I write this update with a very heavy heart, and I would ask for your fervent prayers. The church planting movement that is taking place in Jakarta with over 600 new believers and over 50 house churches has experienced the greatest persecution over the past weekend. A couple of Christians from a traditional local church apparently reported our Muslim background believers meeting at homes to the local Islamic religious authority, and three of our national house church leaders were called to the county office on Saturday, January 10th to be interrogated for sharing the truth and for leading a group in their homes. This was not the first time this had occurred over the past few months. These leaders did not give in to the threats and stood firm in their faith during their interrogation. However upon the completion of this meeting, approximately 100 people had gathered outside the county office, most of them onlookers, but 5 men attacked two of our group leaders. Eddy, who was one of the first new believers, was the most severely injured and was stabbed in the chest. Initially we heard that his injuries were not life threatening, but several hours later at around 2 pm, we were notified that Eddy’s injuries were actually more severe than originally thought and he had passed away.
This was a shock for all of us and brought many mixed emotions along with this news. The 5 men responsible for Eddy’s death were quickly arrested as many witnesses had seen the attack. The other group leaders quickly made their way to Eddy’s house to be with his family. By 6 that evening, our team leader met with national leaders to discuss the events of the day and one thing was clear, no one was backing down from their faith in Him or giving up the “good” fight. Even Eddy’s wife was standing strong. On this day Luke 9:23-24 became real and Acts 20:24 was playing out in reality. We prepare for this kind of event. We train every new believer that our lives means nothing compared to the truth of the Gospel. We are praying for the almost 600 believers in the movement who have been taught about what His word says regarding events like this. We are asking the Father of Light to shine bright through the lives of those walking faithfully with Him and to continue to shout from the rooftops that He is Lord of all.
We need you to pray! We need you to intercede on our behalf to the King of Glory! Our enemy will not win, he will not succeed in his plans to mess things up here and we will be victorious because the war is already won through shed blood of our Savior!
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Please pray for Ari and the other leaders as they walk through this difficult time.
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Pray for Eddy’s son who is not a believer and initially is seeking revenge for his father’s death. Praise God that Eddy’s 3 other children are believers.
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Pray for the Jakarta Urban team leader as he meets with Ari and the other leaders this Wednesday evening.
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Pray for those involved that are not believers. Pray that they would see Him in all that is done.
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The word is that some traditional believers reported these leaders to the authorities because they were meeting without permission as a group of believers. Pray for these people who do not understand what God is doing and if/how Ari should approach them in love and share with them the error of their ways.
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H family serving in Jakarta |
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