Three children died December 3 in a fire at a Seventh-day Adventist orphanage in South Minahasa, Indonesia. The fire broke out at midnight, destroying one of the three wooden buildings that made up the orphanage compound.

Reinhold Kesaulya, president of the Adventist Church in East Indonesia, says the tragedy was not connected with the religious violence that has periodically swept through the region in recent years. Authorities believe the fire may have been caused by an electrical short circuit.

The local Adventist community is keen to rebuild the burnt house, adds Kesaulya, and is working to regain the confidence of relatives of children at the orphanage, as well as church members and the local community.

There are some 35,000 Adventist Church members in the South Minahasa region worshiping in more than 200 churches and companies.