This morning, news broke that Chan and Sukumaran have been moved from Kerobokan Prison, where they were held for the past 10 years. The pair were taken to Nusakambangan Island, where executions are carried out by firing squad.

Rob Buckingham and his wife Christie – pastors of Bayside Church in Melbourne – have known the men for the last few years and feel keenly their imminent execution.

“We are going to be praying for hope for Andrew and Myuran of course,” says Rob. “Also for their strength and peace.”

Rob has had regular contact with the men over the last few weeks and last night communicated with Andrew through some mutual friends.

“Andrew continues to be very up-beat and positive. He’s like that as a person. His faith is very strong. From the beginning of our friendship he’s always said to me, ‘for me to live is Christ and to die is gain’. So for him it’s a win-win. But his preference would of course be to live and continue his work.”

“Knowing Myuran, he’ll be dealing with it very quietly, coming to terms with these as his last few days of life,” says Rob.

Of the prayer vigil Rob says, “it’s important that we pray. While there’s life there’s hope. We will continue to pray for a miracle.”

“But not everything works out as we hope or expect and we need to have a good theology of suffering. God never promises that everything will work out as we’d like it to.”

The prayer at the vigil will not be limited to Andrew and Myuran and their families and friends, but Rob says they will also be praying for the Indonesian President, Joko Widodo and the Indonesian authorities.

“We want to make our prayers respectful, and pray that they would truly see how reformed Andrew and Myuran are. That they would find it in their hearts to grant clemency and mercy to the two guys.”

Rob says that he’s received some vicious social media critiques because of his stance against the death penalty for Myuran and Andrew.

“We’re not asking for soft justice. The death penalty doesn’t just punish the guilty but the innocent as well, particularly families and close friends of the victim.

“This is about being fair. I think we can have both justice and fairness without having the death penalty,” says Rob.

The prayer vigil will be held at Bayside Church in Cheltenham, Melbourne. All welcome to come and pray.

Is the death penalty wrong? Read two different opinions from conservative Christian blogger Bill Muehlenberg, and the response from Rob Buckingham here.