Muslims Block Worship at Two Churches in Indonesia

Home fellowship told to obtain permit.

SURABAYA, Indonesia (Morning Star News) – A local official and other Muslims on Sunday (June 18) stopped worship at a house church outside Jakarta, Indonesia, and a church site in Central Java Province was temporarily blocked, according to local reports. In West Java Province, a group of Muslims said to be led by a neighborhood official […]

Muslims Stop Christian Services in Two Cities in Indonesia

Worship disrupted on Sumatra Island.

SURABAYA, Indonesia (Morning Star News) – Muslim mobs on May 19 stopped Christians from worship in two cities of Indonesia’s Sumatra Island, sources said. Muslims reportedly disrupted Christians as they worshipped in a café in a village in Binjai, 13 miles from Medan, capital of North Sumatra Province. In Riau, capital of Pekanbaru Province in […]

Charge Reduced for Indonesian Official Who Stopped Service

Intruder released from jail.

SURABAYA, Indonesia (Morning Star News) – Authorities have reduced a blasphemy charge to one of mere “intrusion” for an official on western Indonesia’s Sumatra Island who broke up a worship service, sources said.  Church leaders in Indonesia said such leniency would never be granted to a Christian who broke up mosque prayers and appealed for […]

Local Officials Seal Church Building Shut in Indonesia

Muslim intruders demanded congregation stop worshiping at site.

SURABAYA, Indonesia (Morning Star News) – Local officials sealed shut a church building in West Java Province, Indonesia on Saturday (April 1), two weeks after Muslims intruded into a worship service and demanded its closure, church leaders said. The congregation of the Simalungun Christian Protestant Church (Gereja Kristen Protestan Simalungun, or GKPS) in Cigelam, Babakancikao, Purwakerta, […]

Church in Indonesia Stands Up to Attempt to Stop Worship

Muslim intruders told congregation to disperse.

SURABAYA, Indonesia (Morning Star News) – A church in West Java Province, Indonesia refused to yield to Muslim intruders’ attempts to stop their worship service on Sunday (March 19), the pastor said. About 60 miles southeast of Jakarta, two Muslims entered the building of the Simalungun Protestant Christian Church (GKPS) in Purwakerta, took photos and video and […]

Muslims Block Christians’ Construction in Indonesia

Another congregation wins right to build after initial ban.

SURABAYA, Indonesia (Morning Star News) – Muslims in a village in northeastern Indonesia’s portion of Borneo Island prohibited a church from constructing a worship building, sources said. Local leaders of Selumit village, in Tarakan City in North Kalimantan Province, stated in a Feb. 28 letter that Mawar Sharon Christian Church’s proposed construction was against state regulations […]

Christians’ Sunday Worship Broken Up in Indonesia

Local official, others intrude into church service.

SURABAYA, Indonesia (Morning Star News) – A local village official in Indonesia stopped a church service on Sunday (Feb. 19) in what became a mob intrusion, sources said. On western Indonesia’s Sumatra Island, the head of the Rukun Tetangga area of Rajabasa Jaya village, Wawan Kurniawan, leaped over a meter-high fence to intrude into the […]

Police Arrest Christian Apologist in Indonesia

Professor compared Christianity and Islam on social media.

SURABAYA, Indonesia (Morning Star News) – A Christian apologist whose comparisons of Christianity with Islam were widely disseminated on his blog and YouTube channel has disappeared since his arrest in December, sources said. Nothing has been heard from Gratia Pello, a professor at a small Christian theological school in East Java Province, since a crowd of police […]

Christian Worship Service Prohibited in Indonesia

Church blocked from renting one venue is banned from new site.

SURABAYA, Indonesia (Morning Star News) – A church in Indonesia on Jan. 8 was prohibited from holding a Sunday service in front of a city hall building, where it had gone after losing its prior worship venue in a mall, sources said. Following opposition to the church’s services in a mall in Medan, North Sumatra Province, […]

Muslim Villagers Halt Christmas Celebrations in Indonesia

Home worship stopped within hours of president’s appeal for unity.

SURABAYA, Indonesia (Morning Star News) – Muslim villagers in West Java, Indonesia on Christmas Day stopped a congregation from celebrating Christmas in a home, according to various sources. The interference came within hours of Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s historic visits to two churches in nearby Bogor, where he urged congregations to continue harmonious relations with people […]