The two following stories describe a basic reality: persecution in SE Asia. To be Malay is the Muslim in the mind of many. Only the cross can break the power of lies. Indonesians are growing stronger & the gospel is spreading ... Pray that this would also happen in this land & would not stop ... to the last day!!
Peace,
Mert Hershberger
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MALAYSIAN COURT RULES AGAINST RIGHT TO CONVERT
The country of Malaysia consists of four main ethnic groups: Malay, Chinese, Indians and tribal peoples. On September 19, a superior court upheld an earlier judgment that the Malay people cannot renounce Islam. According to the Malaysian constitution, ”A Malay citizen is a person who professes Islam.” For the approximately 15,000 Malay converts to Christianity, this means that they retain the official status of a Muslim, regardless of their religious beliefs. Two of the three judges on the panel ruled that she could only change her status with the permission of Muslim religious authorities. The third judge, a Hindu, held that she had the right to renounce Islam without permission, since the Malaysian constitution guarantees the freedom of religion.
In 1998, Azalina Jailani converted to Christianity and changed her name to Lina Joy. She went to court to force the National Registration Department to change her religious status from Islam to Christian so that she could be married in a civil ceremony to her Christian husband. Her request was rejected when the judge ruled, ”As a Malay, the plaintiff exists under the tenets of Islam until her death.” Pray for Lina and the other Malay Christians living in a state of constitutional limbo. Pray for them as they experience social rejection and legal discrimination. As one Christian woman told AsiaNews on September 21, ”We are discriminated and virtually live underground lives. Our parents, siblings and friends all shun us like lepers.”
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INDONESIANS ANSWER CALL TO MISSIONS DESPITE ONGOING PERSECUTION
Roy Peterson of the Seed Company, who recently returned from a trip to Indonesia, says Indonesians are willing to spread the gospel to their countrymen despite the ongoing threat of persecution. “Churches were being closed down by the majority religion [Islam] there,” he said. “There is a lack of freedom to get land to open up and build new churches. They are living with persecution. It’s very quiet . . . not well-broadcast persecution, but it is a part of everyday life.” Despite the pressures, believers are doing everything they can to encourage evangelism. At a conference where Peterson spoke, hundreds of young people responded positively to the call to get involved in missions. “Many of the people groups in Indonesia still don’t have the Scriptures in their language,” he said. “There are about 700 different languages across those 3,000 miles of islands.” The Seed Company is training Indonesians to do the work. “Across the spectrum I saw young people, I saw pastors, and I saw business people giving strategically,” said Peterson. “I just came away with a sense of God working in that country.”
