Release International

Muslims and Christians have come together to mark the start of the reconstruction of a church destroyed during the jihad on the island of Ambon.

They were attending a stone-laying ceremony on the site of a ruined chapel in Waai, a Christian village razed to the ground in an assault spanning several weeks in July 2000.

Waai villagers were joined by many Muslims from the nearby villages such as Tulehu and Liang, places which had declared war on Waai six years ago. AsiaNews reports that some Muslims are on the church construction committee. Muslim youths from Tulehu danced to greet the guests, and a Christian band from Waai performed Gospel songs.

During a series of raids in mid-2000, some 5,000 jihadists supported by army troops and police showered Waai with gunfire, mortars and grenades, according to the Moluccas Christian Alliance for Crisis in Moluccas.

Some 78 Christians were killed: more than 9,000 people fled their homes.

• Thank God that Muslims and Christians have come together in a spirit of reconciliation to mark the reconstruction of this church in Waai.
• Pray the example of these communities would be contagious -- and help end inter-religious tensions in provinces such as Central Sulawesi.

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