Indonesia (MNN) — Mount Ruang is keeping Indonesia’s Disaster Management Agency on alert. The volcano on the northern part of Sulawesi Island has had at least eight large-to-medium eruptions over the last week. On Wednesday, authorities issued the highest-level alert for active volcanic activity.
Bruce Allen with FMI says, “Authorities are concerned that the volcano […] will collapse into the sea. And if people have seen photos of glaciers in Alaska, calving and just dropping into the water, you can imagine what happens if a mountain [collapses] that’s 2,500 feet tall. So there’s a tsunami alert because that could trigger tsunamis.”
Around 11,000 people are in the affected area of northern Sulawesi Island and nearby islands. At least 3,000 people have evacuated, and authorities are helping more flee the area.
Evacuation efforts were hampered by the closure of an international airport in Manado due to heavy falling ash. However, the airport was re-opened on Monday after authorities downgraded the volcano alert level to a three.
Mount Ruang, Indonesia (Photo courtesy of Suratman/Volcanological Survey of Indonesia/Wikimedia Commons)
“I’ve been on erupting volcanoes in Indonesia. It’s necessary to evacuate because this hot ash with the lava burns everything. The poison gases can kill, and then the threat of a tsunami is very severe,” explains Allen.
“It’s not just for the island where Mount Ruang is located. Another island could face the severest impact, Tagulandang. It’s only separated by about a half mile of water from North Sulawesi, the island where Mount Ruang is. So if there is a tsunami, all the water getting pushed out because of the volcano would just hit that coast.”
FMI works with Christian ministry partners in Indonesia for evangelism, church planting, and discipleship. Allen says none of their partners are in the area on volcano alert.
Please pray both for people fleeing the threat of disaster and for local Christians in areas receiving evacuees. Pray for opportunities for the Indonesian Church to show Christ’s comfort.
Allen shares, “I’ve been on a volcano while it’s erupting, and I was able to see how the majority population is just thinking of themselves. It’s the Christians who reach out and make sure the people are being fed [and] have water, things like that. So pray that people would encounter Jesus through the actions of Christians at this time.”
Bible distribution in Indonesia, July 2019. (Photo courtesy of FMI)
Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation. Having a widespread Church community and ministry work is important so when disasters occur, Christians are there to offer relief and Gospel hope.
Allen says, “I have a dozen church planters waiting for support in Indonesia, and if we can support these church planters and come alongside them and empower them, we’re going to have impact in the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation where most of us would never get to travel or have engagement with people. But we can stand alongside others who are already there.”
Click here to support FMI church planters in Indonesia.
Header photo of Mount Ruang courtesy of Devicanatasya/Wikimedia Commons.
