Islamist Militants Pose Threat to Christians in Uganda

Christians in Uganda are being threatened by Islamist militant group al-Shabaab, as outbreaks of violence inch closer to the nation. Police were present on Sunday services after the U.S. embassy warned that Christians Ugandans were at risk.

Though al-Shabaab has not yet attacked in the nation, citizens have a feeling of unease as grenades and bombs have killed and wounded many in neighboring countries. Al-Shabaab did not take credit for the attacks, but Mission Network News reports that the violence is seems to be their work.

“A lot of these attacks, when they do happen, they happened during church services, during the school day. That’s something that’s hard to prepare for and guard against. I think that just makes people quite nervous even though their community maybe has not had any ‘event’ that they’ve had to deal with yet. They’re still aware that it could happen at any time, and I think that just makes people very anxious,” said Worldwide Christian Schools (WWCS) president Scott Vander Kooy.

The WWCS staff are using the stressful time to teach Ugandans about the gospel. “It’s hard to talk about terrorism without talking about it in the context that this is a broken world and needs Jesus Christ,” Vander Kooy said.

Publication date: June 2, 2014