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<H1>Muslims, Christians converge</H1>
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<FONT size=1>Thursday, January 13, 2005 Posted: 9:18 PM EST (0218 GMT) </FONT><!-- /date --><BR></SPAN></P></FONT></DIV>
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<P><B style="FONT-SIZE: 14px">BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) -- Muslim radicals are
handing out Qurans with the bags of rice and sugar they distribute to tsunami
victims. Christian aid groups have also rushed in, quietly promising salvation
in this predominantly Islamic region but fearful their presence could spark
sectarian violence.</B></P>
<P>Across the Indian Ocean basin, dozens of faith-based groups have joined
relief efforts in the wake of last month's tsunami, which killed more than
155,000 in 11 countries and left millions homeless.</P>
<P>The groups include everyone from al Qaeda-linked militants to evangelical
Christians, and their presence is most profound in Indonesia, where the needs
are greatest and the cash-strapped government has thrown open the doors to
foreign aid groups.</P>
<P>The heavy Muslim influence in Aceh province -- one of the few Indonesian
regions that has instituted Islamic law -- has defined how the groups operate.
While Muslims are bragging about their religious credentials, Christian groups
are mostly invisible and instruct workers not to display their church names or
wear crosses.</P>
<P>"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, the provincial capital, and wants to bring 50 children to a
Christian orphanage in Jakarta, the national capital.</P>
<P>"We also want to expose them to Christian values," he said. "It is so they
can see the other side, that we're about the love of Christ. But this is not the
place to carry a Bible."</P>
<P>But evangelists like American Mark Kosinski say it's impossible to separate
relief activities from sharing the Gospel. He acknowledged he was warned to tone
down his message but says he has "a job to do."</P>
<P>"These people need food but they also need Jesus," said Kosinski, who arrived
this week from Malaysia. "God is trying to awaken people and help them realize
that salvation is in Christ."</P>
<P>One American ministry considered airlifting 300 orphans waiting at the Banda
Aceh and Medan airports to a Christian children's home in Jakarta. WorldHelp
started raising funds for the operation until it learned that the government
banned non-Muslims from adopting Acehnese orphans.</P>
<P>"What we were attempting to do in finding a home for these orphans is no
different from what Mother Teresa did in placing Hindu orphans in a Christian
children's home," said Vernon Brewer, president of the ministry.</P>
<P>The collection of religious groups in this conservative Muslim city, which
has only five churches, has raised the possibility of sectarian violence but has
also led to some unusual partnerships.</P>
<P>The Islamic Defenders Front -- known for trashing Western pubs in Jakarta --
spent much of this week removing corpses from collapsed homes alongside an
Indonesian Christian group. Mormons have teamed up with Islamic relief
operations to send aid to the region.</P>
<P>The United Nations asked the extremist Muslim group Laskar Mujahidin, which
allegedly has links to al Qaeda and has been accused of killing Christians in an
earlier conflict, to unload a plane of relief supplies late Wednesday because it
was short of personnel.</P>
<P>"Everyone wants to help in this catastrophe and prejudices are put aside,"
said Mans Nyberg of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. "Of
course, they are serving a role."</P>
<P>Still, the dozens of refugee camps have in some ways become the battleground
for religious groups. Muslims especially appear to have filled a void left by
the government and quickly set up medical clinics, opened schools and are
providing much of the food and medicine for tens of thousands of refugees.</P>
<P>"We need religion. We need to remember our God," said Sari Andina, a
23-year-old teacher whose camp features a mosque where children are taught
Islamic studies.</P>
<P>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.</P>
<P>For party members like Jamy, the December 26 tsunami was a warning for
Muslims. He and other volunteers say that another disaster is inevitable unless
people start living according to the teaching of the Quran.</P>
<P>"We tell them this came from God and we have to be strong," said Jamy, who
like many Indonesians uses only one name. "This is some kind of a lesson. People
forgot about God and he has now punished them. Maybe now people will realize
what they have done and start going to the mosque."</P>
<P>The task is more complex for Christians because they have often been a target
of violence in Indonesia, partly over allegations they were attempting to
convert Muslims.</P>
<P>Since the fall of the dictator Suharto in 1998, thousands of churches have
been bombed and burned. Fighting between Muslims and Christians has killed
thousands in the provinces of Central Sulawesi and the Malukus islands.</P>
<P>"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 volunteer. "I'm afraid that after months of people helping
one another survive, it will only take one spark to create a big
issue."</P></DIV></BODY></HTML>