Philemon Shuha at hospital in Busolwe town, Uganda after Jan. 30, 2024 attack. (Morning Star News)
NAIROBI, Kenya (Morning Star News) – Muslim villagers in eastern Uganda on Jan. 30 beat a Christian unconscious upon seeing him prepare a site for an evangelistic event, and they later set his house ablaze, sources said.
The 34-year-old father of three children, Philemon Shuha, was helping to set up an open-air evangelistic event with Titus Waniyaye, 25, in a heavily populated industrial area 3 kilometers from Nabiganda village, Butaleja District, when he was attacked, Waniyaye said.
Shuha and Waniyaye spent the mornings of Jan. 29 and Jan. 30 distributing invitations to the evangelistic event. Many people had begun arriving as the two Christians were waiting for the rest of their team to join them when they heard a clamor among some Muslims.
Waniyaye said the Muslim villagers asked, “Why did you give out Christian literature to our people? Have you come to kill Islam by converting our people? Today you can’t go unpunished.”
“They then grabbed Philemon,” Waniyaye told Morning Star News. “Good enough I was a bit far off. I feared for my life and there and then fled for my survival.”
He mobilized a group of mostly Christian motorcyclists to rescue Shuha, he said.
“Soon we arrived at the scene of the incident, and the attackers fled in different directions,” Waniyaye said. “We found Shuha almost lifeless and unconscious and lying in a pool of blood. He had a deep cut on the right side of the head near the ear and blood coming from his right hand. He could not open his eyes.”
They brought him to a Christian health center in Nabiganda, where he received first aid and medication, and from there a church van transferred him to a hospital in Busolwe town, he said. From his hospital bed, Shuha that night told Morning Star News that he was able to identify one of the assailants as Swaliki Swaleh of the Busolwe mosque.
Later, shortly after 10:30 p.m., Waniyaye received a phone call from Shuha’s wife saying that her house was on fire, he said.
“The church members who were with me in the hospital urgently rushed to the home of Shuha using the church van, but upon arrival the house was on fire,” he told Morning Star News. “We tried to put out the fire, but unfortunately a big portion of the house had been destroyed.”
He and others mounted a search and found the arsonist in a sugarcane plantation, he said.
“We interrogated him as to why he had burned the house, and he said that he had been given 500,000 Uganda shillings [USD129] by the Muslims to go and destroy Shuha’s house,” Waniyaye told said.
The suspect is in police custody, he said.
Shuha’s wife and three children, ages 10, 7 and 5, managed to escaped unhurt and have taken refuge at their church building. Shuha was still receiving hospital care at this writing.
Shuha’s house is located about 3 kilometers from Busolwe town.
His church had planned a five-day outreach to Muslims for Jan. 28-Feb. 2 in Nabiganda, Kapisa, Leresi and Nampologoma villages. Shuha and Waniyaye spent the mornings of Jan. 29 and Jan. 30 distributing invitations to the evangelistic event.
The attack was the latest of many instances of persecution of Christians in Uganda that Morning Star News has documented.
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 percent of Uganda’s population, with high concentrations in eastern areas of the country.
If you would like to help persecuted Christians, visit https://morningstarnews.org/resources/aid-agencies/ for a list of organizations that can orient you on how to get involved.
If you or your organization would like to help enable Morning Star News to continue raising awareness of persecuted Christians worldwide with original-content reporting, please consider collaborating at https://morningstarnews.org/donate/?
###
© 2024 Morning Star News. Articles/photos may be reprinted with credit to Morning Star News. https://morningstarnews.org
Tweet: https://twitter.com/morningstarnewz/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MorningStarNews
Morning Star News is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation that relies solely on contributions to offer original news reports of persecuted Christians. By providing reliable news on the suffering church, Morning Star News’ mission is to empower those in the free world to help and to encourage persecuted Christians that they are not forgotten or alone. For free subscription, contact editor@morningstarnews.org; to make tax-deductible donations, visit https://morningstarnews.org/donate/? or send check to Morning Star News, 728 A Kodiak St., Eielson AFB, AK 99702, USA.
The post Christian Beaten Unconscious, Home Burned appeared first on Morningstar News.
Become a Christian News Network Supporter…
Dear Reader, has ChristianNews.net been of benefit and a blessing to you? For many years now, the Lord has seen fit to use this small news outlet as a strong influential resource in keeping Christians informed on current events from a Biblical worldview. With much compromise and many falsehoods in modern-day Christianity, we strive to bring you the news by keeping Christ and His word in focus. If you have benefited from our news coverage, please prayerfully consider becoming a Christian News supporter by clicking here to make a one-time or monthly donation to help keep the truth of God’s word widely and freely published and distributed. May Christ continue to be exalted through this work!
Comments are closed.