Noviana's injury

The only survivor of a machete attack by radical Muslims on four Christian high school girls successfully has had surgery on her massive injury, and officials with Voice of the Martyrs say they are working on additional treatments for her.

As WND has described, Noviana Malewa and three of her friends were walking on a school path Oct 29, 2005, when they were assaulted by jihadists wielding machetes. Three of the girls were decapitated and Noviana suffered a massive slash that ran from her cheek to her neck.

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After being under police protection for several months, there were negotiations so she could be moved from her hiding place to the location of her hospitalization, according to an announcement from VOM yesterday.

She recently underwent surgery in Surabaya, Indonesia, to address a number of complications from the injury, as well as the scarring, officials said. She had suffered from an involuntary tick in her eye, and another near her mouth, because of the deep cut.

She also had severe nerve damage and a dislocated jaw, and deals with severe and sudden pain as well as the emotional trauma of having survived such a gruesome attack, officials said.

Scar tissue is being treated

VOMedical said it was pleased to be able to help so far, and will continue to provide what help will be useful.

"She must daily massage her face to stimulate nerve growth and expose her scarring to infra-red beam treatment for five minutes," VOM said. "Neuro-medicine therapy and skin salves must also be administrated on a daily basis."

Help from a plastic surgeon reduced the scarring, which boosted her morale, officials said.

VOM sources in Indonesia said the attack happened as the four girls were walking through a cocoa plantation on their way to a private Christian high school in Posa Kota subdistrict.

Noviana, now 16, and Theresia Morangke, 15, Yarni Sambue, 15, and Alfita Poliwo, 17, were ambushed by six masked Islamic terrorists, who decapitated the three. Noviana survived because the sword slash did not make a direct connection and she ran away bleeding.

Authorities reported the heads of the three girls were found in bags on the steps of a church and along a road, carrying a message, "We will murder 100 more Christian teenagers and their heads will be presented as presents."

The Pakistan Christian Post reported that Noviana recalled streaming with blood.

"All I could do was pray to Jesus for his help,' she said.

The report said Muslim-Christian violence killed almost 1000 people on Sulawesi between 2000 and 2002, and a peace agreement has not halted the bombings, shootings and other attacks on Christians near Poso.

Voice of the Martyrs was launched by Pastor Richard Wurmbrand, who spent more than a decade in a prison for his Christian faith, and later wrote, "Tortured for Christ."

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