Every day, 13 Christians worldwide are killed because of their faith. This is according to the 2021 World Watch List (WWL). Pictured: Harriet Namuganza, 83, in Iganga, Uganda. COURTESY PHOTO.
An 83-year-old has made it her life’s mission to house those ostracized and/or attacked by family members and friends for following Christ in Iganga district, which according to reports, has the highest percentage of Muslims in Uganda.
Harriet Namuganza received Christ as her personal Lord and Savior during an evangelistic event in Iganga town in 2010.
Her four-bedroom home soon became a place of refuge after reports of persecution among converts from Islam to Christianity in the district escalated.
According to World Watch Monitor, Muslims in Iganga, and other parts of the nation were not intolerant in the past, however, the growth in anti-Christian feelings was triggered by the penetration of the Alliance of Democratic Forces, a Congo-based group of Muslim Ugandans who have fought an insurgency against the central government.
Namuganza’s decision comes at a cost
On September 24, 2021, Namuganza was rushed to hospital for receive treatment after extremists, one posing as a pastor, attacked her for housing particularly two converts from Islam, an 18- and 22-year-old.
According to Morning Star News (MSN), a U.S-based Christian persecution Watchdog, Namuganza had given refuge to the two young men, unnamed for security reasons, after receiving a request a week before from a local pastor.
“The boys were very helpful to me and lived with them in my house,” said Namuganza.
One of the boys explained to MSN that they received an anonymous phone call on 4 Aug. 2021 from someone who introduced himself as a pastor who assists persecuted Christians.
The caller later sent Ush30,000 to his phone as part of the support.
“He called again informing of his plans to visit us,” he told Morning Star News.
The Unexpected
On Sept. 8 at about 10 p.m., the person showed up at Namuganza’s home, and knocked on the door.
“When he mentioned that he was a pastor, we opened only to see several men outside,” the convert told MSN.
The two boys rushed into one of the rooms and hid themselves on top of the ceiling.
The attackers failed to locate them and landed on Namuganza, saying, ‘Let us kill her,’ while another said she was too old.” Namuganza pleaded with them to spare her, saying she was of advanced age.
“One assailant started beating and kicking her as she screamed for help,” one of the boys explained to MSN. “Another said, ‘Let us leave her – we’ll come back to look for the boys who mysteriously escaped.’”
After the attackers left, the two young men came down from the ceiling..
“When we realized that the assailants had gone, we then locked the door and made calls to friends who arrived immediately, and our spiritual grandmother was rushed to a nearby clinic for treatment,” said the younger convert.
Namuganza received medical treatment for back, rib and chest injuries, and on Tuesday (Sept. 21) she was sent to a larger hospital in Iganga for further care, an area source told MSN.
The area pastor reported the assault to the local council, and after Namuganza’s condition improves, he will discuss with her and the local chairperson whether to file a case with police.
The pastor has relocated the two converts to another location.
