IN THE early hours of October 1, 1965, troops linked to the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) assassinated six prominent generals in an attempted coup. The government’s response was swift and ruthless. In what has been described as a nationwide “orgy of violence,” some 500,000 alleged communists were slaughtered.

Several weeks after the failed coup, a senior military commander told me that my name was at the top of a list of religious leaders in our area whom the communists had planned to liquidate. He even offered to show me where my grave had been dug in preparation for my burial, but I politely declined. In the highly charged political atmosphere, I did not want to be seen in his company and risk compromising my reputation as a Christian neutral.