On 8 March, Muslim extremists ambushed and killed an evangelist from Kenya and severely injured three others from Uganda near a town on Kenya’s border with Uganda, sources said.
The four Christian workers were returning to Bugiri, Uganda after a four-day outreach in Kenya when they were attacked near Busia, Kenya. At least 10 Muslims blocked their return by placing stones in front of their motorcycles at about 6:30pm said survivor and evangelist Rooney Masaba of Uganda.
“The attackers began asking us many questions and said not to involve Muslims in open-air outreach,” Masaba told sources.
The evangelists explained to them that their campaigns were not meant to be dialogues about Islam and Christianity targeting Muslims but merely imparting the Good News of Christ. During the campaign, the workers had spent mornings in home visits and afternoons in open-air evangelism.
“The Muslims further questioned us that they were not happy about the conversion of their fellow Muslims, especially their relatives during their door-to-door mission outreach,” Masaba said. “This led to the discussion getting more tense, and there and then one of the Muslims got hold of Ismail Wafula and pierced him with a sharp knife on the neck, chest and stomach, and he sustained terrible wounds on the head. He then fell down bleeding.” Others tore their Bibles to pieces and began assaulting members of the team.
Help soon arrived and the attackers fled. The arriving helpers took them to a nearby hospital, where Wafula was pronounced dead. Wafula, a convert from Islam, was 30. He had put his faith in Christ in January 2021 as a result of the outreach. He joined the evangelistic team from Uganda in December, and in the 8 March attack, the assailants accused him of being a traitor and an enemy of Islam.
At this writing, Martin Senkubuge, 32, was still receiving hospital treatment for wounds to his head, a broken left leg below the knee and an injured eye. Masaba, 28, and Ruben Were, 26, sustained minor injuries.
During their outreach, several Muslims put their faith in Christ, including two prominent men who had made a recent pilgrimage to Mecca and a wealthy woman who sponsored Islamic activities in the Busia area, Masaba said.
Church leaders have notified police, and officers are investigating, he said.
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