Stoned with the Word

A bar owner’s plot to stone the new preacher in town backfires.

He did not seem to be preaching, but visiting homes with love! His kindness and commendable conduct gave him a wider audience than he would have otherwise had, and he ended up drawing people’s attention to serious, deep Bible study. To the surprise of the whole village, his Bible class under the tree in the marketplace grew bigger every day.

It would have been no problem, but his teachings disproved some popular religious dogmas as he emphasized “the Bible and the Bible only.” He kept repeating the slogan, “If it is in the Bible, I believe it; if it is not in the Bible, it is not for me.”

Irritated by the new teachings, one of the local religious leaders came to my bar and tried to recruit people to attack the preacher and disrupt his Bible studies. I decided to go and cause chaos myself by throwing stones at the preacher, because his meetings had cut into my business. Instead of coming to the bar to drink beer, the people now gathered under the tree to drink the Word!

Slipping several stones into my pocket, I strode to the market and stood at the back, leaning against the tree whose shade the preacher used for his classroom. No sooner had I put my hand in my pocket to pull out a stone than the preacher walked up to me, grasped my free hand and began using me as an illustration in his sermon! As he spoke about Daniel chapter two, I unwillingly followed along; yet in my mind I kept thinking of how I could harm my captor.

Suddenly, the preacher read the verse that tells about the stone that hit Nebuchadnezzar’s image and crushed it. Sensing my opportunity, I drew a stone out of my pocket. “Do you mean that a stone like this will crush you?” I asked.

The preacher’s mouth dropped open as I took a step back and raised my arm. Before I could throw the rock, however, a man behind me jumped up and restrained my hand. Then several other men jumped me and escorted me home.

The next day, the preacher came to visit my family. Each week after that, he came to my house every Sunday to give us Bible studies. One month later, my wife and I were baptized along with our second born son and 14 other people.

Since the closest Seventh-day Adventist Church is four kilometers from our home village, our little congregation has decided to establish a church in our neighborhood. At first, we enjoyed worshipping under the tree; but because the rainy season has begun, we are looking for a house to rent for church services.

Following Jesus has caused me some serious life changes. For one thing, I closed the bar. A bigger problem, though, was that I had been polygamous with three wives. I decided to desert the second two and be faithful to my first wife; but as you can probably imagine, the abandoned wives are as furious as wounded buffalos! They detest my decision to follow Jesus Christ. I request your prayers that God will give me wisdom on how to handle my former wives. Please also pray for my relatives and friends who are persecuting me. Pray that God will open their eyes so that they can see the truth I have seen. Pray that they, too, will be “stoned with the Word” and change their course to follow Jesus!  

Location

Uganda

Author

Patrick Kafobeero is a new Christian living in Nyabubaare, Kakanju, Bushenyi, Uganda.

How You Can Help

Pray for Patrick and his family to remain strong in their new faith. Pray for his friends, former wives and relatives to see the beauty of the truth that has changed his life.

Pray for the family of believers in Nyabubaare to be able to establish a permanent place of worship.

Give a gift to support God’s work in Uganda. Please mark your donation “Uganda Mission” and send it to:

Mission Projects International
PO Box 151
Republic, WA 99138

To give online, visit:
missionspro.org/donate