Mawar Sharon Church is a megachurch in Surabaya, with around 300,000 members. It’s believed the passengers associated with the church may not have known each other, but all are connected to the community according to CNN.

Although Indonesia is largely Muslim, Surabaya has a strong Chinese Christian minority. It’s understood a number of the passengers were on their way to Singapore to celebrate New Year’s Eve.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting 2,500 people attended a special prayer service at the Mawar Sharon Church yesterday to pray for the passengers, crew and their families.

Pastor Caleb Natanielliem is reported to have said in the prayer service that there were 52 church members and relatives of members on board the AirAsia flight. During the service he reflected on Psalm 139 to bring comfort to the grieving, reports the Wall Street Journal.

“It talks about how we can never escape from God’s love,” the pastor said. “It talks about flying. If I can fly with my wings to the ends of the Earth, your love is still there. If I go to the bottom of the sea, to the darkest pit, your love is still there. I believe this is the message for the families.”

The church is also providing support to those in need at the AirAsia crisis centre in Surabaya. The Daily Mail reported that the Pastor of Mawar Sharon Church, Philip Mantofa, was holding prayer services at Surabaya Airport, where he said, “Some things do not make sense to us but God is bigger than all this… God is not evil … help us God to move forward even though we are surrounded by darkness.”

The church has also held daily Christian prayer services at the East Java Police headquarters for all families affected by the tragedy, according to Channel News Asia.

The Christian Post is reporting a further five passengers belonged to The Bethany Church, also in Surabaya. This is in addition to a family of Korean missionaries who were reportedly travelling to Singapore to renew their visas.

Pray for those affected by the AirAsia crash:

-Pray for better weather to enable the salvage team to retrieve the victims and wreckage from the water.

-Pray for comfort for those who have lost their friends and family in this tragedy.

-Pray that God will hasten the day of Jesus’ return.

-Pray for the church that it would be a witness to the wider Indonesian community

-Pray for the church to grieve with hope, and pray that friends and neighbours of those afflicted would watch with wonder.