Story number 1 for 5 Jul 2000

Topping the headlines today, violence in Indonesia is spreading. Mission groups are pulling back more frequently. New Tribes Mission‘ Guy Sier says they evacuated other workers first, but recently pulled out three Indonesian families. Their escape was harrowing. “It surely was the Lord’s timing because the day that those men moved out of Ambon, Muslims attacked the villages that one of our missionary families was living in, and completely destroyed it. Two days after we completed that evacuation, violence erupted again in Ambon and the city was declared under a state of civil emergency, and the airport was shut down. We never would have been able to get them out.” Sier adds that prayer is important. “While there is the slaughter that we see in the Maluku, there is also the more subtle political pressures in Jakarta that continue to move Indonesia toward a more Islamic state. That is a concern, of what will the future-it would be very easy to shut down missionary visas and deny us privilege of working there.”