by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) - Two Islamists in eastern Uganda have been charged with murdering Pastor Barnabas Musana of Nangonde Sub-County on September 12, Morning Star News (MSN) reports. The two men are believed to have killed Pastor Musana because he was leading Muslims to Christ through evangelistic events and public debates about Islam and Christianity.
Pastor Musana led the Church of Christ in Namakoko B village, but also preached in nearby Namwenda village, MSN reports. According to Pastor Simon Okot of Life of God Ministry in Namwenda village, local Muslims were angered by Pastor Musana’s evangelism.
“In February 2020, the Muslims got irritated and furious when he said that Jesus is the Son of God and hence is more than prophet Muhammad,” Pastor Okot told Morning Star News. “They shouted at him, and the church members whisked him away before they could mount an attack. Since then, he started receiving threatening messages that he should leave the area.”
Pastor Musana, therefore, began to train believers to share the Gospel with people in their homes: within six months 15 Muslims had come to faith in Christ this way, Pastor Okot told MSN. “This angered the Muslims most, and he was given a second warning to leave the area,” Pastor Okot said. “Musana was also gifted with a healing ministry. Every evening he used to pray for people’s problems, and many got healed in a miraculous way. Some Muslims secretly visited him for prayers, while others converted to Christianity and attended church secretly.”
On September 12, two men followed Pastor Musana to the river where he was going fishing; they attacked him, inflicting deep wounds, and strangled him, MSN said. This murder was among many recorded acts of persecution against Christians in Uganda, MSN reports.