PEKANBARU, Indonesia — Islamic protestors in Indonesia have halted worship at a church on Sumatra island and at another church on Java island, even as several other churches remain closed after suffering attacks last year.
The congregation of Love Evangelical Bethel Church near Pekanbaru, Riau province, on Sumatra island closed Sunday services Feb. 15 after about 60 demonstrators from four local mosques demanded its closure. The demonstrators said the church did not have a permit for expansion. The congregation is the only church in the village of 14 mosques, none of which have permits, according to Alex Ritonga, its pastor. His church is registered with local religious affairs authorities, but he said it has no expansion permit because church neighbors had told him they had no objections to any add-ons.
In Banten province on Java island, a mob of Islamic youths marched on a Christian social services house Feb. 8 and sealed it shut. The house also served as the place of worship for the Indonesia Pentecostal Church Kalibaru in Melayu village, Teluk Naga district, Tangerang. Other churches forced to close last year remain sealed.
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