Indonesia: Christians Call on Indonesian Authorities to Help Them Find Land
Jul 10 2007
Postings >> Indonesia

Christians in West Java are calling on the Indonesian authorities to help them find land for church buildings -- as Muslim extremists threaten to close down all house churches.

Some 150 Islamist extremists took to the streets of Bandung to demand that the government took action against private homes which had been turned into churches. If the authorities refused, they would take matters into their own hands, they threatened.

Protesters cited the Joint Ministerial Decree which states that all Indonesian church groups must have a worship permit. But the strict criteria required for a permit now make it virtually impossible for house churches to gain authorisation -- and so most meet 'illegally'. One of the criteria is that church has the approval of 60 neighbours, which is hard to obtain in a Muslim-majority nation.

The protest on June 14 has prompted Simon Timorason, head of the West Java Christian Communication Forum, to call on the government to help minority group churches find new meeting places. He claims that, according to an article in the decree, the authorities are legally required to do so.

Pray that God will send His Holy Spirit to stand with Bandung's house churches.

Pray that the Indonesian authorities will be forced to act, either to revise legislation on church permits or to help house churches find new premises.