10/20/10 Indonesia (TheJakartaPost) – The Bekasi administrations of the recently attacked HKBP church is not an effective remedy as other beleaguered congregations in Greater Jakarta continue to face problems despite similar “solutions”, Christians say.

Five years ago the Bekasi administration “lied when they told us they would provide with us a building.” Rev. Hutajulu, a minister from the Indonesian Evangelical Christian Church (Gekindo), said Thursday.

The church was burned down in 2005 by hard-line groups claiming to represent local Muslim residents who demanded its closure, saying it lacked a permit.

“The administration then promised us a free place at the Bekasi Social Agency building but the agency asked us to pay Rp 4 million [US$440] every time we conduct Sunday service,” Hutajulu told The Jakarta Post.

She said that as her 150-strong congregation refused to pay and therefore move, the Sunday service was disrupted by mobs. After twice paying to use the agency building, the congregation decided to hold services in each other’s houses. Since late 2005, they have held religious activities in a shop house close to the Jatimulya bus terminal.

“We have repeatedly applied for a permit for our new church at the shop house, but the administration turned them down,” she said.

On Wednesday, the Bekasi administration took a similar approach of promising space for the HKBP Pondok Timur Indah church, which has come under attack by people who claimed to represent area residents, The congregation has been conducting services in the area for 20 years.

The persecution peaked last Sunday with an attack that wounded church leaders who were on their way with other members of the congregation to the church construction site in Ciketing village.

The administration offered the congregation two sites in the city to hold religious services: a 2,500-square-meter lot owned by the administration and a privately owned 2,000-square-meter lot.
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