Pastor Pays High Price for Sharing the Gospel
When the Word of God is spoken among the lost, people’s souls recognize the truth held within it as their hearts hear the words of their Creator.
So, when a pastor was invited to a theological debate and began teaching on the uniqueness of Christ and His victory on the cross, salvations shortly followed.
Sources claim that during the debate, Pastor Arthur Asadi Babi, 42, led 37 people to the Lord, many being of Muslim faith in Mbale, Uganda.
Babi was then assaulted for the conversions that led to a neck injury, a broken leg, fractures in his hand and other injuries, according to Bishop Michael Okia of Living Stream Church of Christ.
“We received an invitation letter from the sheikh of Nakaloke mosque, who organized the debate in Nakaloke ward in Mbale city,” Okia said in an interview with Morning Star News. “I decided to send Pastor Babi to debate with the Muslims because of his scholarship skills in the Quran and the Bible.”
As reported by Morning Star News, “Pastor Babi and a team of Christians began participating in the second week of the two-week debate, on Feb. 9, and on the second day he presented a defense of Christianity using the Quran with responses from the Bible on the uniqueness of Christ as the Son of God and the only way to God the Father, the bishop said.”
“On Feb. 10, at the end of his defense, the pastor made an appeal for a response from the audience to believe in Christ,” Okia said. “Surprisingly, 29 adults and eight children gave their lives to Christ Jesus, all Muslims.”
With conversion to another faith being strictly against the teachings of Islam, many within the crowd took exception to what they viewed as heresy and attacked Babi.
Eyewitnesses report that even some of the recent converts joined in on the beating.
“From nowhere, Muslims started throwing stones, and then with sticks and clubs attacked me by beating me, including the new Muslim converts who had embraced the Christian faith,” Pastor Babi recalled. “I was hit on my right hand and left leg while some tried to strangle me. One Muslim kicked me and injured my private parts, which is still in pain to date.”
The beating was so severe that Babi was sent for medical treatment at Grace Medical Center in Mbale.
These assaults have become more common against Christians within Uganda.
Per Morning Star News, “Uganda’s constitution and other laws provide for religious freedom, including the right to propagate one’s faith and convert from one faith to another. Muslims make up no more than 12% of Uganda’s population, with high concentrations in eastern areas of the country.”
As persecution like this continues worldwide, believers can take heart that the temporary suffering here on earth pales in comparison to the glory that will one day await them in heaven. {eoa}
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James Lasher is Staff Writer for Charisma Media.
