After acquiring land where they could build a house of worship, local Christians in the Ethiopian town of Yebu faced heavy opposition. Numerous times, local Muslims had warned the Christians that if they did not stop evangelizing, they would be attacked. As a result, Christians decided to postpone the construction of their church until midnight on July 2, 2006.
The very next day, on July 3rd, a militant Muslim mob carried out their threat after the project was underway. The mob waylaid workers and demolished the entire building, stealing the materials to build their own structure.
Christians in this 98-percent Muslim town managed to stop the assault before the whole building was torched.
Two Christians, Yoseph Gebresadek and Terefe Jirga, suffered serious injuries and were hospitalized. The Muslim attackers also wounded many other Christians.
Militant Muslims accused three Christian leaders involved in the project of disturbing the peace and stability in the area, a charge which could land the three in prison.
A few days before this attack on June 30th, the Assembly of God Church in the town of Alemaya was set ablaze in the middle of the night. However, Ethiopian Christians refuse to stop practicing their faith out of fear. Sign up to receive a free subscription to The Voice of the Martyrs’ monthly newsletter right here on the website.
