{"id":392,"date":"2021-06-23T19:09:15","date_gmt":"2021-06-23T19:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/?p=392"},"modified":"2021-10-25T15:59:28","modified_gmt":"2021-10-25T15:59:28","slug":"ugandan-widow-faithful-to-christ-loses-second-husband","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/ugandan-widow-faithful-to-christ-loses-second-husband\/","title":{"rendered":"Ugandan Widow Faithful to Christ, Loses Second Husband"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Cecelia’s Costly Choice<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Cecilia was still grieving her husband\u2019s death when Habib Kabunda started visiting her small village in Uganda<\/a>. Although he was a Muslim and she was a Christian, Habib had been a friend of Cecilia\u2019s husband. So when he proposed marriage, Cecilia\u2019s tribe voted that she should marry him, and Cecilia accepted. Her children needed a father, and she had no means of supporting her family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After their marriage, which required Cecilia to convert to Islam, Habib moved into Cecilia\u2019s mud-walled house, where they had children together and eventually became a family of nine. Habib worked, Cecilia managed the household and life seemed to return to normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the years passed, however, Cecilia became increasingly uneasy with her adopted Islamic faith. She felt empty and depressed, and the words of the clerics at the mosque meant nothing to her. Recognizing that the problem was spiritual, she knew she had a decision to make. \u201cI realized I had to stop right there and return to Christ,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\r\n\t

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\r\n\t\t\t\"\"\r\n\t\t<\/figure>\r\n\t\t
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Request your free magazine<\/p>\r\n\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n\r\n\t\n\n\n

Cecilia left the mosque and returned to church, even though she and Habib often fought about it. Her Christian faith became more central to her life, and she knew she would never return to Islam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, one day Habib went to work and never came home. Days later, he called to tell her he was leaving her because she had become a Christian. He told her that he couldn\u2019t live with her anymore and that he was leaving her to starve. While she could have taken an easier path and remained a nominal Muslim, she knew her relationship with Christ was worth the hardship. She trusted God to take care of her family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Habib never said why he wanted to marry a Christian widow, but a Ugandan<\/a> church leader said it falls in line with a Muslim conversion strategy in Uganda<\/a>. According to Brother Stephen, the church leader, Muslims are rewarded if they marry a Christian, with the highest rewards going to those who manage to marry a pastor\u2019s daughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While more than 80 percent of Ugandans<\/a> consider themselves Christians, the work of Islamic missionaries as well as financial and educational incentives are persuading a growing number to convert to Islam. Since 2015, Islam has grown by 7 percent. \u201cEspecially in the north we have some areas where the Muslims are taking over,\u201d Brother Stephen said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With seven children to feed, Cecilia never had enough food for her family. They were slowly starving, their ragged clothes hanging off thin shoulders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Boy<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Cecilia tried to make extra money by doing gardening work for other people, but it wasn\u2019t enough to support her family. And although friends from church shared what they could, they didn\u2019t have much to spare either. Soon, the children had to quit school because Cecilia couldn\u2019t afford tuition, and she couldn\u2019t even afford the medicine to treat her youngest child for typhoid. Adding to her suffering and humiliation, her ex-husband\u2019s family watched carefully, gloating that her Christian faith wasn\u2019t going to save her from starving. That\u2019s when Cecilia\u2019s pastor called a local VOM worker for help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upon arriving at Cecilia\u2019s home, the VOM worker was deeply saddened by the family\u2019s situation; it was worse than he had expected. Everyone in the tiny one-room house slept on banana leaves and sacks stuffed with grass, the malnourished children often received only one meal each day, and the mud house looked like it could collapse on their heads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With VOM\u2019s support since 2017, Cecilia\u2019s family has been doing better. She has been able to reinforce the walls of her house and add another room, and she bought mattresses and clothing for the children. In addition, a VOM worker visited the family recently and took the children shopping for school supplies, enabling them to wear shoes for the first time in their lives on the first day of school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cecilia\u2019s pastor and church family are grateful that she is being provided for, and even the larger community recognizes how she is being helped through the body of Christ. One day as the VOM worker purchased items for Cecilia\u2019s family in the local market, he overheard someone say, \u201cThe Lord has really answered that woman\u2019s prayers. When she returned to Christ, everyone thought she would die quickly. Her husband\u2019s relatives have been waiting to see her fail, but the Lord has given her a smile.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though Cecilia has faced many difficulties because of her decision to leave her husband\u2019s Islamic faith, she has trusted God as her provider through it all. Today she attends a nearby church where the local Christians know her story and continue to support her. Her pastor, a former Muslim, understands what she has gone through and is able to provide encouragement when she needs it. And the VOM worker, who still visits the family regularly, has noted a change in her demeanor \u2014 Cecilia now smiles. \u201cThis is a sign of gratitude for the miracle the Lord is doing in their lives,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is new life in Cecilia\u2019s little mud house. The walls and roof have been repaired, and the family now sleeps on mattresses with blankets and sheets. Each weekday morning the children walk to school in their new shoes, and each evening they pray together on the floor of their now-sturdy home. The four walls that couldn\u2019t hide their poverty and humiliation now shelter a family renewed through the love of their brothers and sisters in Christ.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cecelia’s Costly Choice Cecilia was still grieving her husband\u2019s death when Habib Kabunda started visiting her small village in Uganda. Although he was a Muslim and she was a Christian, Habib had been a friend of Cecilia\u2019s husband. So when he proposed marriage, Cecilia\u2019s tribe voted that she should marry him, and Cecilia accepted. Her children needed a father, and she had no means of supporting her family. After their marriage, which required Cecilia to convert to Islam, Habib moved into Cecilia\u2019s mud-walled house, where they had children together and eventually became a family of nine. Habib worked, Cecilia managed the household and life seemed to return to normal. As the years passed, however, Cecilia became increasingly uneasy with her adopted Islamic faith. She felt empty and depressed, and the words of the clerics at the mosque meant nothing to her. Recognizing that the problem was spiritual, she knew she had a decision to make. \u201cI realized I had to stop right there and return to Christ,\u201d she said. Cecilia left the mosque and returned to church, even though she and Habib often fought about it. Her Christian faith became more central to her life, and she knew she would<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":393,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[60],"class_list":["post-392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-field-stories","tag-uganda","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nUgandan Widow Faithful to Christ, Loses Second Husband - Stories<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"With seven children to feed, Cecilia never had enough food for her family. 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