By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
JAKARTA (Worthy News) – Indonesia’s government decided Friday that nearly 10,000 residents will be relocated permanently after massive eruptions of the Ruang volcano added to suffering among civilians, including Christians, who have held special prayer services.
Smoke, lava, and volcanic gasses began spewing out of the fiery 725-meter (2,400-foot) high Mount Ruang on Ruang Island in North Sulawesi province in mid-April, posing a growing threat to locals and air traffic.
Christians told Worthy News they are concerned about the situation’s impact on churches.
Though Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim nation, there are at least three Pentecostal churches of the Gereja Pantekosta di Indonesia, or ‘Pentecostal Church in Indonesia’ (GOdI) denomination in the area, Worthy News established.
Christians told Worthy News they have been holding prayer services following the volcanic eruptions in a nation where believers have also reported persecution by Muslim extremists in several areas.
Volcanic explosions occurred again this week in the north-central region of sprawling Indonesia, sparking evacuations and airport closures due to concerns about those living nearby and air traffic in the area.
Witnesses said Mount Ruang erupted three times on Tuesday, sending lava and ash clouds kilometers (miles) into the sky.
HIGHEST ALERT
The eruptions prompted Indonesia’s PVMBG volcanology agency to issue its highest alert, saying a tsunami could be triggered by “volcanic material collapsing into the ocean.”
Among those in despair is Antelmus Paulus, 67, after an eruption on Tuesday rendered his home on nearby Tagulandang island uninhabitable and prompted authorities to evacuate more than 12,000 people there.
His zinc-roofed house, about 7 kilometers (4.35 miles) from the volcano, was heavily damaged by the ejected material.
“There were rocks that were spewed (from the volcano); it lasted at least three hours,” he told Reuters news agency in comments shared with Worthy News. “I have no place to live now,” he added while awaiting evacuation.
Indonesia, an archipelago of 270 million people, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity due to its location along the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
Dozens of people have been killed and many injured in volcanic eruptions in recent months, most of them when Indonesia’s Mount Merapi erupted in December.
One of the deadliest volcanic activities in recent memory occurred in 2010 when eruptions at Mount Merapi on Java island killed about 353 people.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
Senate Republicans on Thursday confirmed 48 of President Donald Trump’s executive branch nominees in a single vote, advancing his agenda to fill key government positions after invoking a new rules change last week.
Erika Kirk, the widow of slain born-again Christian conservative activist Charlie Kirk, has been unanimously chosen as the new chief executive officer and chair of the board of Turning Point USA (TPUSA), the influential group her husband founded to rally young Americans behind conservative Christian causes.
Authorities in Indonesia’s Central Java Province have halted construction of a church and related tourism compound after pressure from local council members and Muslim groups amid rising anti-Christian incidents in the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, sources confirmed Thursday.
A young Christian man is hiding in Pakistan after being falsely accused of making “blasphemous” comments against Islam, an offence that potentially carries the death penalty under the Islamic nation’s strict blasphemy legislation, Worthy News learned Thursday.
France was gripped by a second wave of nationwide strikes on Thursday, as hundreds of thousands marched against austerity measures and looming budget cuts—unrest that not only deepens the political crisis for President Emmanuel Macron and his new prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, but also unfolds in a season many prophecy watchers view as charged with significance.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a broad wave of strikes Thursday evening against Hezbollah military sites in southern Lebanon, escalating its campaign against the Iranian-backed terror group’s Radwan Force.
Three Israeli divisions continued a steady push into Gaza City on Thursday, the third day of Operation Gideon’s Chariots II, as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) seek to seize Hamas’ last stronghold in the enclave.