Christians flock to worship amid attacks

Use of the word "Allah" for God by Christian churches in Malayasia led to attacks against churches with nine buildings damaged (with no injuries to people yet). Now, an article from the Ecumenical News International, reports that the Christians in Malaysia are worshipping in greater numbers.

The Rev. Hermen Shastri, the general secretary of the Council of Churches of Malaysia, said "People's faith is greater than what's happening around [them] so they continue to go to church and pray for themselves as well as for the nation."

The article goes on to say that,

About 60 percent of Malaysia's 26 million-population is Muslim. The rest are Buddhists (19 percent), Christians (nine percent), Hindus (six percent), Sikhs and other faiths.

Adherents of minority religions have expressed concern in recent years that the country is becoming "Islamized" following a series of court decisions and government laws that minority groups have said impede on their freedom to worship.

The Malaysian government has appealed against a court decision to allow non-Muslims to use the word "Allah" for God after a judge earlier this month cleared the way for a Catholic newspaper to use the word in its Malay-language edition and determined that the word "Allah" was not exclusive to Muslims.

The court decision was criticized by Muslim groups, who have expressed concern that allowing the word "Allah" to be used by other religious groups would encourage proselytizing of Muslims to convert them to Christianity and other faiths.

Pray for Christians in Malaysia.