Spotlight

Agus is a 12-year-old Christian boy. He lives in Indonesia. (See his photo above.)

One Sunday, Agus tried to pick up his little sister from her Sunday school teacher’s house. Radical Muslims have destroyed 900 churches in Indonesia. So, church groups and Sunday school classes often meet in the homes of pastors and teachers.

But outside the teacher’s house, a group of men began to kick Agus!

The men had a Bible. “Spit on the Bible!” they told Agus.

Agus saw that the men had a machete. (A machete is a big knife used to cut crops and bushes. Machetes are also used as weapons.) The men did not look afraid to use the machete.

But Agus said, “No.” He would not spit on the Bible. Thankfully, God protected him, and Agus got away from them.

Sunday School Visitors

The Bible belonged to Norma, the Sunday school teacher. Earlier, Norma and two other teachers read from the Bible to their class of 17 children.

The Bible lesson was interrupted by about 30 men banging on the doors and windows of the house! They came in the house shouting, “Allahu Akbar,” which means “Allah is great” in Arabic.

Arabic is the language of Islam. Islam is the religion of Muslims. Muslims worship Allah, who they believe created the world. Not all Muslims believe it is right to attack non-Muslims, but those who are extreme, or “radical,” in Indonesia are doing so.

The Sunday school teachers and children knew what radical Muslims had done to other churches. “Jesus, please help us!” Norma prayed.

Attacked with a Bible

“A man picked up my Bible,” said Norma. “One of the men shouted, ‘Because of this Bible, a lot of people are becoming apostates!’”

An apostate is someone who leaves their religion. Radical Muslims in Indonesia are angry when Muslims leave Islam to follow Jesus.

“Then one of the men took the Bible and hit me in the face with it,” said Norma. “My 13-year-old daughter said, ‘Please don’t hit my mom!’

“But I felt the hand of God was protecting me. Another man grabbed the Bible and said, ‘I will burn this!’” Then he took the Bible outside, where the men told Agus to spit on it.

“Broken for You”

Joel, an 8-year-old Sunday school student, had run out of the house when the men came in. He went back inside after the men left the house. He saw that the men had thrown a picture on the floor and smashed it. The picture showed Jesus holding a baby.

“My Jesus has been broken!” cried Joel when he saw the picture.

God protected Joel, Agus, Norma, and the other children from serious injury in the attack. Norma prays they will continue to be strong in their faith. “Our family prayed together about this and asked God to take away any fear,” said Norma.

Please pray with her for Indonesian Christians. Pray that their attackers will come to know the one who said, “This is My body, which is broken for you” (1 Corinthians 11:24).