When Christian pastor Thomas Chikoom agreed to participate in an open debate to defend Christianity, he knew his life was at risk.
Even though the stakes were high, he decided to attend anyway – and by the grace of God through his witness he ended up leading 14 people to Christ!
Not happy with these Christian conversions, several Muslim extremists in the crowd began shouting “Allah is greater!” – and then a horrific scene unfolded.
To start, anytime a Christian defends the Gospel against the Qur’an, those who profess Allah typically become enraged.
In Islam, to insult Allah is the ultimate and unforgiveable offense.
Knowing this and deciding to debate a Muslim in the public square anyway is risky business for a Christian.
But because of his faithfulness to the Lord, Pastor Chikoom decided to give it a go, and several Muslims ended up accepting Christ as Lord and Savior as a result!
While this was a joyous occasion, the Pastor noticed several Muslims in the crowd starting to become angry at the conversions and were shouting out threats, so he decided to leave the debate with his teenage son and go home, reported Morning Star News.
But these Muslim extremists weren’t going to let him off the hook that easy.
As it turns out, they followed him home and continued their verbal assault.
Wanting to protect his own son, the father asked him to keep his distance.
The son obeyed, and while he survived the attack, he recalled the horrifying eye-witness account of the angry men confronting his father.
Morning Star News reported:
“Immediately some commotion began as the men started talking about the open-air debate, and soon one of them slapped my father,” he said. “I got scared and fled through our cassava plantation and arrived at home.”
While the son was able to flee and survive, his father was missing.
When the pastor’s wife Jessica Naikomba came home and was told what had happened, they went looking for the Pastor.
Eventually, they did find him – but nothing could have prepared them for what they would discover.
Morning Star News continued:
“As we continued doing the search, we found my husband in a pool of blood, beheaded and his tongue removed,” Naikomba told Morning Star News.”
What a sad and tragic ending.
This faithful pastor was the father to 11 children, and had planted over 50 churches in Uganda, reported Morning Star News.
Killings of Christians in Uganda has continued to increase in recent days as the battle for light and darkness plays out on this side of heaven.
While the Pastor may have lost his life here on earth, the Bible tells us that those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness are blessed.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:10
Pastor Chikoom choosing to risk his life to preach the Gospel should serve as a convicting reminder to us all that we are called to do the same should the situation arise.
And if that day ever comes, may God embolden us with the same strength he gave Pastor Chikoom.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” – John 3:16-17
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