On September 1, three Indonesian women were convicted of violating the 2002 Child Protection Law in Indonesia and were sentenced to three years in prison. Before the final hearing, an interview was held by Open Doors with Dr. Rebekka Zakaria, Eti Pangesti and Ratna Bangun.

Zakaria said with absolute conviction that “Whatever the verdict, I will accept with gladness. God had personally told me and I believe that it is a very small thing for God to set me free. Either now or later, it does not matter. His timing is always the best timing.”

Pangesti said, “I hope that the verdict will give back our freedom. But if not, then praise the Lord. He is the One who directs the course of events in life.”

After the verdict was announced, the woman reacted be saying, “Praise the Lord! He is good!”, according to Open Doors.

The hearing was opened by Judge H. Hasby Toyib at the Indramayu local court. After a reading of a 21-page case record, the court affirmed that the prosecutor’s argument that the women had knowingly influenced the children to commit apostasy. They concluded that the women had lured the children with gifts and “other shows of kindness” and breached the law.

120 to 150 radical Islamic groups were present at the final hearing and shouted “Allahu Akbar!” when the verdict was given.

To them, they considered the verdict a victory and praised the national judicial system for the care it showed towards the welfare of Islam in Indonesia. Their spokesperson spoke in the court’s parking lot before they left, warning the Christians to not make any effort to build churches in their area because any church gatherings in homes that are not authorised will be stopped, according to Open Doors.

The women, ‘guilty’ of Christianising Muslim children, were teachers at a Happy Sunday class. The women will appeal the verdict to the High Court in which the process will start next week.

Prayers have been offered by a number of Christian agencies to the three women so they will not despair or be discouraged in this time of trial.

“Pray that they will continue to trust God for His wisdom and His purposes through all this,” requested Open Doors.