NYC Indonesians pray for the children in earthquake area

Village school children near earthquake disaster area in Indonesia. Photo: Tony Carnes/A Journey through NYC religions

Children accounted for a third of the at least 318 dead when an earthquake hit the rural hill area of Cianjur, in West Java, about 60 miles away from Jakarta, Indonesia. The catastrophic shake hit just before 1:30 p.m. local time on Monday, November 21, 2022. There were over 140 aftershocks.

At a press conference Saturday, Major General Fajar Setyawan of the Indonesian Disaster Management Agency said that the accumulated number of displaced residents was 73,693 people. Experts say the disaster highlights poor building standards in rural areas. Officials say that about a third of the dead recovered so far were children, many of whom were trapped in schools that crumbled. Indonesia is 87% Muslim, 7% Protestant, 3% Roman Catholic, and 2% Hindu.

The Protestant Church in Cianjur is managing a public kitchen, but the church building also suffered quite serious damage. The day after the earthquake, Protestant and Catholic youth leaders in Indonesia met together on how to involve Indonesian youth who want to be pro-active in compassionate activities like disaster relief. World Vision Indonesia (Wahana Visi Indonesia) is collecting resources for its relief efforts.

New York City has 4443 Indonesians, mostly concentrated in Queens, according to an American Community Survey 2016-2020 released in 2021. There are another 4-5,000 Indonesians in the metropolitan area. There are several mosques that have large numbers of Indonesian American congregants, including the Masjid Al Hikmah in Astoria, Queens and over fourteen Protestant Churches. Saint Bartholomew Roman Catholic Church has a number of Indonesian attenders. Indonesian Buddhists worship at the temple Vihara Parivara Dhamma Acala at 86-40 56th Avenue in Elmhurst/Maspeth, Queens. About one-half of the Indonesians in the city is Indonesian Chinese.

The city’s Indonesian religious leaders say that they are giving comfort to their congregants and collecting aid for Indonesian relief. There is a particular concern for the high number of children that were killed and hurt.

At Bethel International Church’s Thanksgiving service, Pastor Juliana and Bishop Nehmia Lolowang endeavored to give their congregants strength to pray with all their hearts during this disaster. Pastor Juliana preached around the theme of Paul’s encouragement to the church in Phillipi, Greece which was established in an earthquake area of Turkey, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God.” The apostle recounts his own experience with an earthquake and saving the life of his jailor.