Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders in the area say that the increase in street flighting and stealth raids have caused many church members in the Maluku region to flee
The violent conflict between Islamic militants and Christians in what was once known as the “Spice Islands” flared again last week, leaving more than 100 people dead and many more wounded. Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders in the area say that the increase in street flighting and stealth raids have caused many church members in the Maluku region to flee the ongoing religious unrest.
Noldy Sakul, an Adventist Church leader in east Indonesia, reports that since the violence started on January 19, 1999, in Batu Merah, Ambon, four Adventist churches have been burned to the ground and two have been damaged by rioters. He says that at least 125 houses belonging to church members have been burned or destroyed and more than 350 Adventists have left their villages to escape the violence.
“The riot is still going on,” says Sakul. “Just recently we received news from Ambon that there were riots and one of our members was shot by the police. Two persons were killed and there were 20 people wounded.”
Sakul adds that the lives of residents in the area are often further complicated by the high price of food and the rising rate of unemployment due to the instability of the region. Enrollment at Maluku Academy, an Adventist school in Ambon, has dropped from 200 before the riots began to just 50 students.
Dr. John Graz, director of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty for the Adventist Church worldwide, has expressed sorrow at the ongoing sectarian violence in Indonesia. “As a Church we reject the use of violence, especially that carried out in the name of religion,” says Graz. “Murder and coercion can never be justified on the grounds of religious zeal. Instead, we seek to show to the world a God of infinite compassion, not of force or vengeance.”
Makete and Duma, two predominantly Christian villages located on the remote Indonesian island of Halmahera, were raided before dawn on June 5. The attackers burned houses and killed at least 44 residents. Thirtyfour people were killed in a similar attack on another village on Halmahera a few days earlier.
The Adventist Church has approximately 180,000 church members in Indonesia worshiping in more than 1,100 churches.