The stories I listened to mentioned violent incidents of a most brutal and senseless kind that targeted even young children, women and old people. There were horrific stories about the murder of small children whose bodies were dumped at sea. I spoke to a young woman who had lost her husband in an attack on her village. She was nine months pregnant and gave birth in jungle while literally on the run from Jihad militia. Official figures indicate that around 5,000 people have been killed in the violence throughout the Maluku Islands over the past two years.
Unofficial figures suggest the number killed is much, much higher.
Friends, it's indeed been a challenging year for anyone who has links with Indonesia. A really disturbing dimension to all this trouble is the division and the hatred that is erupting in local communities. This even impacted on the life and leadership of the church. Also in West Timor there is now division between local Kupang communities and East Timorese refugees. In Kalimantan there is conflict between Dayak people and immigrants from the island of Madura.