News
INDONESIA: Two Partially Constructed Church Buildings Burned
Suspected Islamic extremists burned two church buildings under construction in a village in North Sumatra on 22 January. The attackers came from outside the area to burn the partially constructed buildings of the Huria Kristen Batak Protestan Church (HKBP) and the Pentecostal Church in Sibuhuan village, Padang Lawas Residency, during daylight hours, said the Rev S Lubis of the HKBP church. “Hundreds of people arrived on motorcycles and burned the empty church,” he said. “After that, the mob moved 200 metres down the road and burned the empty Pentecostal church.” No people were hurt in the fires.
Lubis said that those who burned the church buildings were not from the area. He said that last year – after local officials had held up an application for a permit to erect a permanent building for five years – the church began construction. The Muslim leaders demanded that the church dismantle the parts that had been built, which the church began to do on 13 January. The 272 members of the congregation have been traumatised and many have fled fearing for their safety, church leaders said. The Rev Charles Hutabarat of the Pentecostal Church said his church’s application for a permit has been held up for three years. “Because the local citizens had approved the presence of the church, we were surprised that our church was burned like this,” Hutabarat told Compass.
Source: Compass Direct
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