Indonesia: Reverend Wau (9 June 2003)

09 June 2024

Local Indonesian Muslims told him to stop holding church services. They warned of the danger if he continued his Christian activities. But Rev Wau chose to ignore the warnings. He wasn’t ashamed of his faith in Christ. The day their threats were carried out started like any other Lord’s Day. Wau led Sunday services in the morning, challenging and encouraging his fellow believers in their Christian walk. Afterward, he and his family spent a relaxing afternoon at home. Around 5pm, a man knocked on the door. He didn’t say much, only that he needed the pastor to go with him for a short while. Saying little, Wau picked up his Bible and followed the man out the door.

When Wau didn’t return home after a couple of hours, his wife began to worry. It wasn’t supposed to take long. Also, aware of the many threats to her husband’s life, she knew that being absent for that amount of time with someone they didn’t know couldn’t be good. She asked her neighbour for help, and together they began searching for her husband in the surrounding neighbourhood. After searching for several hours and finding nothing, they made their way home. As they neared the house, Mrs Wau noticed something lying in the front yard. Running toward her house, she began screaming as she realised it was her husband’s body. He was covered with bruises, and the deep wounds around his neck indicated that he had been strangled.

Rev Wau knew the consequences of his very public faith and witness, but he had courageously chosen to speak about it to the people of Sumatra. He knew that every day he walked fearlessly with Christ was a day more people would come to know Christ and grow in their faith; he also knew that it was a day closer to the escalating danger. His last Lord’s Day was truly the best one for him, as it was the day that he entered for eternity into the Lord’s presence.

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