Following a service on Easter Sunday 1973, Sempangi was exhausted from hours of praying and preaching. He was also emotionally drained by the memory of a terrible cold-blooded murder in broad daylight that he had witnessed earlier in the week.<\/p>\n
Going into his church office alone, he was confronted by five of Amin\u2019s Nubian assassins, who had been sent to kill him. \u2018We are going to kill you. If you have anything to say, say it before you die,\u2019 announced the leader of the gang, his mouth twisted with hatred.<\/p>\n
What would we do in his place? Sempangi wrote that \u201cfor a long moment no one said anything. I could only stare at him.\u201d Sempangi felt so sickened inside and his mouth felt heavy and his limbs began to shake at the thought of death and never seeing his family again. Everything left his control and he thought he was going to drop dead with fear that they would not need to kill him.\u00a0 But listen to what happened next, as recorded in his own words:<\/p>\n
From far away I heard a voice, and I was astonished to realize that it was my own. \u2018I do not need to plead my own cause,\u2019 I heard myself saying. \u2018I am a dead man already. My life is dead and hidden in Christ. It is your lives that are in danger; you are dead in your sins. I will pray to God that after you have killed me, he spared from eternal destruction.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\nThe leader was amazed. He lowered his gun, told the others to do the same, and asked Sempangi to pray for them. He was so dumbfounded and stunned at this, that the assassin had to repeat the request. Sempangi told them to close their eyes – but he kept his open, as he thought that it might be a strange trick. Any minute, he thought his life would end. He did not want to die with his eyes closed. He then prayed:<\/p>\n
Father in Heaven, You who have forgiven men in the past, forgive these men also. Do not let them perish in their sins but bring them to yourself.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\nHe testified that their faces changed \u2013 they were not the same men who left the vestry as those who entered it. As he left, the leader observed, \u2018I saw widows and orphans in your congregation. I saw them singing and giving praise. Why are they happy when death is so near?\u2019 he asked. Sempangi replied, \u2018Because they are loved by God, who has given them life.<\/p>\n
The days that followed my Easter brush with death were days for sober thinking. I had felt over the sudden change in their intentions was replaced almost overnight by a deep suspicion. Perhaps the men would now fake conversions to infiltrate the church. After all this was common practice in Communist countries and it was well known that Amin was receiving strategy lessons from the Russians.<\/p>\n
The Temptation To Quit Ministry<\/h4>\n
With all these thoughts heavy on our minds, my wife Penina and I spent long hours together discussing the possibility of my resigning from active participation in the church ministry…Conditions in Uganda seemed to be worsening daily.<\/p>\n
Amin was now publicly chanting praises to Adolf Hitler, claiming that Hitler had not gone far enough in burning only 6 million Jews. It became even dangerous for ordinary citizens to drive their cars at night. Most frightening of all, an increasing number of Ugandans were turning against their fellow villagers and townsmen.<\/p>\n
Personal grudges which in times past had been forgotten or settled privately were now often occasions for bloodshed. It was easy to bribe army officers to arrest or kill one\u2019s enemies, and there was never any danger for the offended party. Even in the church there was no safety.<\/p>\n
I had learned in the past month that one of our most active members, a man on the committee of elders, was informing on our congregation for the government. He was a quite shrewd man, tall and well-built, and extremely skilled in working with his hands. Wherever there was a church project requiring manual skills, he was always the first to volunteer. I had never known him well but when I heard of his spying activities in our congregation I was deeply hurt.<\/p>\n
In these conditions, where survival was difficult for everyone, it seemed foolish for me to add to my own danger and the danger to my family by remaining as the head of the Redeemed church. I had no formal or financial connection with the church and many of the elders were equally well-qualified for preaching responsibilities….<\/p>\n
“I Hear Their Screams, and I Cannot be Forgiven”<\/strong><\/h4>\nPenina and I had all but decided that I should leave the ministry when the tall Nubian I had encountered on Easter morning paid his second visit to the church vestry.<\/p>\n
I had just finished counselling a young woman whose husband had been murdered by mercenaries when the man walked through the door. I recognised him immediately, and the same fear I had felt while looking down the barrel of his gun gripped me again. I thought I was going to be killed.<\/p>\n
The Nubian nodded a greeting and spoke with the same abruptness as before. \u2018Now that I am a balokole, a born-again one,\u2019 he asked, \u2018what do I do next?\u2019 You need to find a Bible,\u2019 I said \u2018I cannot tell you what to do, only Jesus Christ can. You need to read his message and see for yourself.\u2019 I told him, as I told all the new converts, to begin by reading the Gospel account according to John.<\/p>\n
The Nubian nodded his assent, and left. Four days later, he was back again. As soon as he walked through the door I could see that he was deeply disturbed. His muscles twitched and he clenched and unclenched his hands as if he could barely keep himself from springing on someone.<\/p>\n
\u2018Read this,\u2019 he said, without any greeting at all. He shoved a Swahili Bible into my hands and pointed to John 8:44. I read aloud:<\/p>\n
You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\nThe Nubian looked at me expectantly but I waited for him to speak. \u2018Don\u2019t you see,\u2019 he said, his voice trembling. \u2018Jesus is talking about me. I have killed over 200 people. I murdered them with my own hands. Nothing stopped me. I never showed mercy. And all the time I thought I was working for Amin but I have been working for Satan. It is he who is my father!\u2019<\/p>\n
I remained silent, and the man sat down on a nearby chair, weeping. After several moments, he became quiet and then in a broken voice he told me his story.<\/p>\n
All my life,\u2019 he said, \u2018I have been dominated by hatred. My stepfather never cared for me, I was always beaten. He beat my mother too and when I saw her lying crushed on the floor I was sick to my stomach. But she never loved me. She hated me and treated me as a burden.<\/span><\/p>\nBy the time I was a man, I had so much hatred. I never knew love. I started killing people and at first it was hard. But once you kill one person you can go on forever. There is so much guilt; you cannot admit that you hate yourself, and that you have done this terrible thing.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\nThe Nubian spoke so intensely that sweat began dripping down his face. \u2018I am looking at a man who has come to his end,\u2019 I thought to myself. \u2018He has no more mental or emotional strength.\u2019<\/p>\n
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