A lot of mainline Christians are not aware that martyrdom for the faith is something that still happens on a daily basis in places all around the world. That’s mostly because the vast majority of believers tend to be American Christians where we don’t really have to worry about being murdered for loving and worshiping Jesus. Mocked? Made fun of? Sure. But that’s small potatoes compared to giving your life, shedding your blood for Jesus Christ.
Not to belittle someone’s suffering for Christ. It all counts. I’m just saying we have it easy here compared to many of our brothers and sisters around the globe.
Like Kenyan school teacher Wanjala Hamidu who recently converted to Christianity during an evangelical event held on Oct. 4. Hamidu taught at a Swidiki Islam School located in Nankoma, Bugiri District, which is only 2 miles from his home in Masita village. It was there, in his home town, his brothers found out about his conversion and beat him to death. Hamidu was only 32-years-old.
Here is more on Hamidu’s martyrdom via The Christian Post:
Hamidu converted to Christianity at an Oct. 4 evangelistic event in Bulange that he attended with his brother, Wulasiyo Swamadu. As Hamidu remained after the event for further Christian teaching, Swamadu returned home and told other Muslim family members about his conversion, said an area source who spoke with villagers and Christian sources. Word of Hamidu’s new faith spread quickly in Masita and at the school, where the head-teacher learned of it and planned to fire him at the end of the school term, the source said. On Oct. 21, four of his brothers arrived at the school led by Hiire Isifu and Hawumba Jamada and found Hamidu teaching, he said.
After the brothers had a long meeting with administrators, the school officials gave them permission to take him and his belongings back to his home village of Masita, the source said. Upon their arrival, he said, the brothers ordered Hamidu to renounce Christ, but he refused. Isifu slapped him as the other brothers looked for a stick to beat him with the 39 blows they believed Islam prescribes for apostates, said the area Christian source.
“We heard a very loud cry, wailing and alarm that required help and attention, so neighbors thronged in large numbers to the scene of the incident,” the source said during an interview with Morning Star News. “When we arrived, we found Hamidu on the ground held tightly by his three brothers bleeding as the brothers were shouting, ‘Infidel, infidel, shame, shame to our family.’”
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The martyr’s mother was standing nearby crying out loud for someone to help her son, but everyone was scared to go against the Muslims and their administration of Sharia law. Folks, this is proof positive that not all cultures and religions are created equal. While this may offend modern sensibilities, Christianity and its principles are far superior to those of Islam. The gospel of Christ demands to be spread far and wide, yet does not rely on acts of violence to force conversion. Instead, the Holy Spirit works in the hearts of unbelievers who hear the gospel to transform them and draw them into fellowship with Christ through faith and obedience.
Acts of violence by radical Islamists actually violate the constitution of Uganda, which does have protection for religious freedom and allows people to convert to different faiths.
“Soon he was dead and lying in a pool of blood,” the source added. “He had deep injuries in the head and chest from a sharp object that hit him.” The source then said the police were called. When they arrived, the brothers took off. Members of the local counsel are still looking for the four brothers who are still on the lam.
Police took Hamidu’s body to Bugiri for an autopsy, and his family later received it for burial. The attack marked the second killing of a Christian convert in eastern Uganda in October. Muslim extremists on Oct. 30 killed evangelist Emmanuel Dikusooka, a 29-year-old father of three children, after he helped lead 18 Muslims to Christ at an event in Kaliro District and refused their demand to return to Islam. The killing of Hamidu was the latest of many instances of persecution of Christians in Uganda that Morning Star News has documented.
According to the report, Islamists make up only 12 percent of the population in Uganda, with the vast majority of them living in eastern portions of the country.