Persecution of Christians in Uganda: unfortunately, Marijan Olupot can expect little help from authorities in this matter, as they are likely to be either sympathetic to those who attacked him, or afraid of incurring their wrath themselves. This is one of the reasons why Christian persecution worldwide is escalating: in all too many countries around the world, authorities tacitly approve of the attacks on Christians or actively instigate them, or else are afraid of standing up to the persecutors.
Among the Christians of Uganda are around 35,000 Orthodox Christians. Please pray for perseverance and strength of faith for them and all of Uganda’s Christians.
For previous ChristianPersecution.com coverage of Christian persecution in Uganda, see here.
“Villagers Burn Home, Beat Wife of Former Muslim Sheikh in Eastern Uganda,” Morning Star News, June 22, 2020:
NAIROBI, Kenya (Morning Star News) – A former sheikh (Muslim teacher) in eastern Uganda who secretly became a Christian on Christmas Day decided to tell his two wives about his new faith last month.
Marijan Olupot invited his pastor to his home in Obokora village, Obokorasub County, Kibuku District on the evening of May 14. He then revealed his Christian faith to his wives and called on the pastor to explain the gospel so that the church leader could lead his family to faith in Christ, Olupot told Morning Star News by phone.
One of his wives put her faith in Christ as Lord and Savior, and the other declined, he said.
Three weeks later, the wife who had declined left the household and told a Muslim leader of the family’s conversion to Christianity, including three children. The Muslim leader then told other Muslims that their sheikh had left Islam, Olupot said.
Muslim villagers on June 8 surrounded Olupot’s house at about 11:30 p.m. and set it ablaze, he said. Olupot, his wife and three children ages 10, 12 and 14 fled through a back door.
“Unfortunately as we were fleeing in the night, the attackers managed to get hold of my wife and beat her with sticks, injuring her left hand and back and the right leg, but thank God my Christian neighbors rescued her,” Olupot told Morning Star News. “As we were fleeing, I heard one of the Muslims, named Hamuza, calling out that the house should be completed [sic] destroyed.”
His wife was in stable condition after neighbors rushed her to Mbale Regional Referral Hospital, he said. He and his family have taken refuge in the home of another pastor while she continues to undergo treatment.
“We need prayers at this trying moment, as the Muslims are out to kill me,” Olupot told Morning Star News. “My other wife is scheming for my death.”
Olupot, who came to Christian faith after a business colleague told him about Christ, said the fire destroyed valuables and other belongings in his home worth about 10 million shillings (US$2,670).
Christian Beaten, House Burned
Also in Kibuku District, hard-line Muslim residents of Kasasira on May 25 beat a Christian convert with sticks and burned his home for refusing to renounce Christ, he said….
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.
