Thank you so much for your continued prayers for Trinity (7), one of the victims of the church bombing in Samarinda, Indonesia, in 2016. Having experienced the effects of the lockdown in China due to coronavirus, Trinity has drawn her own encouragement for you.
6 May 2020
Thank you so much for your continued prayers for Trinity (7), one of the victims of the church bombing in Samarinda, Indonesia, in 2016. She’s been undergoing advanced treatment for her injuries in Guangzhou, China since September 2017.
Having experienced the effects of the lockdown in China due to coronavirus, Trinity has drawn her own encouragement for you: “Stay home and be safe. We can definitely fight the coronavirus.”
Trinity wants to encourage everyone during the coronavirus lockdown.
If anybody knows how to be brave and resilient in the face of a challenge, it’s Trinity.
Although her treatment is going well, she and her family have been travelling between China and Indonesia constantly – and this has greatly affected Trinity’s education as she cannot attend school regularly. “Whenever she makes new friends in Indonesia, there comes the time that we must go to China for the next treatment,” says Sarinah, Trinity’s mum.
The gap between each surgery is usually about three months. In between surgeries, Sarinah and Trinity would return to Indonesia to save money. But Trinity’s wounds post-surgery weren’t healing well, as their local hospital in Indonesia doesn’t have the expertise to care for her post-surgery treatment. Sarinah has since decided to stay in China, for Trinity’s sake.
In 2019, Trinity started attending kindergarten in Guangzhou. “It is an international private school, which belongs to a pastor who is aware of our situation. It is very difficult for non-citizens to attend any of the public schools here,” explains Sarinah. “Thank God she enjoys the school and loves learning new languages, especially English and Chinese, the spoken language in the school.”
When Covid-19 broke out in Wuhan, China, the family - who are living in a small apartment - were affected too. Sarinah says, “We have been staying in the apartment for months now. Trinity studies at home and we worship at home too. As for the treatment, the doctor will contact us to set up the next schedule for operation. We go outside, only to buy groceries or play for a while to get refreshed.
“It is a challenging situation. We miss our family very much, but we can’t return to Indonesia. But we are rejoicing in the Lord and will wait patiently for the situation to get better and proceed to the next treatment. We are grateful that many people have shown care to us – the believers here, donors from Indonesia and also support from Open Doors,” said Sarinah.
Open Doors have been supporting the family, spiritually and financially, since the church bomb attack that wounded Trinity and two other children, Alvaro and Anita in 2016. Last year, we gave them some financial support, for the third time, to help the family with the cost of the treatments in China.
“Thank you, Open Doors, you have always been there for us from the beginning. This time, it (the lockdown) is even difficult for you, so please stay strong. We are praying for all the Open Doors’ supporters all over the world,” says Sarinah.
Your support helps persecuted Christians continue to courageously follow Jesus.
Together, we can reach those where persecution hits hardest.