Abraham Bentar Rohadi - Prisoner Profile

  • Kaleo Church
  • Jan 1, 2007
  • Series: World Community Stories
    Abraham Bentar Rohadi - Prisoner Profile

    PRISONER NAME: Abraham Bentar Rohadi
    LOCATION: Indonesia
    ARRESTED: March 2006
    SENTENCE: 4 ½ years
    SUPPORTED BY: Tierrasanta Missional Community

    Abraham Bentar Rohadi, a 55 year old clothes trader from West Java, is currently imprisoned in a cell in Tasikmalaya, Indonesia. Falsely accused of blasphemy against the Prophet Mohammed he is currently serving a four and a half year sentence. His only crime has been to share his faith in Jesus with his customers, family and friends. As a Muslim, Abraham had studied the Koran since childhood. In 1998, at the age of 48, he suffered a stroke. Following a local pastor’s prayer for his healing, Abraham had a dream of a man in a white robe. He thought the man’s face was the same as the face he had seen on a picture of Jesus at a neighbour's home. Abraham resolved to accept Jesus as his Lord and Saviour if he were healed from the stroke. He was healed and the same pastor arranged for a local church to disciple Abraham who was eventually baptised in 2003. Abraham sought to live out his faith and his desire was to communicate that faith with his Muslim friends, which he did. As he sold clothing in villages in West and central Java he shared how Jesus had appeared to him in the dream and had subsequently healed him.

    It was his own brother-in-law who filed charges against him saying that Abraham had tried to force Christianity on him and had blasphemed the Prophet Mohammed. On March 7, 2006, Abraham was visiting relatives in West Java when he was attacked by a group of Muslims who beat him severely. A large crowd of Muslims gathered outside and proceeded to overturn his van and help themselves to the contents, including various items of new clothing. As the melee continued they were joined by other Muslims and began shouting, ‘Burn him!’ They set fire to his van before the police arrived just in time to save his life. Abraham was then detained in the Tasikmalaya police station where he was formally charged with blasphemy. During his trial and sentencing in May, Abraham’s own brothers were among the witnesses for the prosecution. Abraham was accused of defaming Islam and its "prophet" Muhammad. At his second hearing on 31 May, the judges found him guilty and sentenced him as charged. It was during that hearing that Abraham, through his lawyer, confessed to the charges. The day before the hearing, several Muslim fanatics visited him in the prison. They interrogated him, saying,"Tell me, what have you gained by becoming a Christian?" Abraham replied, "Jesus Christ has been blessing me abundantly." A blow landed on Abraham's head. When asked to recite the shahada (the Islamic faith declaration), Abraham refused. He received another blow. If not for threats jeopardising several churches in his district, Abe would have held on to his plea of innocence. "I was forced to confess under great pressure," he said. "I am not guilty as charged; but other Christians must think I deserve to be jailed.”

    The evangelist says he is battling discouragement and fear. When Open Doors visited him, it took a while before agreed to meet with them as he has received several unwanted visitors amongst whom were Muslim 'visitors' attempting to reconvert Abe to his former religion, Islam. "I have been abused many times. I have lost six teeth because of that," Abraham explained."Every day, I wake up at 3:00am to pray and sing praises. I stop after an hour, to give my cellmates a turn to pray," he explained. He is free to fellowship with four other Christian prisoners on Sundays. Although he can deliver a sermon, he is prohibited from mentioning Jesus Christ: "I have to say 'God' instead," he reports. Abe's other activities include sports and doormat-making. He says, "[Making doormats] is very hard for me. I used to be a respected person when I was a free man. But now, I have to do this kind of [menial] work," he said. Abe enjoys good relationships with the prison wardens. However, he is wary of being transferred to a prison in Central Java as he fears he might be mistreated by the wardens there. On the other hand, this transfer will bring him closer to his wife Waty, aged 36, and daughter Rinda, 14.

    Address:
    Abraham Bentar
    Jl. Merbabu, RT. 07/04
    Jambon Tempelsari,
    Kecamatan Cacaban
    Kodya Magelang, Jawa
    Tengah, INDONESIA

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