Curt Flewelling, FISM News
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A Christian pastor who was participating in a Christian-Muslim debate was severely beaten after his defense of the Gospel led to 37 Muslims giving their lives to Jesus Christ.
Pastor Arthur Asadi Babi suffered a broken leg, fractured hand, and multiple other injuries after the assault.
The 42-year-old bible scholar was asked to participate in the debate by his colleague Bishop Michael Okia of the Living Stream Church of Christ. The Christians were invited to the debate by the sheikh of the Nakaloke mosque in Mbale City, Uganda.
Bishop Okia told Morning Star News, “At the end of his defense, the pastor made an appeal for a response from the audience to believe in Christ, ‘surprisingly, 29 adults and 8 children gave their lives to Jesus Christ, all Muslims.’”
Pastor Babi recalls the harrowing ordeal, “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.”
Although the persecution of Christians has been occurring since Jesus walked the earth, the past 50 years have seen a steep rise in the practice in the context of modern history. According to the group International Christian Concern (ICC), 200 million Christians suffer some level of persecution annually. Although many countries punish Christian proselytizing with a death sentence, spreading the good news of Jesus Christ can be dangerous anywhere, as this form of hostility is no longer just relegated to Islamic fundamentalist regimes.
Uganda’s Muslim population is relatively small (12%) and the country’s constitution provides for religious freedom, including the right to convert someone from one faith to another. These factors did not seem to help Pastor Babi as the brutal attack underscores the danger that can come with evangelizing.
ICC President Jeff King feels that believers everywhere need to come to the realization that the world is becoming increasingly hostile towards Christians.
In a Christian Post Op-ed, he wrote, “Christians in the West must wake up, take advantage of the liberty that remains in America, be deeply rooted in their faith, and get their networks in place to prepare for the inevitable upswing in religious persecution.”
Author and Editor’s Biblical Analysis
Arthur Asadi Babi and countless other brave souls who are enduring ridicule, imprisonment, and even torture for the Kingdom, will no doubt be comforted by Jesus’s proclamation in Matthew 5:11-12:
Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Paul also offered encouragement for those suffering in the name of Christ in Romans.
And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. – Romans 5:3-5
Finally, Peter reminds us that while we suffer in this life, this life is only a moment in the context of eternity.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.