Indonesia

Indonesian police have detained a social media influencer for blasphemy against Jesus while Christians face growing pressure in the world’s largest Muslim nation, sources told Worthy News.

An evangelical pastor in Indonesia says he is resuming worship services despite being removed from a store where his congregation had been meeting in a show of defiance toward authorities of the world’s largest Muslim nation.

A pastor in Jombang Regency, Indonesia was last month dragged out of a shop his church had been meeting in by around 50 government officials who then sealed the shop shut, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.

Christians in Indonesia appealed for prayers Tuesday as security forces crushed nationwide protests against attempts by parliamentary allies of outgoing President Joko Widodo to change regional election legislation in their favor.

Pastor Johannis ‘John’ Hus Lumenta, the restless, dedicated secretary-general of Indonesia’s main Pentecostal denomination Gereja Pantekosta di Indonesia’ (GPdI), has died, Christians confirmed to Worthy News early Sunday.

Security officials in Indonesia have thwarted an Islamic terrorist plan to suicide bomb two church sites in East Java, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.

An Islamic social media campaign has come under condemnation for using controversial statistics and statements to stir up fear and strife over the spread of Christianity in Indonesia, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. 

A well-established in Indonesia has been threatened with eviction from its worship center because a new Islamic university has been opened in proximity to it, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. 

Suspected angry Muslims raided a house church in Indonesia’s East Java province, just days after a similar incident in which two were injured, a pastor and other Christians told Worthy News on Friday.

Police in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, are investigating a prominent Indonesian pastor, known for his television appearances, for alleged blasphemy against Islam, Christians told Worthy News early Friday.

Devoted Indonesian Christians say they remain concerned about churches being targeted by Islamists despite government pledges to improve the situation for minority faiths in the world’s largest Muslim nation.

In a piece of welcome news for historically persecuted Christians in Indonesia, Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas has requested the Directorate General to ascertain whether regional Indonesian churches have been unjustly refused building permits and to facilitate the establishment of places of worship, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. Christianity is legal in Indonesia, but the Muslim-majority country has consistently blocked the establishment of churches and impeded believers’ right to express their faith.

Rights advocates are calling for Indonesia’s blasphemy laws to be amended or revoked, as the number of Islamic fatwas and arrests for blasphemy against Islam have increased at an alarming rate, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.

An elderly Christian man in West Java province, Indonesia is now serving a second prison term for blasphemy on the grounds he insulted the Muslim prophet Mohammed in social media posts that were critical of Islam, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.

Muslims in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, are blocking a Christian school from being built in their neighborhood despite the school having been granted the requisite building permit by the authorities, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.

A Christian in school in South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, has been told its permit will be withdrawn following pressure applied on local officials by Muslims, including members of the banned Islamic Defenders Front (IDF), Morning Star News (MSN) reports.

A large group of around 50 Muslims conducted an anti-Christian protest at a shophouse church in Depok City, Indonesia, last month, angrily shouting and pushing against the fence surrounding the building, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. 

The Indonesian Bethel Church Solagracia in Padang, West Sumatra has reported that a service it held in a rented home on August 29 was disrupted by neighbors who broke a window while threatening them and demanding they stop worshiping, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.

Members of a house church in West Sumatra Province, Indonesia, were placed in extreme danger by Muslim relatives of their landlord, who broke up their worship service by threatening to kill them with a machete last month, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.