When It Seems Too Bad To Be True
by Patrick Jones, missionary in Indonesia
Do you ever read something online and instantly believe it to be fake news? Maybe it’s too extreme. Maybe it’s too unlikely. Or too absurd. This happened to me the other day.
In reading some local Indonesian newspapers I saw an article about refugees who landed in Aceh, Indonesia, after being at sea for six months. Surely this was a mistranslation. It must be false.
It was all true.
A group of over 300 religious minorities from the Middle East were accepted into Indonesia after being denied safety and asylum by other countries. By the time they were accepted into Indonesia many of them were sick and dying. Most of the photographs were from individuals on Instagram; very little news made it out of the city or my country. I knew that someone had to help.
After a few days of emails, I was able to find a group of Filipino missionaries working undercover as farmers in Aceh. I emailed them and told them that CRF would love to find a way to help. I mentioned that most of the photos that were in the newspaper showed a severe lack of water. I told him we wanted to buy as much water and food for them as possible.
Two days later, the refugees had supplies paid for by CRF donors!
If you would like to know more about the situation in Indonesia,
contact us at media@christianrelieffund.org.
Patrick is the older son of Milton and Barbie Jones.