by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) - A newly Christian couple and their 13-year old daughter who refused to recant their faith were sprayed with acid by Muslim extremist relatives in eastern Uganda earlier this month, Morning Star News (MSN) reports. Christianity is legal in Uganda but former Muslim believers have come under increasing violent attack by Islamic extremists enraged at the spread of the Gospel.
Juma Waiswa, 38, his 32-year-old wife Nasimu Naigaga, and their 13-year-old daughter, Amina Nagudi converted to Christianity after a pastor visited their home in Intonko village, Namutumba District on February 17, MSN reports. When their Muslim relatives heard about their conversion, the family was called to a meeting on March 8.
“During the meeting, we were asked about our salvation, and we affirmed to them that we had believed in Jesus and converted to Christianity,” Waiswa told Morning Star News. “They told us to renounce Jesus, but we stood by the newly founded faith in Jesus.”
“When we refused to recant our faith in Jesus, my father, Arajabu, recited some koranic verses, and after that they forcefully started beating us with sticks as prescribed in the Koran, claiming that we were apostates,” Waiswa said.
“As this was not enough, my father went inside the room and picked up a bottle of acid and began spraying it on us while the group started shouting, ‘Allah Akbar [God is greater], you deserve death,’ and then disowned us.”
The family was taken to the hospital where they continue to receive treatment, MSN said. Their relatives went on to burn their home down as well. “They requested prayer for healing and for a place to stay after recovering,” MSN said.