August 12, 2002

Dear Praying Friends,

I have been receiving alarming reports about renewed attacks on Christian villages in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. (Read the following report of the attacks on the villages of Sepe-Silanca) I was in this region in February 2002 and inspected the destruction of village after village. A number of the villages were being rebuilt in a brave move by the Christians to not run from the threats against them. The situation has now reached the level of danger that Christians in this region faced in December of 2001 when the Laskar Jihad soldiers had massed to attack the Christian village of Tentena where over 50,000 Christians had fled.

Please pray for the safety of the Christians in the Central Sulawesi region. Pray that their voice will be heard by the leaders of nations. The Indonesian government needs to intervene to protect the lives of these Christians who are under threat. Pray for the plans of the Laskar Jihad soldiers will be stopped.

Contact anyone you know will pray or anyone who can help put pressure on the Indonesian Central government to intervene on behalf of the unarmed and innocent men, woman, and children who face the threats to their villages and lives.

Please add to your prayers the dangerous climate near the Christian community of Tobelo. There have been a number of murders and villages attacked and burned near Tobelo. Tobelo is on the Island of Halmahera in North Maluku region of East Indonesia. This village has over 50,000 Christian refugees. The villages have been attacked by forces believed organized by the Laskar Jihad.

The situation in these regions is grave. Please pray.

Carl Cady--U.S. director of International Friends of Compassion

web site-- www.ifcus.org

SEPE-SILANCA ATTACKED AND BURNED DOWN

(Poso Watch Network)

On the evening of Monday, 12 August 2002, about 18.30 the village of Sepe (12km from Poso) was attacked by a hail of bullets. This village had only just been rebuilt after being burned down as a result of the attack of the Laskar Jihad at the beginning of last December 2001. The locals fled to escape. Some of the men tried to make some attempt at defense with very minimal weapons (machetes, sickles and sharpened bamboo). But the attackers were using automatic weapons - according to information from the locals, they sounded just like those used by the Special Forces (Brimob) - so that finally the men who had been trying to make a stand, also fled while witnessing their houses being robbed and burned to the ground.

According to the testimony of Rev.Vence Waani, Pastor of the Pentecostal Church in Sepe, the situation at the moment is menacing. The sounds of automatic weapons were coming from all directions, mixed with the hysterical shouting of mothers, the weeping and shrieking of children, the glow and flames of fire from the burning houses all blending into one scene of horror. Rev Waani succeeded in escaping together with his family and they are now sheltering in Kawua. The force of the Laskar Jihad was overwhelming. About.08.30, the village of Sepe with a population of about 1250 had been totally burned down, including two churches. We have as yet no details of the number of victims.

After succeeding in burning Sepe to the ground, the Laskar Jihad continued their attack to Silancar and while shooting, plundered and burned down the village. According to our observation, there are two possibilities that would explain why these two villages have been attacked, burned down and destroyed. Firstly, the Laskar Jihad who are fully equipped with organic weapons are really trying to destroy all the pockets of Christians with their main target being Tentena. Secondly, the Brimob (the Special Forces) have been withdrawn from their defense posts with the reason being that there were Brimob who disappeared and the Christians were accused of kidnapping them, even though this accusation is totally untrue (if indeed there are any who have disappeared, it wasn't the Christians who abducted them), so Brimob/the guards) have been withdrawn from Saturday night 10 August 2002.

Is there a conspiracy between the Laskar Jihad and part of these defense forces? Who knows! Indeed there is nothing we can do. Apparently we have no right to live in our Homeland, the Republic of Indonesia.