christian community where in May, Muslim militants bombed the village market, killing 22 Christians.
In March 2003, Buwalda met with Indonesia’s vice president Jusuf Kalla, who told Buwalda in regard to destruction of Christian villages that “the Christians should just get over it and move on. … We can’t let them sit around as refugees.”
This article first appeared in 11/05 issue of Christianity Today.
Used by permission of Christianity Today International, Carol Stream, IL 60188.
Pope close to the families of beheaded Indonesian girls
http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=4494
Vatican City (AsiaNews)
10/30/2005 16:36
VATICAN INDONESIA
Benedict XVI asks the bishop of the Manando’s diocese to express his condolences to families and the diocesan community. He assures his “fervent prayers for peace among the people of that region”. Benedict XVI expresses “deep condolences” to families and diocesan community of the 3 christian girls “barbarically killed” in Indonesia 29th of October. The pope “as soon as hear the sorrowful news” asks msgr. Suwatan, bishop of Manado’s diocese, to tell personally and assures “his fervent prayers to the Lord for peace among the people of that region”.
The attack versus Yusriani Sampoe aged 15 years, Theresia Morangke aged 16 and Alvita Polio aged 19, has already served to increase tensions between Muslims and Christians. Poso is fertile terrain to trigger discord between the two communities; the latest incident highlights just how serious the situation is, given that the murders came only a few days before the Muslim festival of Idul Fitri (to mark the end of the fasting month of Ramadan), popularly known as “Lebaran”. The long-drawn out conflict in Ambon, which has claimed thousands of victims, was ignited by clashes which broke out just a few days before Idul Fitri.
Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that “any wrongdoings which make the situation worse should not be carried out by any Poso resident. Let the government do its job”. He is not rejecting any idea that this fresh incident is made by some certain elements of both warring parties. “It could be so?certain people who want to make certain benefits from the conflict,” he adds.
Used with permission from AsiaNews C.F. 00889190153, Copyright © 2005. All rights reserved.
persecution
Families of Beheaded Indonesian Girls Forgive Killers
n.com/cbnnews/news/051118d.aspx
By Lucille Talusan
CBN News Asia Correspondent
CBN.com – POSO, Indonesia – The three families who suffered the loss of their young
daughters when they were brutally murdered, are still in shock and grief, not only because they were too young to die — Alfita was 19, Teressia was 18, and Yarni was 15 — but because of the horrible way they were murdered.
Their bodies were found headless in a coconut field, while their heads were found in different parts of Poso, wrapped in black plastic bags.
This is the route that Alfita, Teressia, Yarni, and Ida took everyday on their way to school at 6:30 in the morning. But on that fateful day, October 29, a group of unidentified men wearing masks brutally murdered the girls. As the families are grieving, there is again a growing concern, if indeed, there is a resurgence of the old religious conflict between the Muslims and the Christians here in Poso.
In an exclusive television interview, Nursalem Mawela told CBN News that he is thankful his daughter Noviana survived the assault. Noviana herself was hacked on the face, but she was able to escape.
Nursalem believes that the girls were targeted for attack because they defied Idul Fitre, an important Muslim holiday signifying the end of Ramadan.
“They must have offended the Muslim extremists because in this season of Ramadan, there should be no school, but the Christian school is open,” explained Nursalem.
Moreover, the three victims were very active Christian leaders in school prayer meetings and church. Pastor Mastin says the deaths of Alfita, Teressia, and Yarni are not in vain. She calls them martyrs because their deaths have brought unity to the Christian churches in Poso, and their lives encouraged them to be strong in the faith.
Pastor Mastin said, “We hope peace will come to Poso. Because of the three girls who were martyred, we are challenged, and our faith is put to a test like gold. But we become strong because of their example.”
Community leader John Mandagi believes the violent incidents in Poso are politically motivated.
“The Christians and the National Muslims now have a harmonious relationship,” Mondagi said, “and so there is a third party, the terrorist group, that is being used by corrupt politicians. They try to provoke both the Christians and Muslims to fight, but this will not happen again.”
Several big projects are now underway in Poso, including the construction of an electrical plant, oil refinery, and a new airport. The area is also rich in natural resources, such as ebony and minerals.
Some analysts say that corrupt officials want to destabilize the region so they may seize control of these huge investments. They are saddened that money and greed have cost the lives of precious, innocent young women.
Alfita wanted to become a pastor. She was just five months away from high school graduation. Although she is no longer with them, Alfita’s friends continue to sing her favorite worship song –a song they say she may be singing now in heaven.
Difficult as it is, Yarni’s father and the parents of Alfita and Teressia have released forgiveness to the murderers of their daughters. They believe that it is God who will judge them.
Markus Sambuwe, the father of one of the girls, remarked,” I am really angry, but the Holy Spirit touched my heart and changed me. I forgive them just as Jesus has forgiven my sins.”
Several suspects have been arrested in the Christian school girl beheadings, but just a week after those brutal murders, two other Christian girls were shot by snipers.
While tensions remain high here, so far, Christians are remaining true to their faith. They are responding in a spirit of forgiveness and restraint, by turning the other cheek.
Used with permission from CBN News, Copyright 2005. All rights reserved
Indonesian Muslim militants get jail for beheading Christian girls
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0WDQ/is_2007_March_26/ai_n18745569/pg_1
Asian Political News, March 26, 2007
JAKARTA, March 21 KyodoAn Indonesian court sentenced three Muslim militants Wednesday to between 14 and 20 years in jail for beheading three teenage Christian schoolgirls in sectarian strife-torn Central Sulawesi Province in 2005.
The trial, which would normally take place where the incident happened, had been held since November at the Central Jakarta District Court for security reasons.
Presiding Judge Binsar Siregar found Hasanuddin, alias Slamet Raharjo, the 34-year-old key suspect, guilty of violating an article in the country’s antiterrorism law, and sentenced him to 20 years in jail.”The defendant has plotted the murders and motivated someone else to commit terrorism acts,” Siregar said.
According to the law, Hasanuddin should have faced the death penalty for the crime. Siregar said, however, the defendant had been aware of and apologized for his mistakes, factors that lightened his sentence.
During the trial proceedings, it was revealed that Hasanuddin told a local cleric that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the southern Philippines frequently gives ”Eid al-Fitr gifts” to the Philippine security apparatus by attacking their posts on the Eid al-Fitr Islamic holiday, which marks the end of Ramadan.
Hasanuddin came up with an idea to give an ”Eid al-Fitr gift” to Christians by beheading them and it was decided that the target would be senior high school students, witnesses during the trial said.
The defendant also told the other two defendants — Lilik Purnomo and Irwanto Irano, both 28, that Islam does not allow its followers to kill women and children, but ”in certain conditions,” such as when Christians attack Muslims, they are allowed to kill them.
”Blood must be paid by blood, life must be paid by life,” Hasanuddin said in a hand-written note found by police.
In a separate trial, Purnomo and Irano were sentenced to 14 years in jail each for their involvement in an ”evil conspiracy to commit terrorist acts,” Presiding Judge Lilik Mulyadi said.
The three schoolgirls, all 15, were beheaded in October 2005 in the province’s Poso Regency where the Muslim population is slightly larger than the Christian.
Riots in Poso from 1998 to 2001 between Christians and Muslims claimed the lives of more than 2,000 people, while 100,000 others fled their houses, many of which were torched along with scores of churches and mosques.
Religious tension eased in 2002 after peace talks in late 2001 mediated by then Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare Jusuf Kalla, now the country’s vice president, led to a peace agreement.
Bombings and killings, however, still occur sporadically.
Tension escalated after the execution of three Christian militants in September for killing 191 Muslim students and teachers at a local Islamic boarding school in mid-2000. Later, a Christian minister was killed and a church was torched.
Used with permission from CNET Networks, Inc., Copyright 2005. All rights reserved.
