I got a call in the middle of the night. I couldn’t believe what I heard. But it was true.
Today is a day of mourning for Malaysia. Thus, the theme color change for my blog will represent what I feel right now.
I’m not interested in speculating too much as the police are still investigating.
However, I’m also deeply moved by the responses of my Muslim friends showing care and concern in reference to the fact that this has happened.
The reason for this is reported in the links below.
Malaysian church fire-bombed ahead of Muslim protests
Malaysia church torched amid Allah row
Church damaged in midnight fire
Malaysian church set on fire: officials
Let me pick out the relevant tweets from my twitter account (if you have the patience you can read all of them all the way down):
Wow. Just heard about the church torching. No wonder it’s raining like shit. Allah’s weeping.2 minutes ago from Echofon
@fahmi_fadzil thanks my friend!2 minutes ago from TweetDeck in reply to fahmi_fadzil
you know what we muslims should do this am? go to the metro tabernacle, help clean up the mess those munafiks made last night.10 minutes ago from TweetDeck
"Our Lord is Allah..Did not Allah check 1 set of ppl by means of anothr, that wd surely hv been pulled down monasteries,churches,synagogues2 minutes ago from UberTwitter
@sivinkit Yes, indeed. Violence is not the solution to any problem. Related to court case or not …2 minutes ago from Echofon in reply to sivinkit
RT: @netraKL: All Muslims shd condemn the torching of the church last nite. It is unIslamic to destroy ANY house of worship. Pls RT.3 minutes ago from Echofon
Al-Quran Surah 22, verse 40: (They r) those who hv been expelled fr their homes in defiance of rt, -(4 no cause) except that they say,3 minutes ago from UberTwitter
Friend’s church was set on fire last night! Keeping the members in prayer.6 minutes ago from UberTwitter
RT @netraKL: All Muslims shd condemn the torching of the church last nite. It is unIslamic to destroy ANY house of worship. Pls RT.13 minutes ago from TweetDeck
RT @bumilangit: Bakar gereja bukan kerja org muslim, tp kerja extremis yg tak bc quran. Dlm perangpun tmpat ibadat tak diganggu, @NajibRazak19 minutes ago from Snaptu
RT @ributkl church arson: TMI http://bit.ly/6djZcf – Star http://bit.ly/7hZ3bc – Reuters http://bit.ly/4SPIcX – APhttp://bit.ly/5HdCh519 minutes ago from TweetDeck
@nikicheong it’s a sad day not just for the Christians but for the whole nation. The question is … what’s next?22 minutes ago from TweetDeck in reply to nikicheong
angry and upset over attack on metro tabernacle in melawati. this is ridiculous23 minutes ago from Echofon
News about last night’s church arson: TMI http://bit.ly/6djZcf— Reuters http://bit.ly/4SPIcX — AP http://bit.ly/5HdCh523 minutes ago from web
Why do we call it common sense when hardly anyone ever uses it? (via @funnyoneliners) thought this was appropriate for the morning. :/26 minutes ago from Tweetie
@lil_ms_d now I’m watching closely how our National leaders respond. They play politics. The common ppl suffer.27 minutes ago from TweetDeck in reply to lil_ms_d
My country needs healing.33 minutes ago from Echofon 
sivinkit
recalled we were united in confronting the 2009 "cow head" incident. Now is the time for national solidarity once again. ALL of us!36 minutes ago from TweetDeck
RT @ributkl kpd para arsonist gereja protestant mlm tadi: Bak kata filem PRamlee, "kecik-kecik tak nak mampus, dah besar menyusahkan org!"about 1 hour ago from Tweetie
Woke up to church burning news. We must ask ourselves what have we done so far to prevent this, and make ammends.about 1 hour ago from web
Dah lah bakar, bakar gereja yg salah pulak tu. Yg mintak kebenaran guna ‘Allah’ gol katolik, bukan protestan!about 1 hour ago from Tweetie
@fahmi_fadzil let’s see how the PM and the "supposed to take care of our security" Home Minister has to say abt this.about 1 hour ago from TweetDeck in reply to fahmi_fadzil
@mahyuni let’s see how the PM and the supposed to take care of our security Home Minister has to say abt this.about 1 hour ago from TweetDeck in reply to mahyuni
It was arson after all 🙁about 1 hour ago from Tweetie
Churchburning has finally come to Malaysia. Bravo.about 1 hour ago from Gravity sivinkit
@nirhal Nik Aziz has already spoken out to condemn this act.about 1 hour ago from TweetDeck in reply to nirhal
KL church fire-bombed!!! Linked to Allah issue protests. So, who’s under siege now? 🙁 http://tinyurl.com/yc2ubr7about 1 hour ago from TweetDeck
@lil_ms_d Just call me Sivin, 🙂 I’m a Protestant Lutheran Pastor.Husband of 1, father of 3. This is a time to plot goodness not harm.about 1 hour ago from TweetDeck in reply to lil_ms_d
@sivinkit do i call you father? i can’t deal with this. i just can’t. i come from a family full of interracial unions, and this is madness.about 1 hour ago from web in reply to sivinkit
RT @lil_ms_d: Msian Church set on fire.http://tinyurl.com/yf5uzz3 ~ we need to unite against violence and those who instigate it!about 1 hour ago from TweetDeck
[…] Sivin Kit (he blogged about it as well, and pulled some Tweets you might want to read) is calling for national […]
Hi Church. The Lord is our Shepherd. We shall not be in want. Remember that He prepares a table for us IN THE PRESENCE OF OUR ENEMIES. Look to the Lord. He is our Deliverer. Do not go into fear but be courageous. When we are weak, He is strong and mighty to save.
For such a time as this, Christians should rise to prayer for Malaysia and her people. It’s a saddening news that people could react such brutality towards others just because of the matter of using name, especially the name of God.
We should mourn for this. I am totally agreeing with what Pastor Sivin is saying here. However, let us not only concern about this news, but rather raise our eyes in caring for the poor, the needy and the oppressed. Fighting for religious rights is good, but let’s not only fight for what’s right religiously, but what’s right universally.
I am compelled to share this passage of scripture in encouraging our fellow brothers and sisters to start caring for the injustice that is happening throughout the country:
17 Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow. (Isaiah 1:17, New King James Version)
By the way, I have written one article about this incident on my blog. Feel free to stumble by here.
En Fahmi, u know the Christian denominations well!!
[…] I am trying to be hopeful but as I continue to read up on what has taken place in my country, I immediately get a rude awakening. I am in utter shock. Never say never, and if you still don’t believe it – this has happened! […]