Racing in the Name of a Volcano
On April 10, 1815, Mount Tambora on Sumbawa Island erupted. It shot volcanic material 27 miles into the sky, caused tsunamis, buried villages, and killed tens of thousands of people. On April 10 and 11 of this year, there will be several events to commemorate the disaster, calling it “Tambora… Read more
Landslide in West Java Kills 6 People
On Saturday, March 28, a hill in Tegal Panjang, in the Sukabumi area of West Java, collapsed. The landslide buried 11 houses, causing 300 people to flee for their lives. The landslide also buried the road that goes through the village. Soldiers, volunteers, and policemen searched for missing people under… Read more
Despite World Leaders’ Pleas, Jokowi Moves Ahead With Executions
World leaders from Australia, Brazil, and France have contacted Indonesian President Jokowi to ask him to not execute the 11 convicts on death row scheduled to go before a firing squad sometime this week. All of these countries have citizens scheduled to be executed, and yet Jokowi has denied clemency.… Read more
Indonesia’s Religious Minorities Hope for Safer Future Under New President
Over the past few years, persecution against religious minorities has risen. Ahmadi Muslims have been refused places to bury their dead, church congregations have had their church buildings torn down, and Shia Muslims have been chased out of their own villages. But they are finding hope in the new president,… Read more
Indonesia Reverses Local Election Ban
In September, Indonesia’s old parliament passed a law ending local elections to choose mayors, provincial governors, and district heads. Instead, local parliaments were given the power to choose them. Many people condemned Indonesia for this, saying that this was a backwards step for democracy. On Tuesday, Indonesia’s new parliament formally… Read more
AirAsia Passengers Remembered At Prayer Service
On Sunday, January 4th, a special service was held at Surabaya’s Mewar Sharon Christian Church to remember the passengers, and crew of AirAsia Flight 8501, and pray for their families. Fourteen families from this church lost relatives in the crash, totaling of fifty-two members. More than 2,500 people attended the… Read more
Another Volcano Erupts; Airport Closes
Mount Gamalama, the volcano that forms the entire island of Ternate in the Malukus erupted late on Thursday. The airport has closed because the ash can problems in the planes, as well as making it hard to see as the planes land. As long as there are no more eruptions,… Read more
Indonesian Government Proposes New Law to Allow Religious Freedom
In just a couple of months, Indonesia’s new president Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has already started working on a new law that will give religious freedom to religious minorities. Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim has stated that over the next six months, they plan to propose a law that will protect… Read more
Indonesian Court Upholds Widodo’s Presidential Victory
On Thursday, August 21, Indonesia’s highest court announced that they were unanimously upholding Indonesia’s presidential election result declaring Joko Widodo (Jokowi) as the winner. Prabowo Subianto challenged the result, claiming that there had been cheating at several polling stations, and those stations should hold new elections. But as expected, the… Read more
Baha’i: Indonesia’s Newest Official Religion
In Indonesia, everyone is required to declare a religion. For a long time, there were five choices: Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, Catholicism, and Buddhism. A few years ago, Chinese religions/ Confucianism was added. And now, the Baha’i religion has been added. Like many other minority groups, the Baha’i have faced much… Read more
Jokowi Wins Presidential Election, but Prabowo Challenges Results
Late on Tuesday, July 22, Joko Widodo, known as “Jokowi” was declared the winner in Indonesia’s presidential election. The Elections Commission declared that Jokowi received 53.16% of the votes, winning by almost 8.5 million votes. However last Friday, the losing candidate, Prabowo Subianto filed an official challenge to the results… Read more
Presidential Election Ends in Deadlock
On July 9th, Indonesians went to the polls to vote for their next president. Unfortunately, a clear winner has yet to be declared. The deadlock has raised some fears of political instability. Jokowi came out ahead with 52 percent of the vote according to the three most credible quick counts.… Read more
Indonesia’s Tight Race Hangs on a Few Voters
In the final push before Wednesday’s election, Prabowo Subianto and Joko Widodo (Jokowi) spent the weekend touting their Islam credentials to the world’s largest Muslim country. About nine out of ten voters have already decided who they will vote for on July 9th, but that still leaves more than 15… Read more
Hard-liners Greet Prabowo in Yogyakarta
With Indonesia’s presidential elections less than a week away, both Prabowo Subianto and Joko Widodo are furiously campaigning. On Tuesday, Prabowo was in Yogyakarta. About 1,000 people gathered, most being from Islamic organizations who are declaring their candidate as the “war commander of Muslims.” Muhammad Fuad, a Muslim leader, states,… Read more
One of Southeast Asia’s Largest Red Light Districts is Closing
The Dolly district of Surabaya is one of Southeast Asia’s largest red-light districts. Surabaya’s new mayor has pledged to shut down the area by June 18th. A few weeks ago, over 1200 sex workers marched through the district protesting the closing. They say they won’t be able to earn a… Read more
West Java Authorities Shut Down Seven Churches
West Java is quickly becoming one of the most intolerant provinces toward religious minorities in Indonesia. Authorities in the Cianjur district, which is about 90 km from Jakarta, have ordered seven churches to close because of allegedly having irregularities in their building permits. Building a church in Indonesia is a… Read more
Indonesia’s Presidential Election Favorite Names VP
Joko Widodo, otherwise known as “Jokowi” is the favorite in Indonesia’s current presidential campaign. He has named Jusuf Kalla as his running mate. He made the announcement on Monday, May 19. Unlike Jokowi, who was a furniture seller turned politician, Kalla has been in politics for a long time, as… Read more
“Leading the Way” Continues to Impact Indonesia A Year Later
A year ago, Dr. Michael Youssef and Leading the Way Ministries did a revival in Indonesia. The ministry is continuing to impact this country. A team of 100 Christian leaders is still doing follow-up with each person who made a decision for Christ at the revival. On March 1st, they… Read more
Aceh Rape Victim to be Caned
A woman in Aceh was gang raped last week because she was accused of having an affair. She now faces being publicly caned for the affair. Ibrahim Latif, the head of the sharia office in her town says that both she and the man will be caned because they violated… Read more
Indonesian Governor Wants To Stop Adultery With Prayer
The governor of Gorontalo, Rusli Habibie, has enacted a local law requiring all government employees to pray together regularly and to attend half-hour sermons every Friday in an effort to discourage them from cheating on their spouses. He states that he has heard many reports of civil servants cheating. He… Read more