Islam - Asia > Muslims break up worship service with machete; Burning churches, Bibles, etc., in Pakistan

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Muslims with Machete, Club Halt Worship in Indonesia

Morning Star News, September 5, 2023:

SURABAYA, Indonesia (Morning Star News) – A machete-wielding Muslim threatened to kill members of a house church in Indonesia as he and family members on Aug. 29 broke up a worship service, sources said.

In West Sumatra Province, the Sola Gratia congregation of Bethel Indonesia Church (Gereja Bethel Indonesia, or GBI) was meeting the evening of Aug. 29 in a rented house in Jalan Banuaran, Banuaran Nan XX village, Lubuk Begalung Sub-District, in Padang, when a Muslim woman broke the home’s windows with stones and told those inside to stop worshiping, the church pastor said.

Pastor Hiatani Ziduhu Hia told outlet radarsumbar.com that the woman claimed she was the owner of the house in the attack at about 8:35 p.m.

Later the woman’s husband came to the house with a machete, accompanied by another man with a wooden club. Brandishing the machete, the Muslim shouted at the congregation that he was going to cut their throats into pieces and told them to stop worshiping, Pastor Hiatani reportedly said.

“We continued to pray,” the pastor told radarsumbar.com., adding that the husband later returned and continued demanding that they cease worship.

“We stayed calm, trying to explain the situation to them,” Pastor Hiatani said. “But they didn’t pay attention to us.”

The woman, later identified as relative of the landlord, claimed that the church could not worship in “her home,” the pastor said.

“We know that the owner of the house is not her, because we pay someone else,” Pastor Hiatani said. “Those who receive our money also know that we occasionally use the place for worship. The head of the neighborhood already knows about our activities. As for the perpetrators, we know that they are the relatives of the house owners, not the house owner.”

The house tenant, Juni Anton Zai, told BBC News Indonesia that 20 congregation members were holding a worship service when they heard the screaming woman approach from the backyard and break the windows.

“We were shocked, and our worship was dismissed,” Juni told BBC News. “My son was shocked. The mother screamed, and we canceled our worship.”…

Juni offered to sit down and discuss the matter calmly, but they refused, he said.

“Instead of having a nice talk, they threatened us,” Juni said. “His younger brother was also carrying a machete; he scared us. After that, his younger brother came. He came bringing a wooden club. He wanted to hit my little brother, who was sitting on the motorbike.”…

’They (Muslims) piled up Bibles and hymn books and set them on fire’

Open Doors, September 6, 2023:

Last month, thousands of Muslim extremists brought devastation to Christians in Jaranwala, Pakistan, by attacking more than 20 churches and almost a hundred homes in response to allegations that two believers had desecrated the Quran. The three stories below highlight the horror experienced by some of the victims. The awful incident has affected more than 1,600 people – thank you for your continued prayers and support for them….

For 50-year-old Asad*, church was not just part of his weekly routine, but also his daily routine – that was until the devastating events of 16 August.

On that day, just like any other day, he had flatbread, curry and tea, before taking his daughter to the bus stop where he made the sign of the cross on her forehead before she headed to college. On his way back, he stopped by his church, a 1,500-square-foot space on which a tent stood that was owned by a cluster of families. He swept the tent, spent time in prayer and returned to his nearby home.

It was then that he heard loud angry screams. “The mob is coming, and they are angry!” said locals as they fled the area, but not Asad. “My daughter will come home from college,” he said. “If she doesn’t know and she comes home, I want to be here for her. I can’t leave my home.”

Asad ran up to the roof and hid behind a derelict wall. From there, he could see his church as well as another nearby church. “I saw them immediately target the church in the next street,” he recalls. “They took anything that could be sold and loaded it onto trucks. They then poured acid over the items. I saw them trample the crosses and Bibles. I saw them throw the Bibles out onto the street and jump on them. It looked like they had no sense at all – just blind hate. They poured fuel from their petrol bombs, lit the Bibles on fire, and watched them burn, only walking away when satisfied.”

Asad was grateful that his church remained untouched. “They did not recognise it as a Christian space,” he says. But then he saw one of his Muslim neighbours call the mob back. “They came back, pulled down our beautiful precious tent of prayer and worship, and threw it all to the fire.”

Asad stayed hidden behind the wall for the entire day. Fear grew when his daughter didn’t return when she normally did. “Where is she? Why is she so late? Did something happen to her?” He eventually heard her voice call out to him. She had come from her auntie’s home, which is where she went after hearing about the attacks.

“Today, I have nothing,” Asad continues. “I saw my house and my place of worship burn in front of my eyes. I was helpless. I saw my neighbours betray us. We have never done them any harm; we always respected them. Then why? Why did they become part of an agenda that was so anti-Christian? What about my daughter? What will become of her?”…

Why did they become part of an agenda that was so anti-Christian? - Because they are Muslims, of course.