For Immediate Release

SANTA ANA, CA (ANS) — At 6 a.m., local time today, Christian Sunday school teachers Dr. Rebekka Zakaria, Eti Pangesti and Ratna Bangun were released from Indramayu prison, West Java, and were immediately reunited with their families.

Rebekka, Eti and Ratna were arrested in May 2005, falsely accused of converting Muslim children to Christianity through their Sunday school program called Happy Sunday. They were sentenced to three years in prison on September 1, 2005, convicted of breaching the country’s 2002 Child Protection Law. Throughout the trial, Islamic extremists made murderous threats to the three mothers from both inside and outside the courtroom.

Although the Supreme Court in Jakarta turned down the second and last appeal for the three schoolteachers on February 7, 2006, the jail term was shortened with a request for parole made after two-thirds of the jail term was served.

The women of the Christian Church of David’s Camp set up a Happy Sunday program with Christian songs, games and Bible studies for the children, under the direction of Dr. Rebekka. After 18 months, 40 children were attending the popular program, but only 10 were from Christian homes. The Muslim children attending the Sunday program did so with the full consent of their parents.

However, opposition to the Happy Sunday program resulted in the forced closure of the church building in December 2004. The three women continued to teach children from Eti’s home.

“We praise God for the early release of these three, faithful women and are inspired by the strong faith they demonstrated throughout their imprisonment,” said Dr. Carl Moeller, President and CEO of Open Doors USA. “Our continued prayer is for their reconnection with their families and for the freedom of their church to continue to worship together. We must also continue to pray for the church in Indonesia, which remains under heavy pressure from Islamic extremists who seek to close more and more house churches.”

An estimated 200 million Christians worldwide suffer interrogation, arrest and even death for their faith in Christ, with another 200 to 400 million facing discrimination and alienation. Open Doors supports and strengthens believers in the world’s most difficult areas through Bible and Christian literature distribution, leadership training and assistance, Christian community development, prayer and presence ministry and advocacy on behalf of suffering believers. To partner with Open Doors, call toll free at 888-5-BIBLE-5 (524-2535) or go to our USA website at www.OpenDoorsUsa.org.

(For more information or to set up an interview, contact Jerry Dykstra at 616-915-4117 or email jerryd@odusa.org).