Cascading Movements: Who Will Go?
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| "The islands will look to You, O Lord." |
The year was 1866. Four young Dutch missionaries were
sailing through the Straits of Malacca. The intended port for these glory
bearers was present day Papua, Indonesia.
Enroute to Papua they met a Christian man named Moli. He
appealed to the four missionaries to begin mission work in the Maluku islands.
They heard a “Macedonian Call” much like the one described in Acts 16:6-12.
Three of them, Hendrik van Dijken, T. F. Klaassen, and A. De Bode, answered
that call, changed their plans, and began a work in this area. The work was
slow and painstaking. The first baptisms took place in 1874 when they dedicated
the first church.
The growth of the church came after 1900 when a perceived
“new” missionary method was applied. People were baptized in groups
(households). This rapid growth began in Tobelo in 1898 and developed quickly
throughout the islands from 1900.
“Perintis Injil” (pioneer of the gospel) reads the
inscription at the base of the present-day bronze statue that memorializes Van
Djiken’s obedience to Christ. Several mango trees from that time period shade
the land where Van Djiken and his colleagues planted the gospel in the Maluku
area of Halmahera.
Pray for today’s believers to hear and respond to God when
He calls them to re-direct their efforts. Pray for entire households of
unreached people groups to embrace Isa Al Masih (Jesus, the Messiah).
Fast Forward to Today
Only a short walk from the present day tribute to the
faithfulness of these three missionaries lies a sharply contrasting memorial to
a more recent story. From 1999 to 2002 one of the largest jihad efforts to
eradicate the few Christians in this eastern area of Indonesia was launched.
This second and more recent memorial stands less than 100
meters from the bronzed likeness of the first bearer of the gospel; two
divergent kingdoms are represented therein. The moss covered remains of a
bombed out church building chronicles the stark contrast between the
transformational power of the gospel and the cruelty and fallen-ness of man. A
mass grave reflects a small representation of those who were killed at that
time in the conflict. This mass grave tells the tale of those who were
eviscerated, bludgeoned, decapitated, maimed, and hunted down by Laskar Jihad
and other Muslim terrorist groups. Many of their children were stolen and
shipped back to Java to be raised in Islamic boarding schools and madrasas.
This has resulted in a generation of stolen children and many eradicated
families who dared to say the name of Jesus. The challenge is to finish what
Hendrik Van Djiken and others began by faith.
The L Riots of the year 2000, which targeted the
few Christians in this area, were incited by the violence unleashed in the
Ambon, Maluku, and Poso areas of Indonesia. Islamic solidarity and prowess
expressed a higher stakes commitment from that day forward.
Pray for
Muslim Indonesians to understand God’s perspective on these two “monuments”
offering such contrasting spirituality.
