Chan wedding evokes joy as the end nears
WITH just hours to live, Andrew Chan married his beloved Febyanti Herewila yesterday inside Besi Prison, surrounded by family and close friends.
The rare moment of joy in the bleakest of days was announced last night by older brother Michael Chan after returning from their second last visit to the doomed men.
“It is a tough time but it is a happy time at the same time,” Michael said.
“Andrew had a special day today. Feby and Andrew have had a bit of a celebration this evening and it was celebrated with some family and close friends. It was an enjoyable moment … they are married.”
The wedding was officiated by Salvation Army minister David Soper, who will also be Chan’s spiritual adviser with him tonight.
Mr Soper, from Sydney, is a longtime family friend of the Chan family.
The pair was required to get permission from jail authorities to marry inside the jail.
Chan and Feby, a fellow pastor, were engaged in February in Bali’s Kerobokan prison after Chan learned his clemency had been rejected and he was set to die.
At the time, Feby said: “Andrew is one of the strongest, kindest people I have ever met. I love him for who he is. And I see what he does for other people and that makes me love him more.”
Chan and Feby, from Jogjakarta, met in May 2012 through a mutual friend. Feby is an Indonesian pastor and has run prayer groups and youth ministries in Indonesia and Singapore and had been visiting the jail in her role as a pastor when the pair met. For two years they were close friends. Their friendship, with a shared love of God and their religious backgrounds, flourished and the couple fell in love in early 2014. Feby visited regularly as Chan continued his theological studies.