Attacks against Nigerian Christians -- third week in a row

Boko Haram fighters.

Nigeria (MNN) ― For the third weekend in a row, Christians in Nigeria were targets of deadly violence by Islamist militants. Reports indicate this time at least four people were killed in two separate attacks. These attacks hit the cities of Biu and Jos.

In the first attack, gunmen sprayed bullets as Christians attended church on Sunday in Biu. Four people died while more than 40 others were injured. The second act of violence was a car bombing outside a church in Jos. While nobody died in that attack; dozens were injured.

Africa Director of Christian Aid Mission Rae Burnett says this is just the tip of the iceberg. "There are a lot of reports that aren't getting to the news. A motorcycle rides by and shoots people in the store. Cars are being hijacked. There are individuals -- supporters of the work that is being done among the Islamic tribes in Northern Nigeria [being targeted]."

Why is it happening? Burnett says, "This is really the nature of Islam. And we're seeing it worldwide. We're not only seeing it in Nigeria."

Burnett says that's not politically correct, but she says it's the truth. "There are a lot of people who were born into Islam, and they just want to live a peaceful happy life. But when you read the Quran and you see what it says, and what the Hadith say, and what serious Islamic teachers says, you see it's not a religion of peace."

She says, "You relate to anyone who is a non-Muslim by converting them, or by killing them."

The violence is taking place because radicals want Sharia (Islamic) law. Burnett says, "Mostly, you've got nominal Muslims and they don't want Sharia because it's too restrictive." That's why many Muslims are also being attacked in the conflict.

Burnett says God is using Christian Aid to support and assist national Christians. "The main [group] that I'm helping is making tremendous inroads into Islamic areas throughout the north. It's like the Lord is exploding the work in the last few years."

However, the organization's home base is not in a good area, says Burnett. "This town that they're in is continually under siege by Boko Haram, although it's totally unreported. The missionaries are not retreating. Now they are really alarmed that they're being targeted. They're trying to move from that area."

Burnett says they have a huge funding need. "The first really big need is for this ministry to move its headquarters. [It'll cost] $35,000 for them to move all of their people and their headquarters to Abuja."

Funding is also needed to help supply transportation to believers who are sharing their faith in this difficult region of Nigeria. If you can help with a financial gift, click here. 

Motives for Church Burnings in Indonesia Questioned

Outside Islamist groups use lack of permits as pretext for violence.

By Victor Raqual Ambarita

 

JAKARTA, Indonesia, August 17 (Compass Direct News) – Suspected Islamists were behind the burning of three homes used as churches on Sumatra Island’s Riau Province this month, though a political motive may also have played a role, Christian leaders said.

 

Muslim mobs burned the meeting places of a Batak Karo Protestant Church (GBKP) congregation and a Pentecostal Church in Indonesia (GPDI) group on Aug. 1, and that of a Methodist Church of Indonesia on Aug. 2, all in Kuantan Singingi district.

 

Provincial GBKP leader Sahat Tarigan reportedly said about 100 people on motorcycles arrived at the home at 11 p.m. on Aug. 1, throwing stones, threatening church members with knives and ultimately pouring gasoline and setting it on fire. A number of church members were inside painting at the time of the attack, but there were no casualties, Tarigan told Radio 68H News Agency.

 

The same mob also set the GPDI home on fire some five kilometers (three miles) away, he said.

 

“We do not know where they came from, but certainly we have no problem with local people,” he told Radio 68H. “Those who burned the churches are not residents who live around us.”

 

Tarigan said the home where the GBKP church meets was built about three years ago, and area resident have never objected to any worship there. He said he did not know the reason mobs set the home on fire, though Metrotvnews reported that an area Muslim said the site lacks a permit and that the singing bothers Muslims fasting by day for Ramadan.

 

But the executive secretary of the Communion of Churches in Indonesia, Jeirry Sumampow, said he suspected political motives. An election in April in which all churches in the Kuantan Tengah sub-district backed the winning regent may have played a role, he said.

 

“I regret that the church has been the victim of political in-fighting,” Sumampow told Compass.

 

He said those who burned the house churches were not dressed as hard-line Muslim demonstrators customarily are. He noted that the incident occurred only in the one sub-district where the churches backed the victorious candidate.

 

“At the time of the election there was tension, because the Christians in the sub-district openly stated their support for the candidate who is now elected,” he said.

 

Sumampow said he regretted that police were slow to react to the attacks of Aug. 1, which contributed to the third house church burning on Aug. 2.

 

The governor of Riau Province urged citizens to refrain from vigilante violence. Riau Provincial Administration spokesman Chairul Rizky said the governor ordered the regent of Kuantan Singingi to urge residents to resolve conflicts with dialogue rather than force.

 

Rizky said that although the house churches do not have permits, arson cannot be tolerated. Though the governor ordered police to protect church sites that have permits, this does not mean that people can attack those that do not have permits, he said.

 

“The governor ordered police to protect places of worship that have been permitted, and to not let anyone take the law into their own hands to solve problems,” Rizky told Radio 68H. “So, we hope this problem can be resolved in a short time, so that Christians can pray without being disturbed.”

 

He added that the three house churches did not have permits because their leaders sought only housing authorization, rather than church permits.

 

The head of Criminal Police in Kuansing, AKP Darmawan, confirmed the attacks, telling Vivanews.com the structures set on fire were not church buildings but private homes made of wood.

 

The vice chairman of the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace, Bonar Tigor Naipospos, said he regretted the burning of churches during Ramadan, adding that Muslims who are fasting during the month are supposed to be able to restrain their passions.

 

The former chairman of the Muhammadiyah socio-economic reform movement in Indonesia, H. Ahmad Shafi Ma’arif, was furious over the church burnings.

 

“Only crazy people want to burn churches, and no matter what the reason, such incidents cannot be tolerated,” Ma’arif reportedly said, adding that such incidents continue to occur because law enforcement is weak.

 

At press time Riau Provincial Police had reportedly questioned 21 witnesses and arrested two suspects.

 

Church Shuttered

In West Jakarta, about 100 hard-line Muslims from the Betawi Rempug Forum (FBR) went to a three-storey shop where Maranata Bible Church meets in Jalan Kacang Tanah, Bojong Indah, on July 31 and demanded that it close because it was operating without a permit.

 

After meeting with the Islamist group for half an hour, church leaders agreed to stop worship services and remove the church sign until it obtains a permit, though no area residents had complained about the church.

 

Promising to obtain the permit from the mayor of West Jakarta immediately, Pastor Silas Kusah said he had already obtained permission from local residents for the church to operate. Area residents have never complained about the existence of the church, which has been active for three-and-a- half years, he said.

 

The head of the Cengkareng sub-district reportedly said the church had no permits because residents had presented no objections.

 

The Setara Institute’s Bonar said that as no one in the area disputed the existence of the church, there should be no problems with the processing of its application for a permit.

 

www.compassdirect.org

 

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Copyright 2011 Compass Direct News

Militants' Threats Keep Christians Cautious

CRI staff and volunteers pray over
 the crate sent to Nigeria last week.

Nigeria (MNN) ― Christians across northern Nigeria are closing their windows and posting guards at their entrances. Attendance has decreased significantly in many congregations as believers brace themselves for what may be to come.

AFP News reports that militant Islamists, members of the sect Boko Haram, have threatened attacks across Nigeria. Compass Direct reports that Christians fear they may become scapegoats for a commemorative assault in honor of the extremist group's late leader.

Nigerian Christ-followers are not new to such attacks. Many believers and church members have lost lives in the past to attacks by Muslim extremists. Recent overt threats made to the Nigerian military have forced Christians to take caution.

The timing is tricky for Christian Resources International. Just last week they sent a crate of Christian teaching tools, Bibles and literature to Nigeria. The shipment is not expected to reach Nigeria for another three weeks, and in the meantime, the ministry is praying it won't be disrupted.

Executive director Jason Woolford says CRI experienced a few bumps in the road right off the bat. "With this particular container that's going to Nigeria, basically the government had come to us and told us that they needed to know by line item every single thing that was in every single box."

With the added concern of possible militancy, Woolford says the ministry has put their trust in God to keep the resources and their recipients--who are spread out all across the country--safe.

If anything, says Woolford, this is further confirmation that Nigeria is in desperate need of the Word. "When you look at a 50-50 split [of Islam and Christianity in Nigeria], that equates to 45% of people in this particular area that are headed to hell. And we know that the only way they're going to be saved is through the Name and the blood of Jesus Christ."

And, Woolford adds, "The only way they're going to find that out is through his Word." 

"This container has about 30,000 Bibles and Christian pieces of literature that will hopefully change the hearts of those who read them," says Woolford. Pray that the literature might get into the hands of even some of these Muslim extremists.

Pray that believers who receive the materials would take it even to the darkest depths of their nation, where Christ has yet to be preached.

CRI has five more container shipments planned for 2011 in other volatile regions. You can help provide the materials needed to transform nations for Christ by sending Bibles and Christian literature to the CRI headquarters. Learn more about how to get involved here.