Australian Christians must support Christians who are suffering persecution because of their faith, Rev Professor James Haire said in Adelaide after the assembly meeting.

"It will cost us dear, in money and in other ways," he said. "But we must do it."

James said he was under some strain all during the assembly meeting — not because of what was happening in the meetings but because of people who knew personally who had died recently for their faith.

"The church was destroyed In the attack on Duma in Northern Halmahera just a few weeks ago," he said." I took part in dedicating that church, a beautiful new church.

"This was the first Christian village in the North Malukus. Only Christians who had been converted came to live in it. It was quite different from other villages. It had been granted to them as a kind of land grant. There was absolutely no reason for any Muslim to be near the place."

The church that was burnt was a symbol of the people who had been killed.

"I had been going back and forth teaching there for the last 30 years," James said. I baptised people there.

"One of the ministers died in the conflict

"I received the list of victims. Not all the names are there. Some bodies were unrecognisable. Some could be recognisable as children, as women and men. With some they couldn't even say that because they had been so mutilated.

"The names of about 70 per cent of the people who died were on the list. I had baptised at least a third of them.

"All the Christians there have been wiped out. There are no Christians there at all now.

"Then there were the refugees on the boat. They had fled in terror, fearing that they would face the same fate.

"They set out for Sulawesi — and the overcrowded boat went down. Many people died — 534 passengers and crew.

"I knew a lot of those people. As the days of assembly passed I was told the names of more people who had been on board. There were many ministers. I had taught all of them.

There was the wife of the deputy moderator of the synod and a member of what we would call the standing committee, a great woman.

"So that was a strain. And strangely enough, when you have that sort of strain then everything else is in perspective."