INDONESIA: HOMES REPLACE THOSE BURNED IN NOVEMBER ANTI-CHRISTIAN ATTACKS
The foundation was laid for the first of several replacement homes planned in Sulawesi, Indonesia, just months after terrorists there murdered 4 Christians and burned 7 homes, including a Salvation Army prayer room, on November 27.
According to Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley, the IS-affiliated terrorists displaced 750 Christians in the village of Lewonu Lembantongoa. Representative Foley says Voice of the Martyrs Korea sent emergency aid totaling approximately 10,000,000 KRW from its Families of Martyrs and Prisoners Fund. Those funds are being used to build a home for Christian refugees, as well as sound equipment and furnishings for the new Salvation Army prayer room.
Voice of the Martyrs Korea previously reported that around 8am on Friday November 27, terrorists set fire to the prayer room before killing Salvation Army Captain Arnianto, Lieutenant Abram Kako and his wife, and another Christian identified as Mrs. Mpapa. Out of the four victims, one was beheaded, two were hacked to death, and the other was burned to death. Representative Foley says VOM workers have learned that the terrorist group may have suspected the Christian community of reporting them to the police.
“After the attack, many of the 750 Christians who were driven from their homes were in shock and expressed some fears about returning to the village,” says Representative Foley. “The rebuilding of the homes that burned and the refurbishing of the prayer room that was destroyed are a powerful sign to everyone—the Christians and the terrorists—that the Christians of Lewonu Lembantongoa are here to stay, and the testimony of Jesus will not be silenced in that village.”
Mayor Erik Arnold Kape, commander of the Salvation Army East Palu Division in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, lays the cornerstone for a home for Christian refugees funded by Voice of the Martyrs Korea. Also shown from left to right are one of the Christian refugees from Lewonu (in the black shirt); Lewonu Salvation Army Lieutenant Arnianto Mpapa (in the white shirt and grey hat); and a local government representative (in the red shirt).
Workers lay the foundation for a home for Christian refugees displaced by a November terrorist attack in Sulawesi, Indonesia. The home, funded by Voice of the Martyrs Korea, is one of several replacement homes planned in the wake of the attack.
“Voice of the Martyrs Korea’s role is always to aid Christians who choose to stay and share the love of Christ, when their enemies seek to intimidate them into leaving, or even kill them,” says Representative Foley. “That is what our Families of Martyrs and Prisoners Fund is for: It enables us to rapidly provide both immediate care and longer–term support for local believers to make sure that the testimony of Christ never falls silent wherever Christians are persecuted.”
Donations to VOMK’s Families of Martyrs and Prisoners (FOM/FOP) fund can be made at www.vomkorea.com/en/donation or via electronic transfer to:
국민은행(KB Bank) 463501-01-243303
예금주(Account holder): (사)순교자의소리
Please include the name “FOM/FOP” on the donation.
Construction continues of a home for Christian refugees displaced by a November terrorist attack in Sulawesi. The home, funded by Voice of the Martyrs Korea, is one of several replacement homes planned in the wake of the attack.
One of seven homes burned in the November anti-Christian attacks