Posted on 11/16/2001 1:12:55 PM PST by Bosco
November 13, 2001
ISLAMIC JIHAD FORCES ATTACK CHRISTIAN VILLAGES IN INDONESIA
By John Lindner Special to ASSIST News Service
SULAWESI ISLAND, INDONESIA (ANS) -- Over the weekend thousands of Islamic jihad militants attacked several towns and villages in Indonesia's Sulawesi Island, destroying some of them and placing over 50,000 Christians in grave jeopardy.
"As of Saturday night Indonesia time, the District of Poso in central Sulawesi was under attack by Islamic Jihad forces," said Christian Aid's contact in northern Sulawesi, who asked that his name not be published. "The situation is very critical. Unless there is a miracle many lives will be lost."
Additional reports shared by Jubilee Campaign said that jihad terrorists attacked Pantangolemba village, near Poso, at 2 a.m. on Saturday. They burned 68 houses and looted 1.5 tons of rice that had been gathered by the churches in Palu to feed the 7500 refugees there. Later that day they attacked Rononuncu village.
Sources in Indonesia said the jihad army was well equipped with AK-47s and other military-grade weapons--in places better armed than the local police and army units--while the Christians had only hunting rifles, spears and machetes.
Christian Aid's contact said he had just talked with Christian leaders in Tentena, a city in central Sulawesi, and they are crying out for help. "They are desperate for food, medicine and protection. They are completely surrounded and request our prayer support. If the jihad terrorists break through [local defenses] there will be great massacres. We must pray that the hand of the Lord will stop these disciples of bin Laden from doing their evil deeds."
Please bring this to the attention of as many intercessors as possible. Call your friends, prayer groups and churches and ask them to pray, as these Christians are in imminent danger.
Some suggested prayer objectives:
* That Indonesia's president, Megawati Sukarnoputri, will have wisdom, courage, and backing to be able to stop the jihad movement. So far strong militant Islamic elements have hindered the government's full response to this entire jihad crisis.
* That God will send a spirit of confusion among the jihad movement and that it will self-destruct.
* That Christians in peril will stand steadfast in their faith.
* That God will intervene.
* That equal justice will be administered to all persons.
One report says that Christians typically are given a 3-year sentence for possessing a machete, but a Muslim gets only a 7-month sentence for automatic gun possession.)
Christian Aid (along with International Christian Concern and others) is still receiving contributions to rescue and relocate Christians trapped by jihad terrorists as the Lord makes it possible to do so. So far 2791 Christians have been rescued from the fate of jihad terrorists. They extend their profound gratitude to those whose prayers, gifts and efforts made their rescue and relocation to a safe place possible. The effort to feed and house them continues.
For more information about this crisis, write to insider@christianaid.org and put CAMN 750-PERS in the subject line.
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** You may use this story with proper attribution.
**Additional ANS stories may be found at www.christianity.com/assistnews.
Try to imagine yourself in this situation as a Christian.
Firstly, I want to chime in with a quick prayer that these Christians in Indonesia find protection in their faith, and to fight back successfully. Hopefully, the government there can be of aid, but I know little of Indonesian government other than Suharto and his corruption problems.
Secondly, if "jihad" and AK-47's are EVER used in the streets of the USA, I pray that we, too, will have AK-47's to defend ourselves as citizens (or at least, are not impeded by further gun laws). We won't be able to rely on the military or the police in the earliest hours of such an uprising.
Evidently, all these intellectually challenged individuals need to learn the lesson the hard way. And the United States military is proving an outstanding teacher.
I'm not sure of the demographics but I suspect that the Christians are a majority on a number of the many, many islands in Indonesia. They are a lot easier to isolate and protect than minorities within a single geographic area.
I hope we don't think the Muslims are that stupid.
Maybe - beyond our prayers - these people need some weapons.
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