BOGOR, INDONESIA (ANS) -- Compass Direct News (CDN) is reporting that the Bogor city government in West Java, Indonesia, re-sealed the Gereja Kristen Indonesia (GKI) Yasmin Church on Saturday, August 28, 2010, one day after security police had removed the seal and lock.

GKI Yasmin Church leaders said the congregation in Bogor will continue worshiping outside its building (Photo: Compass)

The CDN story said that under cover of darkness, Bogor security police were ordered to secretly re-seal the church building at 11 p.m. the night before it was to be used for worship services.

Jayadi Damanik, a member of the GKI Yasmin legal team, said security police had removed the lock and seal after church talks with the district officer, the Bogor police chief, the head of the security police and citizens who live near the church.

In those talks all parties agreed that there was no reason to question the construction and presence of the GKI Yasmin Church, he said.

The CDN story went on to say, “The district officer and the Bogor police chief told church leaders that the original sealing of the church on April 11, 2010, was the unwarranted result of political pressure, he said. But on Aug. 28 at about 4 a.m., unknown persons locked the gate of the GKI Yasmin fence and placed a banner on it that read, ‘Because this building is continuing to be processed under the law, it cannot be used.’

“At 11 a.m. that day, the church took off the lock and removed the banner, but late that night security police resealed it with a new notice. Besides sealing the building under cover of darkness, Damanik said, there was no formal notice and no church witnesses.”

Damanik was then quoted by CDN as asking, “Why did they do this at night, like thieves? Because of this, we do not accept the seal as legal.”

For more information, go to www.compassdirect.org

Dan Wooding, 69, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 46 years. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS). He was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC., and now hosts the weekly “Front Page Radio” show on KWVE in Southern California and which is also carried on the Calvary Radio Network throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on Calvary Chapel Radio UK. Wooding is also a regular contributor to The Weekend Stand on the Crawford Broadcasting Network, and a host for His Channel Live, which is carried via the Internet to some 192 countries. He is the author of some 44 books. Two of the latest include his autobiography, “From Tabloid to Truth”, which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, press this link. Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, has also recently released his first novel “Red Dagger” which is available here