5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,
6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
7 For he who has died has been freed from sin.
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him...
In 2nd Corinthians chapter 6, Paul wrote about the real spiritual danger he faced as a minister of the gospel. He writes:
4 But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses,
5 in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings;
6 by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love,
7 by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,
8 by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true;
9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed;
10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
Over three dozen students at a school in Uganda experienced a brutal mass murder last month, and the Faithwire website reported that those responsible were "burning and hacking victims with machetes." It reported:
The mostly-Christian student body at the Mpondwe Lhubiriha Secondary School was reportedly singing Gospel songs before the deadly attack at the hands of suspected Islamic State militants with The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a group based in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the BBC.
The article included a survivor story reported by Morning Star News about Edgard Mumbere, who...
...described how one of the boys in the dorm saw the militants were armed and informed his peers, who remained silent and started to hide.
“This prompted us to hide under the beds, and shortly we heard gunshots followed by fire on dormitories,” Mumbere said. “They threw a bomb on our dormitory, and the whole room was full of smoke, and we couldn’t breathe. Some of us managed to get out of the dormitory but were shot and managed to survive bad injuries.”
The horror didn’t end there, as Mumbere explained how he personally survived the unfathomable ordeal.
“I tried to smear blood on my face and whole body, and I pretended to be dead,” he told Morning Star News. “One came and checked and saw nothing, and that is how I survived.”
Faithwire reported that, "A militant reportedly said, 'This school is propagating Christianity in Uganda
and getting support from Christians in the West – Islam should be the dominant religion in Uganda.'" The story relates that "local Christians have expressed fear over what unfolded, with victims’ families asking for prayer and financial support."
Edgard Mumbere is a survivor, and the key to his surviving this brutal attack on the Uganda school was to pretend to be dead. It reminds us that in order to survive the attack of sin on us, we have to accept the death to self, a crucifixion with Christ. The enemy, as Jesus taught, wants to destroy us; but the Bible illustrates for us that through our death to sin, we can enter into true, abundant life.
This is a reminder that in many parts of the world, there are great dangers - Christians find themselves the target of terrorists. Yet, through their bravery, they continue to stand in the strength of the Lord. They have the target on their backs because of the presence of Christ in their hearts. Recognizing the spiritual warfare that is present throughout the earth, we can be reminded of the powerful resources that God has given us when we face evil.
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