Amazing faith in the face of execution

I read a newspaper article this week that was very countercultural. It was about the final hours of the lives of Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, two of the ‘Bail Nine’ who were executed this week by the Indonesian government after being found guilty of heroin smuggling. They were executed along with six others also sentenced to death for their crimes. Shortly before they were taken to the site of their execution, one member of the group led them all in singing ‘Amazing Grace’. As they faced their executioners, which they had chosen to do without blindfolds, they said The Lord’s Prayer.

Media reports suggest that Chan was an “utterly changed man” who had become a committed Christian and pastor inside prison and spent his time in prayer and Bible study or counselling other prisoners. Sukumaran on the other hand had become an accomplished painter.

The DomPost article quotes Pastor Karina de Vega as saying that she believed the one non-Christian in the group “also sang from his heart”. “It was breathtaking. This was the first time I witnessed someone so excited to meet their God,” she said.

And so, at the end of a sad and desperate story and legal battles that have lasted over 10 years, came a story of incredible hope. And the resulting media stories about the incredible faith of the executed men have circulated around the world.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/asia/68114615/indonesia-executions-prisoners-refused-blindfolds-singing-as-they-were-shot