Christian Groups Wary in Providing Relief to Indonesia
As several of the nations affected by last month’s catastrophe are predominantly Muslim, sources say Christians are mostly invisible and are told not to display their church names or wear crosses.
Dozens of faith-based groups are among those contributing to relief efforts in the wake of last month's quake-tsunami devastation, which killed around 175,000 in 12 countries across South Asia and left millions homeless. As several of the nations affected by last month’s catastrophe are predominantly Muslim, sources say Christian groups are mostly invisible and instruct workers not to display their church names or wear crosses.
“We prefer to address the physical needs first,” said William Suhanda, an Indonesian whose Christian group “Light of Love For Aceh” is helping to distribute food in Banda Aceh, the capital of Indonesia’s Aceh province.
“We also want to expose them to Christian values,” he told the Associated Press. “It is so they can see the other side, that we're about the love of Christ. But this is not the place to carry a Bible.”
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According to AP, groups including everyone from al-Qaida-linked militants to evangelical Christians have joined the relief efforts and their presence is most profound in Indonesia, where the needs are greatest and the cash-strapped government has thrown open the doors to foreign aid groups.
On Sunday Indonesia increased its tsunami death toll by 5,000, raising the overall number of people who died in the Dec. 26 disaster to more than 162,000.
While Muslims hand out Qurans with the bags of rice and sugar they distribute to tsunami victims in this predominantly Islamic region, Christian aid groups continue to work tirelessly, wary that their presence could spark sectarian violence.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military already has 2,000 Marines ferrying aid workers and transporting food to victims in Aceh, where most of the devastation occurred. Overall about 15,000 U.S. military personnel are involved in the relief effort in southern Asia, AP reported.
Hundreds of troops from Australia, Singapore, Germany and other nations are also helping the relief effort, along with U.N. agencies and scores of nongovernmental aid groups.
Several Indonesian officials, including the vice president, have expressed unease about the large number of foreign troops, indicating their desire to see them gone by the end of March. However, on Sunday the nation's defense minister toned down his country's reluctance to host foreign troops helping in relief efforts, saying there is no deadline for the troops to be out.
"We would like to emphasize that March 26 is not a deadline for involvement of foreign military personnel in the relief effort," Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono said after meeting U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz in Jakarta.
However, according to AsiaNews, Islamic militants have said that they would tolerate U.S. presence “so long as it is justified by humanitarian reasons” but if “there are any secret agents among them, Allah will destroy the U.S.”.
Similarly, AP reported Friday that Dien Syamsuddin, secretary-general of the Indonesian Council of Ulemas, warned against attempts by some Christian aid workers to evangelize among survivors of last month’s devastating quake-tsunami disaster.
"All non-governmental organizations, either domestic or international, with hidden agendas coming here with humanitarian purposes but instead proselytizing, this is what we do not like," said the notable Muslim leader.
"This is a reminder. Do not do this in this kind of situation," Syamsuddin continued. "The Muslim community will not remain quiet. This a clear statement, and it is serious."
Sensitive over foreign involvement in the humanitarian effort, Indonesia has insisted that foreign aid workers in Aceh be accompanied by army escorts despite the talk about a cease-fire—a move that relief groups say will hinder their work.
In Indonesia, Muslims make up about 88 percent of the country’s 238 million people, while Protestant Christians make up about five percent, Roman Catholics three percent, Hindus about two percent, and Buddhist about one percent.
