 |
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Relief operations continue for Aceh survivors, amid growing fears of mixing aid with missionary activities. (Reuters)
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Additional
Reporting By Mustafa Abdel-Halim, IOL Staff
CAIRO
, January 14 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Muslim groups
in
Britain
are to build children villages in areas affected by quake-triggered
tsunami in Asia, amid calls for counterbalancing the rising influence
of Christian missionaries there.
“Muslim
charities, along with international human relief groups, are to build
children villages to care for children who lost their families after
the massive disaster,” Ihtisham Hibatullah, the spokesperson for the
Muslim Association of Britain, said Friday, January 14.
Hibatullah,
whose group is one of the leading Muslim organizations in
Britain
, told IslamOnline.net over the phone, times of calamity should not be
misused by non-Muslims.
He
was speaking one day after US daily the Washington Post published a
report revealing that a
US
missionary group plans to Christianize 300 Muslim children from the
Indonesian
province
of
Aceh
.
The
Virginia-based WorldHelp has raised money among evangelical Christians
by presenting the massive natural disaster in Asia as a rare
opportunity to make converts in hard-to-reach areas, according to the
American daily.
“Normally,
Banda Aceh is closed to foreigners and closed to the gospel. But,
because of this catastrophe, our partners there are earning the right
to be heard and providing entrance for the gospel,” the missionary
group said in a fund appeal on its Web site.
WorldHelp
said, a few hours after the publication of the Post report, that the
Indonesian government had refused permission to move 300 “tsunami
orphans” from Aceh to a Christian children's home in
Jakarta
.
After
the tsunami hit Aceh, Christian aid groups have also rushed in,
quietly promising salvation in this predominantly Muslim region.
Tens
of thousands of children in the worst hit countries lost their parents
in the Asian disaster that struck on December 26.
Rejected
|
|
Indonesia rejected a request by a US missionary group to move 300 Muslim children from Aceh. (Reuters) |
The
children village project is supported by many Muslim groups in
Britain
including MAB, the Muslim Council of Britain, the UK Islamic Mission,
the Federation of Student Islamic Societies in UK (FOSIS) and the
Islamic Society of Britain (ISB).
Hibatullah,
however, downplayed reports of massive Christianization in Muslim
areas affected by the killer waves known as tsunami. He further
highlighted cooperation between Muslim and Christian groups to help
the survivors of the disaster.
The
MAB spokesman cited the cooperation between Islamic Relief – one of
the world’s largest Islamic charities – with an American church
seeking donations to alleviate the impact of the killer waves.
However,
a number of Christian groups who rushed in after the outbreak of the
disaster vowed continued attempts of Christianization in Muslim areas.
“We
prefer to address the physical needs first,” said William Suhanda,
an Indonesian whose Christian group “Light of Love For Aceh” is
helping distribute food in Banda Aceh, according to The Associated
Press (AP) Friday, January 14.
“We
also want to expose them to Christian values.”
Aceh,
like the rest of
Indonesia
, is overwhelmingly Muslim.
Evangelists,
like American Mark Kosinski, say it's impossible to separate relief
activities from sharing the Gospel, the US news agency added.
It
quoted Kosinski as acknowledging he was warned to tone down his
message but says he has “a job to do.”
“These
people need food but they also need Jesus,” said Kosinski, who
arrived in the Indonesian
island
of
Sumatra
this week from
Malaysia
.
“God
is trying to awaken people and help them realize that salvation is in
Christ.”
On
Thursday, Jan Egeland, the UN undersecretary for humanitarian affairs
and emergency relief coordination, highlighted isolated cases of
attempts to adopt or kidnap “tsunami Muslim orphans” to convert
them.
“There
is a big and consistent rumor that children orphans are now
systematically adopted, kidnapped taken away to be Christianized in
the West. It is happening but they are isolated cases but we need to
stop it immediately,” Egeland told reporters.
Sectarian
Violence
Meanwhile,
the collection of religious groups in Aceh, which has only five
churches, has raised the possibility of sectarian violence, the AP
warned.
“Any
time you have a strong Muslim community and concerns about
Christianization, there is going to be conflict,” said Eddy Rubble,
a North Carolina Christian who is volunteering in Aceh.
Muslim
groups in Aceh, on their part, have rushed in to fill a void left by
the government and quickly set up medical clinics, opened schools and
are providing much of the food and medicines for tens of thousands of
refugees, the AP reported.
The
Islamic Defenders Front spent much of this week removing corpses from
collapsed homes alongside an Indonesian Christian group, it added.
The
most prominent Muslim group is the Justice and Welfare Party, a
political party that has become popular with its message of morality
and clean government.
Nearly
2,000 volunteers -- wearing the party's black and yellow -- arrived
days after the disaster and are a common sight driving around the city
or unloading tons of aid at the airport.
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