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Muslims warn tsunami aid groups not to proselytize

By: Abdullah

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia: Indonesian clerics on Friday warned of a widespread Muslim reaction if international aid groups involved in relief efforts in tsunami-hit Aceh province begin proselytizing and adopting children orphaned from the December 26 disaster.

“This is a reminder. Do not do this in this kind of situation,” the clerics said. “The Muslim community will not remain quiet. This a clear statement, and it is serious.”

The clerics were referring to reports that US-based missionary group WorldHelp had planned to adopt 300 Acehnese children orphaned by the quake and raise them in a Christian children's home.

The group president, the Rev. Vernon Brewer, told news agencies Thursday WorldHelp has dropped its plans.

The children were still in the Muslim province of Aceh and had not been airlifted to Jakarta, Indonesia's capital, according to an e-mail under Brewer's name circulating Thursday among his supporters.

In an article published in Thursday's Washington Post, Brewer said that the children already had been airlifted to Jakarta and that the Indonesian government had given permission for them to be placed in a Christian children's home. Brewer did not return calls Thursday to his home, office and cell phone to address the discrepancy.

In the e-mail, as well as in statements given to Reuters and Agence France-Presse, Brewer said WorldHelp had raised $70,000 to place 50 of the children in a Christian orphanage, but had halted its efforts when it learned Wednesday that the Indonesian government would not allow it.

But evangelist Mark Kosinski, a Wisconsin native, told The Associated Press he thought it was 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.”

In response to fears that Acehnese tsunami orphans would be trafficked, the Indonesian Department of Social Affairs adopted a further prohibition on people taking children out of the province. Officials said the only exemptions were for relatives.

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