By DAVID EPPS
Pastor

Gary Lane, in a recent issue of The Voice of the Martyrs, tells a compelling story of a Christian family in Indonesia.

In January 2000, the tiny Christian village of Cera, on the island of Doi, was suddenly attacked by Muslim "jihad troops." A small group of men attempted to defend their village and, armed only with machetes and sticks, held off the attackers from noon until six o'clock in the evening.

The jihad warriors broke through the defenses and began to burn the houses in the village. Then, they turned their attention on the village church. The Muslim invaders fired mortar rounds and rocket-propelled grenades as they advanced on the church. They then doused the building with gasoline and set it ablaze. The villagers fled into the jungle.

The next day, the Muslims returned with over 2,000 troops and attacked the village again. Again, the villagers were forced to flee. The following day, a village family was set upon by a squad of jihad troops. The family fought bravely but was overwhelmed. One man, named Methu, and his brother-in-law escaped into the jungle once again.

The following day they returned to the scene of the assault and found the bodies of his mother-in-law, his mother, and his eight-year-old son Christianto. Their bodies had been cut into pieces with swords and knives and his son was nearly decapitated. His wife and Christen, his ten-year-old daughter, were missing.

Two months after the attack Methu was taken into custody by Muslim troops. He was told if he did not convert to Islam he would die. The Muslims mocked Methu and said that Jesus was a pig with long, lice-infested hair.

Remembering Matthew 10:28 in which Jesus said not to "be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul," he said "Even if you offered me a pile of gold as high as I am, I would never join Islam."

Then, they brought him to see his wife and daughter, whom they held captive! The Muslims then set Methu free.

In May 2000, Methu received word that his beloved Adel had been forced to marry a Muslim farmer. Adel had been told that she and her daughter would be killed if she did not marry a Muslim and convert.

A month later Methu received a letter from his wife. She explained that, "They (the jihad troops) stripped me naked. I had to walk under their spears and swords and unsheathed machete knives at my throat. They cut my hands, cut my head, and my body. They said they (would) roast me."

She wrote that she could no longer bear the trials. "My body is like a kedondong fruit, smooth on the outside but on the inside full of thorns. I am crushed into little pieces." She said she married a man she did not love because it was the only way to protect herself and her daughter.

Methu and his Christian friends began to pray daily that God would reunite his family. He asked others to pray that the Lord would give him the strength to overcome his heartache.

In May 2001, Methu heard that his wife had escaped from her captors. He found her and after a tearful reunion, realized that his daughter was still in the hands of her kidnappers. Over the next several weeks, Methu made several unsuccessful attempts to rescue her.

In July 2001, Methu stole into a large meeting in the city of Dama, hoping that his daughter would be there. He found her, sneaked her through the crowd, and fled in a waiting boat. Today Methu, Adel, and Christen have been joined by a new daughter, Sarah, although they still grieve for their son.

As shocking as this account is, it is only one of thousands of similar stories of suffering and persecution inflicted upon Indonesian Christians in certain regions of that nation. Jihad attacks against Christians have claimed as many as 10,000 lives during the past three years. Christian villagers have been robbed, their business and homes burned, their churches destroyed, and many beheaded and slain. Many Christian men have reported being forced to convert to Islam and being forcibly circumcised.

But the church continues to grow, being watered by the blood of martyrs. One church, Calvary Presbyterian in the Central Sulawesi village of Sangginora, was averaging about 200 in worship before it was burned and its people attacked. Today, the church has over 500 worshippers. The response of the Christians in this region? They are praying that God will forgive their torturers because "they don't know what they do" (Luke 23:34).

[The Reverend Canon David Epps is rector of Christ the King Charismatic Episcopal Church, which meets in Peachtree City Sundays at 10a.m. in the chapel of Carmichael-Hemperley on Ga. Highway 74. He may be contacted at FatherDavidEpps@aol.com or at www.ChristTheKingCEC.com.]

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