“Pastor, can you help me?”

Those were the last words that Pastor Umar Melinde, a former Muslim turned pastor/evangelist, heard before he felt the sting of acid striking his face. Then another bucket on his back. He screamed and ran back towards the church for help as his assailants cried out, “Allah Akbar! Allah Akbar!”

I was able to sit down with Pastor Melinde in Tel Hashomer hospital recently. He is here in Israel recovering from this attack that was intended to take his life. It wasn’t the first time Muslims have tried to kill him.

“I take the gospel to the Muslim community because I was born a Muslim. Most of the ministers in our congregation are ex-Muslims. Our issue is not hating Islam, but speaking the truth.” Pastor Melinde is known for challenging Muslims to public debates. He himself was brought to faith by a bold preacher reaching out to Muslims.

Twenty years ago Umar heard a man preaching out of the Koran and the Bible. He told the people that Yeshua is more glorious than Mohamed.  Umar was convicted by the message but he was afraid to change because of so much pressure in Muslim homes never to leave Islam.

That night Umar had a dream where his hands and legs were tied with chains and he was hanging over the Lake of Fire.“The pain was from everywhere. And then, a man stood on my right hand outside the fire. He was shining—I could not see his face. He said, ‘Islam is leading you to this torture. Be born again and you shall survive.’”

This same dream came to Umar a number of times. He had been taught in Islam when you have a bad dream, you are to pray a specific prayer against it. “I was running to Allah to help me avoid this bad dream.” However each time he went back to sleep, the dream returned. Allah could not help him.

The dream continued to return. “I heard a preacher saying I can pray in the name of Yeshua and something will happen. This time I did not pray the Muslim prayer against bad dreams. This time I knelt down and I said, ‘God if you are there and you are the one who wants me to be born again, I pray that this dream does not come back tonight.’ That night I slept like a baby.”Umar, despite his bandaged face, laughs out loud with joy and says, “The dream did not come back!”
The next morning just happened to be Easter Sunday. He went to church even though if he was discovered this would cause an outrage within his family. “I gave my life to Yeshua and was born-again.” (Picture: Several Christian leaders came to visit Pastor Mulinde in the hostpital in the days after his attack.)

Umar sought discipleship as he was hungry to grow in his new faith. He went to Bible school and was ordained for ministry. He began to serve as an evangelist. They would hold mass meetings with tens of thousands of people would come to stadiums to hear him preach the gospel. After much success in evangelistic work, he birthed a church in Kampala, the largest city in Uganda.

The Attack
From the time that Pastor Umar became a follower of the Messiah, he faced heavy criticism. Islam does not allow for conversion and in some countries leaving Islam for Christianity is punishable by death. Just like the pastor in Iran who is facing the death sentence for leaving Islam, Umar was a marked man.

Many times the Muslims have tried to attack and kill PastorMulinde, but without success. When he ministers publicly he always has a security team with him. However on this occasion, he was in a place where he felt completely safe—his own church.

On December 23^rd they saw 300 people receive Yeshua. Pastor Umar felt they should throw a huge party for these 300 because, as he explained it to me, “The Bible says that when one confesses there is a celebration in heaven.”

On Christmas Eve he was at his church helping with the preparations for the party. “I went to my car to drive home. It was late…about 10PM. As I was opening the door to my car, somebody pretended as if he wanted my help. ‘Pastor can you help me?’”

“My mind wanted to help the man, but my heart refused.”

He had a check in his spirit that something wasn’t right. He quickly opened his car door. At that point the man threw a bucket of acid on him, burning half his face. Had he turned toward the man to help him, the terrorist would have been able to throw the acid upon him directly, and the damage would have been far worse, possibly blinding or even killing him. He was driving a large four-wheel drive and thus the doors are higher than a normal sized vehicle. Because of this, when by sheer instinct, he was able to open the large door,his body was protected from much of the acid. “It could have finished me,” pastor Mulinde lamented, “I could have been worse than what I am.” However a second attacker threw acid on him as they both yelled praise to Allah.

Pastor Umar ran back towards the church screaming. They rushed him to the hospital. After several days it became clear he would need medical attention beyond the capabilities in Uganda. He wanted to come to Israel because he knew the medical care would be much better. However because there is no Israeli embassy in Uganda, he could not quickly get a visa. The other option was traveling to Nairobi, Kenya where there is an embassy—but that would take four days. (Picture: Pastor Umar, days aftert he attack)

He turned to a Jewish group he had befriended in the US. They paid for him to travel to Israel and receive medical attention at our Tel Hashomer Hospital, where I met him.

Umar believes there are three reasons that the Muslims targeted him:

1. Because he left Islam and became a believer in Yeshua.
2. Because he preaches the good news of Yeshua to Muslims—with great success.
3. Because he boldly challenges the people of Uganda to support Israel.

“I teach my congregation to support Israel. There is a lot biased information against Israel. For instance, if there is a rocket from Gaza to Israel, that is not news. An [Israeli] school is bombed—that is not news. But when Israel seeks to defend herself—that is very big news,” opines Pastor Mulinde. “It is as if somebody is sitting somewhere and approves the death of the Jews, but if the Jews want to do anything to defend themselves, everyone is against it. We are Christians and must tell the people the truth about Israel.”

“I once read in the news that Israel was a racist nation,” he continued. “It is not true! I came to Israel in 2008. You have to understand that because I was born into a Muslim family I hated Israel for no good reason. I could not tell you where Israel was on a map, but I hated them. So when I came here, our first taxi driver was an Arab. I saw that the workers in the hotel were Arabs. I saw that the Arabs were free in Tel Aviv and free in Jerusalem. This is different from I had been taught about Israel.”

Pastor Mulinde assumed that Israeli Arabs were battered and abused—like prisoners within the Jewish nation. He had no idea that we have Arabs serving in the Knesset (Parliament) as well as police officers and judges all over the country.

I was deeply impressed by the boldness and authority in which he spoke to me. It was not what I expected when I met him. He looks like a mummy with his entire face bandaged and one eye surgically closed for its own protection. Thanks to Israeli doctors, they are expecting him to receive his full sight in that eye.

I asked him point blank if he plans to change or tone down his support for Israel or efforts to reach the Muslims. “I cannot quit because of this. I will continue doing the work of the Lord. This was not the first attack—the other attacks were not successful.” He then quoted John 16:2, ‘The time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God.’

Pastor Mulinde says that his attack has become a national issue in Uganda because it was a clear terrorist attack. He believes God will use this for His kingdom. “Whenever [the news] reports they say, ‘This is because he converted from Islam and he is preaching in support of Israel.’ Somebody will be touched by this.” The report of the attack is simply news, but that fact that he converted speaks volumes to other Muslims who are afraid to leave Islam. He reminds me of Paul who said that his chains “actually served to advance the gospel.”

I am looking forward to visiting Pastor Mulinde’s church in Kampala in the future and bringing the word of the Lord from Jerusalem to these ex-Muslim believers who love us so much. Please keep this family in your prayers.

His wife Evelyn, an accomplished gospel singer in Uganda, is with him here in Israel. She is able to stay at the Hospital hotel and be with her husband. They have six children in Uganda.

http://messiahsmandate.org/blog/316-former-muslim-pastor-attacked-by-extremists.html

BOSTON – Saudi Arabian authorities are adding sexual assault to their routine for processing prisoners when they are Christian women, according to a new report that is imploring the international community to pressure the restrictive Islamic nation on basic human rights.

International Christian Concern’s Jonathan Racho says the 35 women prisoners were arrested for meeting for a prayer time, and they are reporting that they were molested.

“The female prisoners have told us about how they were sexually harassed. When the Saudis arrested them, they knew the Ethiopians were Christians,” Racho said.

“They took off the women’s clothes and touched them. When the strip searching was going on, the officers were touching the women,” Racho said.

Racho adds that some of the details are graphic.

“They were using gloves to strip search and they were putting their fingers into their genitals,” Racho said.

“This is a very, very serious accusation of harassment and we want the international community to look into this,” Racho said. “The Saudis have to stop harassing these Christians.”

Racho adds that the treatment of the Christians is the opposite of Saudi public statements.

“The Saudis in the past have publicly said that they want religious tolerance and dialogue between the people of faith,” Racho said. “The Saudi king and the Saudi government have been very active in promoting peaceful existence and religious freedom.”

WND reported in December that Saudi authorities raided the mostly Ethiopian prayer meeting in Jeddah and charged all 35 with “Illicit Mingling.”

Members of the group were taken into custody and moved to an undisclosed location.

Racho says the Christians have been behind bars for over a month, but ICC is not content to let the incarceration continue.

“ICC has been working hard to highlight the plight of the Christian prisoners. We’ve been issuing press releases and asking our supporters to call the Saudi Embassy,” Racho said.

“We’ve been gathering petitions to ask the Saudi Arabian government to release the prisoners,” Racho said.

He also says his organization has spoken with members of Congress and to the State Department.

State Department spokeswomen Molly Lynn Westrate says the department has been pressuring the Saudi regime.

“Absolutely we have. We call on the Saudi government to recognize religious freedom and to permit private worship in individual’s homes,” Westrate said.

The Saudi government has not responded to WND’s request for an interview.

WND reported in January that Open Doors’ America’s “World Watch” puts Saudi Arabia as the third worst country for religious persecution. Muslim nations lead the pack.

Nine of the 10 worst nations for persecution of Christians are run essentially under Islamic law, and the “Arab Spring” across parts of northern African has led to a surge of repression, according to the global assessment.

“The top 10 in this year’s report are in order, North Korea, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Iran, the Maldives, Uzbekistan, Yemen, Iraq and Pakistan,” the story said.

http://www.wnd.com/2012/02/christian-women-report-being-assaulted-after-arrests/

“I am teaching my people about Israel, along with encouraging them to visit the country.”

Photo by: Emanuel Mfoukou/ICEJ

It is last Christmas Eve. Pastor Umar Mulinde leaves a service at his thriving congregation, the 1,000-member Gospel Life Church International in the Ugandan capital of Kampala. He’s anxious to get home to his wife and six children. As he unlocks his car, an unknown man approaches and calls out, “Pastor! Pastor!” As Mulinde turns, a burning acid splashes across his face, and the shouts turn to “Allahu akbar!” (Allah is greater!) The assailant flees.

Some church workers rush Mulinde to the local hospital, where they treat his severe wounds the best they can. A few days later, he is flown to India, and then on January 5 he arrives at the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv, to be cared for by one of the world’s foremost hospitals for burn victims.

The Christian Edition visited Mulinde in his hospital room a few days later, to find out more about his condition and why he was attacked. It appears he was targeted by local Muslim extremists because he had converted from Islam, became a minister of the Gospel, and started teaching love for Israel.

The top-notch doctors at Sheba have determined that Mulinde will require a series of skin repair operations over several weeks, as well as an operation on his badly damaged right eye. They are treating him as an Israeli victim of terror, which covers his medical procedures. They hope to save his sight in the right eye and restore his appearance as best as possible. Mulinde could not ask for better care.

“I was born into a large Muslim family. I am the 52nd child of my father, who had several wives and ran two mosques,” Mulinde began. “I grew up studying Islam, but at age 18 I met some Christians who opened my eyes to the Christian faith. I soon converted.”

Mulinde explained that as a Muslim, he and his friends were taught to hate Israel and the Jews, even though they could not find Israel on a map. Even as a young Christian convert, he was hesitant about loving Israel. But as he studied the Bible, he read much about the wonderful God of Israel.

“I decided if I was going to love this God, I also had to love His people. I began teaching myself and realized the importance of supporting Israel. One key source for my Israel studies was Jerusalem Online University, based on the Web.”

Today, Mulinde’s ministry is regularly organizing pro-Israel rallies and conferences in Uganda. One such event recently drew 5,000 people to the Nakivubo football stadium in Kampala.

“I am teaching my people about Israel, along with encouraging them to visit the country. Many have developed a strong interest in Israel,” he assured.

Muslims make up only 12 percent of the Ugandan population, but they recently pushed for adopting Shari’a law in the parliament. Mulinde helped lobby against it, saying he believes in coexistence, but “wherever there is strict Shari’a rule, there is hatred of Israel and persecution of Christians.”

On the day he was attacked, Mulinde had preached at a crusade where more than 300 people came to faith in Jesus, including many Muslims. And on Monday after the attack, he was going to show a film about how the tiny nation of Israel has assisted many nations.

Since the assault, Mulinde and his wife, Evelyn, have received prayers and support from all over the world.

But he is especially grateful to the Jerusalem Online University and its director, Andrea Gottlieb, along with Illan Sharon, a Jewish acquaintance from Minnesota, who made it possible for him to come for treatments in Israel. He also is glowing about the doctors and nurses at the Sheba Medical Center.

“When you are sick, and full of wounds and pain, I believe that relationships with people also contribute to your healing. The way I am able to talk to these people here is a healing medicine for the heart. I really feel at home.”

Mulinde is already amped to return to Uganda, as soon as the doctors allow, and resume his work for the Kingdom of God and for Israel. Meanwhile, back in Uganda, the search for Mulinde’s attackers is in the national headlines every day.

http://www.jpost.com/ChristianInIsrael/Comment/Article.aspx?id=255467

LAHORE, PAKISTAN (ANS) – The case of Asia Bibi, the Pakistan Christian mother-of-five who was sentenced to death for alleged blasphemy, has taken an extraordinary turn.

According to a story monitored by the ASSIST News Service, Qari Salam, who accused Bibi of blasphemy charges, which resulted in a jail sentence and possible hanging, is reported to have “ostensibly” regreted filing a blasphemy charge against the impoverished Christian woman.

“The source of his guilt – realization that the case was not based on facts but on hyped religious emotions and personal bias of some village women, including his wife,” said the story posted at:

http://www.topix.com/forum/religion/islam/T72AF1K9C8RL3C6TG

Bibi has been languishing in Sheikhupura jail since a sessions court gave her a death sentence for insulting Prophet Muhammad.

Support from London

Qari, according to some of his close friends, was now thinking of not pursuing the case anymore and expressed his desire to some of his friends, only to find himself in a difficult situation when activists of an Islamic religious organization “convinced” him not to change his mind.

“We will chase her through hell … don’t worry about the money, hiring best lawyers,” Salam told The Express Tribune, quoting the son of Khatm-e-Nabuwat’s London chapter’s leader.

The leader’s son flew in to Nankana from London after hearing that Salam might not go to Lahore High Court (LHC) when the review petition against Asia’s conviction is taken up.

Remember Their Sacrifice. http://www.elam.com/articles/Remember-Their-Sacrifice/

The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.
(Isaiah 57:1-2)

I was reading this scripture on January 19th, 1994, the day Bishop Haik Hovsepian-Mehr mysteriously disappeared en route to the airport in the capital of Iran. He had spoken out courageously against the persecution of Iranian Christians and the closure of the Iranian Bible Society as well as the closing of a number of churches across Iran. He had campaigned vigorously for the release of Rev. Mehdi Dibaj from prison and had acted as substitute father for Mehdi’s four children during his imprisonment in addition to his own four children. Days later his dead body with multiple stab wounds was identified.

Iranian Christians reported that the bishop was a brave and humble man who was much loved and respected by the church community in Iran. They added that in his last few weeks of life, he would often speak about his possible martyrdom for which he was prepared. At his memorial service one of his taped sermons was played which spoke about giving your life for the sake of Jesus. One of his statements regarding the possibility of losing his life was made to Brother Andrew just weeks before he died, “I will not die a silent death!”

Today’s verses from the Bible gave me great encouragement as to the purpose of God in allowing martyrdom among His people. They rest in peace. But what about their families?

This day and event changed the life of Haik’s son, Andre, forever. He says, “As a pastor’s son growing up in Iran, I got used to the fact that sometimes my dad would be gone for a day or two for interrogation. But then on that dreadful day in January ’94, my father left the house and never came back.”

Looking back, Andre testifies that God used the love and support of the body of Christ to bring the Hovsepian family courage during the dark days following his father’s murder. “It meant a lot to me that someone I didn’t know from another country was praying for me and was caring for me.”

Andre and his mother, Takoosh, now live in the United States where they use their freedom to continue ministry to Iran via satellite. They produce programs, movies, teaching materials and music to air in all the Farsi-speaking nations like Iran, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Andre and his family really value your prayers as, following in the footsteps of Haik himself, they work to advance the kingdom in those countries where still today faith costs the most.

He concludes, “I learned we are one big family in Christ—and I think that was the number one thing which gave us courage and helped us heal.”

RESPONSE
Today I will accept the purposes of God in the martyrdom of His saints and pray for
courage and healing among the members
of the families left behind.

PRAYER
Thank You, Lord, for the way you are using the Hovsepian family in ministry back to their original homeland and region. May their efforts greatly expand Your kingdom.

 Paul Estabrooks

“See now that I myself am he! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand.
(Deuteronomy 32:39)  

January 17 will remain a vivid memory in the mind of forty-six-year-old Ali Moses for a very long time. The almost fatal attack on Ali’s life in central Nigeria turned out to be a powerful testimony destined to touch many more lives.

On the afternoon of that day, Ali was heading home to his family after a long day’s work. He got paid that day and like many previous pay-days had something special planned for the family.

On his way home Ali heard gunshots. Panic made him turn around with an urgency to get back to his working place as quickly as possible. But before Ali could make it back there, he ran into a group of irate jihadists. The incited protesters were proclaiming the name of Allah in Arabic, shouting profane slogans, insulting the Christian governor of Jos and called on the killing of Christians as infidels.

Within seconds Ali found himself surrounded by the violent mob. Brutal blows were raining down on him.

More than eighteen hours later, Ali woke up in the hospital. His swollen body was throbbing and covered with bruises. Open Doors representative, Isaac, went to visit Ali in the hospital shortly after the incident to bring encouragement and assistance and learned about his near death encounter with the Muslim radicals. Considering the course of events, it appears the assailants buried Ali alive while in a state of unconsciousness.

Ali refers to the person who came to his aid as the “Samaritan.”

On the morning following the incident, Ado was passing by what looked like a new grave. He noticed movement in the pile of sand and went closer to inspect. To his astonishment, he could tell from the motion that it was in fact a person. The man immediately called for help.

Military police dug Ali from the shallow grave and rushed him to the hospital. At first, the medical staff found it very hard to believe that he could still be alive after his eighteen-hour ordeal. But hearing Ali’s testimony gave sceptics food for thought. After spending some time in hospital he made a complete recovery.

“I am grateful to God Almighty for saving my life from the hole, it is a miracle. God rescued me in a special way…Now I believe that the power of life and death lies in no-one’s hand but the Lord’s. All thanks belong to Him,” shared Ali from his hospital bed.

RESPONSE
Today I will live victoriously in the realization that my life and my death are in the hands of my loving Lord.

PRAYER
Pray for many Christians in hot spots of the world—like central Nigeria—who face death and death threats on a regular basis. Pray they will have the same assurance as Ali about God’s power and protection.

Standing Strong Through The Storm (SSTS)
A daily devotional message by SSTS author Paul Estabrooks

Christians in Zanzibar City and other areas fear more attacks from militants. Via Wikipedia

ZANZIBAR CITY, TANZANIA (BosNewsLife)– Leaders of Christians in Zanzibar, Tanzania’s semi-autonomous archipelago, have appealed for more religious freedom in the heavily Islamic region, after Muslim extremists allegedly destroyed at least two church buildings, while elsewhere believers were detained or harassed.

“All people should enjoy religious freedom,” including Christians, who comprise less than 3 percent of Zanzibar’s mainly Muslim population of roughly 1 million people, said church leader Dickson Maganga of the Tanzania Assemblies of God (TAG) in Zanzibar.

He spoke in statements monitored by BosNewsLife Sunday, January 15, after weeks of reported attacks against churches and Christians.

Christians said in one of the latest incidents a Muslim mob torched the building of the Pentecostal Evangelical Fellowship of Africa in Mtufani Mwera, about 12 kilometers (7 miles) from the capital Zanzibar City.

The December 3 attack came just dats after Muslim militants reportedly attacked a building of the Siloam Church in Kianga, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Zanzibar City.

MUSLIM EXTREMISTS 

Pastor Boniface Kaliabukama told reporters that over “100 Muslim extremists” were seen shouting “Allahu Akbar”, or “Allah is Great” during the November 26 attack.

Maganga said the atatcks have underscored the need for more freedom. “People from Zanzibar should be free to move to the Tanzania mainland to build mosques…[But] people from the Tanzania mainland should be free to build churches in Zanzibar,” he added in statements published by local media.

Local residents have linked at least some of the recent attacks to disputes over land, but Christians have also reported growing anti-Christian sentiments.

Aid and advocacy group Open Doors, which supports the “persecuted Church” , said minority Christians on Zanzibar’s main islands of Unguja, Tumbatu and Pemba, have difficulties to gather. “Registration of churches remains difficult. There is no church on Tumbatu Island and most churches on Unguja Island are for expatriates.”

It expressed concerns that “Islamic extremism continues to grow, causing problems for Christians.” Additionally, “Believers still struggle to gain access to jobs and education” Open Doors said, adding that “reaching Muslims with the Gospel [of Jesus Christ] remains very difficult.”

CHRISTIAN CONVERTS

Christian converts with a Muslim background are among those targeted by Muslim extremists in the region. Several are known to have been harassed and detained, BosNewsLife reported earlier.

Among then is Musta Kim, further south in Comoros, three tiny islands between Mozambique and Madagascar that declared independence from France in 1975

In fresh comments published this week said he has been suffering from a skin disease contracted in prison after his family threw him out.

His troubles began in March 2010 when, returning from an overnight prayer meeting, he found someone had broken into his house in Mdjwayezi village.

While investigating, police stumbled onto Christian materials – a Bible and film – which allegedly changed the course of inquiry from pursuing thieves to asking why Kim was practicing a forbidden faith.

PRISON RELEASE 

After eight months of incarceration without trial he was released on February 29, 2011, on health grounds.

Kim, an active member of an under ground church, said his family has rejected him. The Christian explained he did not know who to turn to for shelter, medicine and food. It was not immediately clear what kind of assistance he received from his church. “I cannot sleep at night – the whole body is itching and hurting…I need medical assistance – my family has deserted me.”

He isn’t alone. “Evangelism is forbidden for Christians, and those who convert to Christianity can expect severe reprisals from the community and their own family,” Open Doors said in an assessment statement obtained by BosNewsLife.

Open Doors said “There has been an increase” in what it called “Arab Muslim fundamentalists coming to the islands to teach their doctrine in the local Mosques.”

With island Muslims seeing Christianity as the means by which mainland Tanzania would dominate them, tensions have increased in the area, according to church observers.

DIFFERENT PERSECUTION

“The degree of persecution toward Christians in Comoros differs between the three islands,” said Open Doors. Yet, “Although the numbers of local believers in underground churches continues to be small, there is growth both in quantity and depth of faith,” the group added.

It said it has been supplying funds towards the translation, production and distribution of Christian literature, while “giving support and training to Christians in the country.”

Open Doors said it had urged its supporters to “pray that Sharia” or Islamic law, “will not be introduced to these islands” and that “Christians have wisdom to resist the influence” of what it called “occult movements.” (With reporting by BosNewsLife’s Stefan J. Bos).

http://www.bosnewslife.com/20123-zanzibar-churches-torched-christians-harassed

As of January 8, 2012 the estimated cost of the expenses related to Pastor Umar’s attack and medical treatment is $128,406. The Sheba Medical Center generously agreed to provide $100,000 worth of medical treatment for free, therefore, our goal is to raise the remaining $28,406.

Ugandan pastor treated at Israeli hospital after attack

January 8, 2012

JERUSALEM (JTA) – An evangelical pastor from Uganda who recently began preaching support for Israel, is being treated in an Israeli hospital after an acid attack.

Pastor Umar Mulinde, 38, arrived in Israel on Jan. 5 for emergency medical treatment at Tel Aviv’s Sheba Medical Center following an acid attack that severely burned his face and torso and damaged his right eye.

The attackers shouted “Allah Akbar” (God is great) after pouring acid on Mulinde on Dec. 24 in Kampala. Mulinde converted to Christianity after spending much of his life as a Muslim.

After determining that he needed more advanced treatment for his injuries than the hospital in Kampala could provide, Mulinde contacted JerusalemOnlineU.com Executive Director Andrea Gottlieb of Philadelphia for financial and logistical help.

Mulinde had learned about Israel through JerusalemOnlineU.com, an online portal for Jewish distance learning. He then taught the courses at his Gospel Life Church International and to neighboring ministers, and organized a 5,000-person teach-in about Israel at a local stadium.

http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/01/08/3091067/ugandan-pastor-treated-at-israeli-hospital-after-attack

They Link Lands and Faiths

July 22, 2010 - Aaron Passman, Staff Writer

Merion resident Andrea Gottlieb

Thousands of miles of ocean and the better part of a continent separate Philadelphia from Kampala, Uganda, but for two individuals of different faiths, Israel has provided a way to bridge that considerable gap.

Andrea Gottlieb of Merion serves as director of Jerusalem Online University — a New York-based, online learning program with offices in Philadelphia and Jerusalem. For the last few months, she’s been corresponding with Umar Mulinde, a Ugandan pastor and supporter of Israel, who is now taking JOU’s “Israel Inside Out” course, which focuses on Israel’s history, both biblical and modern.

Mulinde was born and raised a Muslim, but in the early 1990s, he converted to Christianity after hearing the gospel preached, and saw how “the message of the Bible is a good, loving message,” he explained, speaking by phone from Kampala.

Upon his conversion, he said, he began reading the Bible intensely, and noticed how often the phrase “God of Israel” was repeated. He said that he came to understand how his own faith is “so much linked to Israel.”

Ugandan pastor Umar Mulinde

Mulinde’s and Gottlieb’s paths crossed after he read about JOU inIsrael Today magazine, which originates in Jerusalem. He attempted to enroll in the online courses, but met with technical difficulties, after which he consulted Gottlieb for assistance.

Through Gottlieb, Mulinde was able to begin the “Inside Out” course work, which consists primarily of films about the Jewish state. For his part, Mulinde has used JOU as a teaching tool: Every Monday night, he and a group of more than 60 congregants gather together to learn about the Jewish homeland.

“We meet and pray and talk about Israel, and express our solidarity towards the Jewish nation,” he said.

Mulinde even recently hosted more than 200 Ugandan Christian leaders in a day of solidarity with Israel.

While the pastor has not yet interacted with Uganda’s Jews, he is in the process of reaching out to them. One hurdle, he said, is that many of them live in the eastern part of the nation, and his home in Kampala lies in the south-central region.

Firsthand Experience of Terror

Kampala, Uganda’s capital city, has been in the news lately after more than 70 people were killed on July 11, when Islamic suicide bombers attacked a group watching the World Cup final.

Mulinde said that attacks like these are new for many in the capital, but he noted that most members of his community had been inspired to pray for Israel even more because now they had firsthand experience of “what a terrorist threat is all about.”

The pastor said that his positive take on Israel can only be beneficial for the Middle Eastern country, which is frequently seen as the victim of hostile, biased news coverage.

He’s noticed the phenomenon himself, he said, “whenever I put on CNN or the BBC.”

But because the media tends to be so negative when it comes to the Jewish state, he said, even some people who are not Muslims “find themselves supporting what they don’t know.”

Countering this sort of disinformation, stated Jerusalem Online’s Gottlieb, is exactly what her effort is all about.

“You constantly see bad press about Israel,” she said, “but if we can get the people of Uganda to be learning from Alan Dershowitz and get this education out, then we can really help Israel in the media.”

http://www.jewishexponent.com/article/21565/They_Link_Lands_and_Faiths/

For humanity to live in peace, says Ali Sina, Muslims must be weaned from Islam.

To Westerners and moderate Muslims shocked by the radical form of Islam now topping nightly newscasts, the efforts of liberal-minded Muslims like Tawfik Hamid, Italian Sheikh Abdul Hadi Palazzi and a handful of others may seem like the perfect solution. Not so for Ali Sina, who has a different suggestion: destroy Islam. Sina, who runs Faith Freedom International – an Internet forum dedicated to debunking Islam – calls himself “probably the biggest anti-Islam person alive.” The publication of his latest book, Understanding Muhammad: A Psychobiography of Allah’s Prophet, will likely cement that position. In it, Sina suggests that Islam’s central figure suffered from a series of mental disorders, including narcissistic personality disorder, temporal lobe epilepsy and obsessive compulsive disorder. “These disorders,” he says via telephone, “can explain the phenomenon known as Islam… which is nothing but one man’s insanity.” Sina grew up a non-practicing Muslim. Raised in Iran, educated in Pakistan and Italy and now living in Canada, he began jousting with believers in the 1990s. What bothered him, he tells The Jerusalem Post, was not the penchant for jihad and intolerance that certain fanatical Muslims displayed, but the foundation for such ills in the Koran and core Islamic texts. (Through the Faith Freedom Web site, Sina lists canonical references to Muhammad’s actions and offers $50,000 to anyone who can disprove Sina’s charge that Islam’s prophet was “a narcissist, a misogynist, a rapist, a pedophile, a lecher, a torturer, a mass murderer, a cult leader, an assassin, a terrorist, a mad man and a looter.” Respondents relentlessly attack Sina’s motives, but none has won the prize.) With violent conquest and contempt for non-believers central to the tenets of the faith, Sina argues, attempts to forge a moderate form of Islam are doomed. “The idea that Islam can be reformed is a fallacy,” he scoffs. “It’s like saying we can reform Nazism and it will be a wonderful party.” No, says Sina, “The only way to reform Islam is to throw away the Koran; 90 percent of it should be thrown away. You also have to throw away the history of Islam, and you have to completely disregard the Sira” – the Arabic term used for the various traditional Muslim biographies of Muhammad, from which most historical information about his life and the early period of Islam is derived. For this reason, Sina says, Western suggestions that extremism in Islam can be eradicated if certain imams are quieted, or if Muslims are encouraged to embrace the universalist elements of their faith – but without addressing the extremism inherent in the religion’s texts – are based on a mistaken comparison of Islam to Christianity. “In the West, people ask whether Islam can undergo a reformation like the one that Christianity underwent. That’s a poor parallel,” he says. “In Christianity, it wasn’t the religion that needed to be reformed, but the church; what Jesus preached was good.” On the other hand, Sina continues, “In Islam, it’s not the community that is bad, but the religion. Islam has nothing like ‘Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.’ Islam is full of hatred, and the hatred is in Muhammad himself. I argue in my book that Muhammad was insane – and that Muslims, by emulating him and by emulating his ways, his insanity is bequeathed to them.” BY NOW, CRITICS of Islam are fairly common in the West. And there are more than a few former Muslims who have rejected Islam in favor of Christianity, citing the difference between their former religion’s overwhelming focus on hatred and their newfound faith’s central teaching of love and forgiveness. But, like Wafa Sultan, Ibn Warraq, Ayaan Hirsi Ali and the handful of other apostate Muslims demanding that Muslims reject the negative aspects of their religion, Sina’s critiques are especially problematic. “People have to dismiss me some way, they have to put me down in one way or another. I’m a Jew, I’m a Christian, I’m a Hindu. I’m whatever people want to say in order to discredit me,” says Sina, who closely guards his true identity because of the death threats he receives. “But they can’t ignore my questions.” Sina has little patience for those who believe they can temper Islam with reason and mutual respect, or for those who remain cowed by the masses of Muslim devotees around the world. “Islam is the biggest hoax, the biggest lie,” he says. “Yes, a billion people believe it. But truth is truth. People will eventually see it. Believe me, there is no other answer. We will pay a great price until we realize that this is the solution – to undermine Islam itself, to show Muslims that this religion is not from God, that Muhammad was a charlatan and a liar.” Sina knows that his blunt, outspoken approach can be “problematic.” But he is confident nonetheless that the force of his arguments will ultimately prevail. “I am sure that, with time, I will convince millions and millions of Muslims, and the foundations of Islam will collapse,” he says. Already, he continues, Faith Freedom has attracted an impressive amount of attention. “In Iran, my site is banned. In many parts of Pakistan, it is banned. The list goes on,” he says. “Despite this, I have over 10 million readers in just over two and a half years. And I have received letters from Muslims from all over the world. Muslims everywhere are paying attention. I believe that Muslims everywhere are realizing that something is amiss. “If I didn’t have so much success in convincing people, then I would not be so confident. But I see that truth works. So many people who are now writing for me and putting things up on Youtube; seven or eight years ago, we were having fierce debates. Now, they are my greatest allies. There are many people who have seen the light after reading FFI and many of them are now working on my side, trying to help others to see the truth. “This is the way to fight evil. I do not want to kill the enemy. I want to win them as friends and allies. That is the real victory. In this way, we win because we eliminate our enemy, and our enemy wins by eliminating his ignorance and hate. That is why I believe in my cause. That is why I think I am an instrument of peace.”

http://www.jpost.com/Magazine/Features/Article.aspx?id=104835