Christian Father Mortally Stabbed By Animists in Ethiopia Utters Last Words to His Son: 'Be Strong'

By Jay Gotera, Christian Post Contributor Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Although more than half of the population of Ethiopia are Christian, there are still some pockets in the East African country where believers are a minority and thus subjected to persecution.

Open Doors visited one village in western Ethiopia and learned about the tragedy that struck a Christian family.

A young man named Wasihun told the Christian charity that theirs was the only Christian family in the village. As such, he said they faced constant threats and insults from their neighbors who believe in animism, the doctrine that all natural objects and the universe itself have souls.

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He said his father was fully devoted to Christ and shunned animist rituals. This angered their animist neighbors who threatened his father with death.

The day arrived when the animists made good their threat."On the day before the night my Dad was killed, it was raining. We worked the whole day and got home late. That night people came...and stabbed him," Wasihun told Open Doors.

He said he was only 7 years old when it happened. He recalled clinging to his father's legs trying to pull him away from his attackers. He said he and his 15-year-old sister tried to cover the wound on their father's neck as their mother sought help.

As his father lay mortally wounded, Wasihun heard him speak his last words. His father told him: "Be strong. Look after your sisters and brothers."

Wasihun said they did not obtain justice for the murder of his father as the killers remained scot-free.

Despite what happened, Wasihun said their family remained fiercely devoted to their Christian faith.

"When [my father] died, we all gave up. We thought we had no hope," he said.

"But the Lord ... helped us survive through the storm and even made us lead a more financially stable life. We never had the clothes and shoes we have now. God provided for us. God is more than a Father to us," he said.

Wasihun's sister added: "When our opponents bully us, we kneel down and pray to God to give us patience."

Open Doors says the killing and persecution of Christians abound across Sub-Saharan Africa.

The charity supports Wasihun and others persecuted Christians by providing them income-generating activities and trauma care through its local partners.

Ethiopia is ranked 22nd on Open Doors' 2017 World Watch list of the top 50 countries where Christians suffer from persecution.

Christians in the country are facing persecution even though Ethiopia has the second highest number of Orthodox Christians—36 million—next only to Russia where there are 101 million followers of the faith, according to Ezega.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church dates back to the 4th century when the nation was converted to Christianity.