11/08/2018 Washington D.C. (International Christian Concern) – Growing up in western Uganda, Bwambare and Mumbere, two Ugandan boys never imagined a day when they would be separated from their parents. However, trouble began in November 2016 when their father, Abdul Hamza, converted to Christianity after an evangelist shared the Good News with him.

“I visited the family of Abdul Hamza during my usual village visitations and, after sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them, Hamza was convicted of his sins and asked if we could lead him in prayer to receive Christ,” said the evangelist, Rev. Canon Kainja. “His wife was against the idea and she threatened him that leaving Islam would attract grievous measures from their family.”

Rev. Kainja continued, “The young boys had no idea of what was going on and they were outside playing with other children. So I prayed for their father and later on prayed with the boys. Hamza’s wife declined to pray with us.”

While the vast majority of people are Christians in western Uganda, Islam has been increasing dramatically after Muslim traders entered through East Africa in the early 19^th century. Conversions to Islam were made communally, thus making it risky for individuals to decide to follow Christ.

Rev. Kainja dedicated his time to guiding Hamza on the new path of living for Christ. He shared, “Abdul Hamza was showing the great joy of being a Christian and his spiritual growth was impressive. He began accompanying me during my evangelistic visitations and many were amazed at his testimony. His wife started complaining how Hamza’s lifestyle is affecting the family ties and if he could reconsider coming back to Islam. He would not listen to any of that. He had become a committed follower of Christ.”

As the days went by, Abdul Hamza gained more knowledge about Christianity and how to reach out to Muslims. Strangely, some of his Muslim friends remained close to him and he thought that was an opportunity to gradually draw them to Christ. Sadly, this would not be the case.