|PIC1|Three Sunday School teachers – Dr Rebekka Zakaria, Eti Pangesti and Ratna Bangun – are still shining for Christ a year into their three-year prison sentence in Indramayu State Prison, West Java, Indonesia.

Wrongly convicted of illegally attempting to convert Muslim children who had willingly attended their Christian education programme, the three ladies have been a great testimony to the other 12 women prisoners with their quiet trust and faith in God. There was much unrest in the women’s sections of the prison before Rebekka, Eti and Ratna arrived, but all the women now get on well. The guards have also been impressed, and the women are praying that the 400 men in the prison will be changed too by God’s presence.

On fire

An Open Doors worker who recently visited the women said, “Instead of us being an encouragement to them, they were a tremendous encouragement to us! The women exude so much joy.”

Their faith has been clearly evident from the very beginning of their imprisonment, when Ratna told Open Doors, “My hope is of course for the judge to set me free; but if his verdict is not so, then – like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego – I will continue to love God more than anything. He will give me the best because He is in control.”

Ratna explained how her 78-year old father who lives in the north of Sumatra has also relied on the Lord during this difficult time:

“I was very afraid that he would be so shocked at the news of my imprisonment that he would collapse and die. But then I thought ‘He is a believer, he loves the Lord, so even if he dies he will go to heaven.’

|PIC2|“My father eventually learned of my imprisonment through my sister. He reacted by saying ‘I’m proud of my daughter for the suffering she's experiencing because of Christ. Just be bold, keep on walking in the will of God, keep preaching about the love of Christ without fear. And now I go round my hometown and tell everybody that my daughter is in prison and I’m proud of her.’

“His message to me was that this is the greatest thing God is doing in my life and he said ‘don’t expect to get out of prison too soon: finish what the Lord assigned you to do. Keep on preaching the Gospel.’

“I believe God has no plan in his heart to destroy us or cause us displeasure, but rather only to prosper us, to strengthen us, for the good of those who love him.

“It is an honour to suffer for Christ... And God never makes mistakes in our life – never.”

When asked how the rest of her family have reacted to her imprisonment, Rebekka said, “At first, my family were shocked at the imprisonment. But during the trial, my family were able to come to terms with the fact that this is something we have to accept as part of our Christian life and witnessing.”

At 39 years of age, Ratna is the youngest of the three ladies. She has two sons, the youngest being only three years old. She said, “They miss me so much, and I miss them just as much; but God’s grace is sufficient. Joshua, my eldest, was distraught but he had a change in attitude towards my imprisonment and is now strong and accepting.

"I firmly believe this has been the Lord’s doing and is the result of the prayers of our brothers and sisters all over the world.”

|PIC3|Her husband Sembiring works away from home a lot, so her sons currently live with her sister in Sumatra. In the past year, Ratna has seen them only twice.

When asked what she will do once released from prison, Ratna replied, “I want to go home: I want to be with my children and hug them. I also want to see my father again, and cry on his chest. Those are the two things I would like to do.”

Eti , aged 44, is married to Sutrisno. When asked how her family had coped with her persecution, she said it was her son who had been especially affected:

“He was afraid as well as very ashamed of having his mother put in prison. Children of course started to mock him.”

They have two daughters (aged 20 and 14) and a son, aged seven. Her husband is taking care of the children as well as working.

Rebekka, aged 48, is married and has both a daughter and son at university. She and her husband also have an adopted daughter Linda, who daily rides 75 miles on her motorbike with her young daughter, to bring food to the women because the prison meals are so poor. Paul, an Open Doors worker from the UK, who visited the ladies last June commented, “I have been in many countries where driving was dangerous, but this really was the worst. We have to uphold Linda in our prayers because she is taking her life into her hands every day in order to deliver food to the women in prison.”

Rebekka is a GP and is now using her medical skills by giving voluntary medical assistance to other prisoners.

Message to the Church

|TOP|We asked Eti what she would say to Christians who have not shared her experiences and she replied, “If I could give a message to the Church that has not yet experienced persecution, my message would be: number one, keep on walking with the Lord. Second, do not be afraid. Thirdly, expect persecution.”

Open Doors’ involvement

Open Doors is running an ongoing letter-writing campaign for Rebekka, Eti and Ratna. In the past year, the women have received 15,000 cards from all over the world. Their fellow prisoners are immensely impressed by all those cards and have said, “What good care Christians take of one another!”

Open Doors paid for the women’s lawyers and Open Doors workers attended the trials, including the final appeal in February 2006.

Open Doors workers continue to visit the ladies in prison and report that Rebekka, Eti and Ratna ask for ongoing prayer.


OPEN DOORS UK



[Editor’s Note: This special feature report was submitted to Christian Today by Open Doors UK]

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