A local official and other Muslims on Sunday (June 18) stopped worship at a house church outside Jakarta, Indonesia and a church site in Central Java Province was temporarily blocked, Morning Star News reported.
In West Java Province, a group of Muslims said to be led by a neighborhood official reportedly disrupted the worship service of mostly women at a house in Tambun Selatan, Bekasi, on Jakarta’s eastern border.
Video footage showed a man said to be the neighborhood official using harsh language against a church leader trying to defend the fellowship.
Worship in a private home
In the video, the church leader tries to pacify protestors, telling them the congregation didn’t construct a church building and was only worshipping in a private home.
The Inter-Religious Harmony Forum recently told a gathering of Muslims that Christians need no permission to hold worship services in a private home. Indonesian law does not require a permit for worship in a home.
About 467 miles east of Jakarta in Central Java Province, a group of Muslims on Sunday (June 18) blocked entry into a church building by placing a banner over the door stating that it had no right to exist, Morning Star News reported. The opposition reportedly arose because local Christians lacked a permit to hold worship services in the building.
Indonesia ranked 33rd on Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2023 World Watch List of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written and originally published by Morning Star News.
