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INDONESIA: LIGHT REVEALED
Profile of a Contextual Evangelist
Perilous Ministry
Since he started ministering to Muslims in 1994, Aji* knew that it would not be easy. Not only was his evenagelistic method seen as controversial to most Christians, but he faced risk because he had to go to placed that were extemely hostile to the Gospel.
Some Muslims rejected Christianity because its doctrines contradicted theirs. But for many, becoming a Christian brought shame to their district that was strongly Islamic. It was a matter of reputation rather than faith.
"So in order to introduce them to the Gospel, I had to be one of them. There's no other way," Aji said.
After years of tireless study to obtain a Masters Degree in Islamology, and months of beard growing - a symbol of a pious Muslim - Aji morphed into one of them. His life, since then, had been like that of a double agent's; a zealous Christian evangelist to some people, a well-versed Muslim teacher to others.
However perfect his disguise was, Aji faced constant dangers. He kept a good record of his troubles: 222 expulsions from a community, 13 changes of mobile phone number, and four summons by the officials. His last interrogation by the police in 2004 left him with a swollen knee for two weeks.
He found the journey harder after having a family, because they became a second target for Muslim extremists. Phone threats against his family seldom stopped. Once, his then 4-year-old son was nearly abducted. "He was traumatized for some weeks. But after I explained to him that we have eternal life in Jesus Christ, he started to recover," Aji said.
Undercover Disciples
In the first years of his ministry , Aji asked local churches to baptize the new converts. But churches knew the harsh reality of converting Muslims into Christians, and would not honor his requests.
Rejected by the churches, but inspired by the home church system in Bangladesh and India, Aji decided to baptize and disciple the new believers himself.
Aji, together with five workers he had previously trained, brought more and more people to Christ. Now, 50 home churches have been established, each with three families. Aji kept the number of members small in each group to avoid suspicion from the neighbors. And just as their teacher, the disciples remained Muslims in the eyes of their neighbors. Consequently, they could not sing during worship services. Neither could they be seen carrying and reading a Bible. Aji has to retype it in smaller parts, so that the believers could bring the bundled papers anywhere and read them discreetly, without raising suspicions.
"When they got together, the papers - not even mentioning the name of the Book - would be the only things they had with them. [They had] no complete Bible," he explained. "If officials ever searched their homes, they would find nothing."
Light Revealed
Eventually, some of the believers were revealed. At one point, one of the believers reported to the officials. In their zealousness, some believers would mention their faith by a slip of the tongue.
"We can't prevent that kind of thing from happening. Just like light, Truth cannot be concealed; sooner or later, it will reveal itself to other people," Aji said. "Besides, God had already prepared [the believers] for the worst by the time their faith was disclosed."
But the worst didn't happen.
Although aware that they were Christians, officials still kep them within the community. Aji taught the secret believers to show their love and faith in practice by fixing the village roads, cleaning the sewers, or repainting the mosque's fence. The village recognized their contribution and thus embraced them, regardless of their new faith.
"Now that their real faith has been exposed, they have more freedom. They can sing and read the whole Bible freely," said the 37-year-old evangelist.
The teacher was thankful that his disciples were unharmed. But an evangelist whose Muslim ministry continues to expand will eventually face persecution. "But who am I to complain? Even our Great Teacher (Jesus) was persecuted," Aji said, "Suffering for Christ is a privilege..."
*Real name hidden for security reasons.
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