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1. Compassion International, a child sponsorship agency, helped to build houses.
2. Samaritan's Purse, skilled in medical intervention and housing, assisted in rebuilding fishing boats.
3. Mission Aviation Fellowship, renowned for helping missionaries to remote locales, flew in relief supplies for the government.

Governments, agencies, and individuals pledged a record total of $13.6 billion in aid. The aid cleaned up tons of debris, restored schools by the thousands, prevented outbreaks of disease, restarted tens of thousands of businesses, and provided thousands of homes.

Bambang Budijanto of Hong Kong was among the first Christians to arrive in Banda Aceh from the outside. During the previous five years, Bambang had rescued the Indonesian office of Compassion from the brink of bankruptcy. As a result of this effort, he was put in charge of all Asian operations and relocated to Hong Kong. Now his heart was aching for his home country.

Bambang is part of a new generation of Indonesian Christian leaders educated in the West and committed to democracy. He returned to Asia after completing his doctorate in development work, specializing in Muslim villages. He challenged his Christian friends to live and teach in Muslim villages. They formed a ministry called Pesat to improve the welfare of Muslims and promote religious tolerance, partnering with Compassion in Banda Aceh.

After the tsunami, Bambang realized that he could put to the test all he had learned about relational outreach to Muslims. After Bambang met the village headman, Mohammed, and toured Breueh Island with him, Mohammed was impressed. Here was a Christian man willing to spend the night in a place that even government officials were afraid to visit.

On the boat ride and over a dinner of sardines, rice, carrots, and cabbage, Bambang and Mohammed got to know each other better. But government officials inadvertently interrupted this budding friendship. They assigned Bambang to help Lhoh, Breueh's smaller village, and another group to help Lampuyang.

Housing is one of the most vexing problems after many major disasters, including the Asian tsunami. More than 67,000 Acehnese still huddle in tents. Most of the rest live in shelters, not homes. Much money for housing has been raised, but little has been spent. The American Red Cross, for instance, received $568 million but spent only $110 million in the six months after the tsunami.

Aceh officials are getting impatient. They say they will soon kick out groups that have failed to fulfill their promises. Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, head of reconstruction for the region, told CT that he plans on moving every refugee from tents and temporary barracks into permanent homes by the end of this year. But frustrations are running high. Mohammed is not alone in saying, "All we get are promises, promises."

While the organization working in Lampuyang has asked for three more years to rebuild homes, Bambang's team finished rebuilding Lhoh by December. Kuntoro points to Bambang's outreach as an example of what others should do. Keeping promises and building bridges to Muslim communities, Kuntoro said, will create "an open, progressive society." But Kuntoro warned, "Other [agencies] are not even building yet. I want to know why."

Bambang's example is one reason Muslims and Christians met in Lampuyang at a gathering of village elders to talk about working together longterm.

In recent months, fundamentalist Muslims had attempted to get Christian ministry teams kicked out of Banda Aceh. But Mohammed considers Bambang a part of Lampuyang. The headman even taught Bambang a few secret fishing techniques.

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March 2006, Vol. 50, No. 3