Members of the Mawar Sharon Church in Indonesia are coming together after learning that nearly one-third of those aboard the ill-fated AirAsia Flight QZ8501 were from their congregation.
Forty-six members of Mawar Sharon, a Protestant faith with about 45,000 followers, were onboard the Singapore-bound airliner randomly, meaning they weren't
traveling together for any specific event, CNN said, noting that many were probably traveling to the island country to celebrate New Year's Eve.
"Some things that happen in our lives, sometimes we just don't understand what God really intends," Lianggone Tejo Bunarto, a Mawar Sharon pastor, told CNN. "We just put our trust — everything, completely — in his will. Because he's going to bring everything [that is] the best in our life."
About 50 church members and relatives of Flight QZ8501 victims met at a church in Surabaya Friday and consoled each other, holding hands while they prayed and sang songs.
Rev. Philip Mantofa asked members of the Mawar Sharon Church in Surabaya to try to find some comfort in their faith.
"If God has called your child, allow me to say this: Your child is
not to be pitied," he said, according to The Associated Press. "Your child is already in God's arms. One day, your family will be reunited in heaven."
Pastor Caleb Natanielliem of Surabaya's Mawar Sharon megachurch also attempted to console his
congregation on Sunday, according to The Wall Street Journal.
"Obviously in this situation, for people who believe in God, it is very easy to blame (and ask) why is all this so unfair," Natanielliem said during his service. "As a pastor, I know that we are a family and we need to stand together."
He said that the hardest part for many families is coming to grips with the fact that their loved ones did not survive when the place crashed into the Java Sea. CNN reported that there were 155 passengers and seven crewmembers aboard.
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