The Seventh-day Adventist community in Indonesia is praying that increased efforts will soon find passengers of the Adam Air KI 574 plane that went missing on New Year’s Day. The plane, which left the main island of Java and headed to Manado, had 102 people on board, of whom nine were Adventists.

Reportedly bad weather forced the pilot to change course twice during what was supposed to be a two-hour flight. The plane lost contact with the air traffic control tower around 1:53 p.m. local time.

According to the Associated Press on Jan. 8 Indonesian officials added hundreds of soldiers and six helicopters to the search. A United States Navy ship joined the effort Monday.

Moldy R. Mambu, associate treasurer for the Adventist church’s Southern Asia Pacific region, confirmed that among those missing are employees who worked at Adventist church offices including the East Indonesia Union Conference, East Java Conference and Western Indonesia Union Mission. He added that one couple had gotten married on December 28 and were on their way back to Manado for another wedding celebration.

“Let’s pray for the family that the Lord will comfort them. Also pray for the search and rescue team who are still struggling to find the airplane,” said Mambu.