Following a one-week evangelistic event in Mubende, Pastor Mulinde was driving the 90 miles back to the Ugandan capital of Kampala on 25 September when a band of men blocked a road. He managed to maneouvre around them.

They followed him to his home in such a way that he did not detect them, he said, and broke in later that night.

Wisdom to pray

‘They entered my house dressed in Islamic attire, but, after realising the danger, I sought God and he gave me some wisdom to pray, which confused them, and they could not trace my whereabouts,’ he said. He and other family members slipped out by the back door. ‘We narrowly survived – I only lost a number of my personal household goods and office items such as laptops, iPads and phones, but precious life remained intact,’ Pastor Mulinde said.

The former Islamic sheikh (teacher) and grandson of a well-known imam said he believes the intruders intended to kill him following the campaign in which hundreds of people put their faith in Christ.

‘This second attempted murder defeats human logic, due to the fact that I am guarded by police, unlike in 2011,’ he said. ‘I had given my bodyguards a day off, and thugs succeeded to break into my home at night without being noticed. I narrowly survived this close attempt on my life, and I must really thank God.’

Police have yet to find the intruders, Pastor Mulinde said.

‘What I know is that these attacks are connected to religious extremism and are protected by corrupt leaders paid off by the Muslim community,’ he said.

Acid attack

That he is still ministering at all is a miracle, as he was incapacitated after Muslim extremists threw acid on him on in 2011. He had come out of his church building in Namasuba, about 30 miles outside of Kampala, when some men called out to him.

‘As I entered my vehicle, people came and poured acid on my face, which caused my skin tissue to melt,’ he said. ‘Indeed it was a catastrophic effect on my human flesh which dramatically changed my life. The acid would have burned me to near death had God not helped me.’

The acid continued to eat at his flesh even during initial treatment, and he was in constant severe pain, though surgeons miraculously saved his sight and hearing in 2014. The evangelist, who began Gospel Life Church International and led thousands of people to Christ, lost much of the past seven years in recovery, receiving specialised treatment in Israel.

Today his Gospel Life Church International has more than 1,000 members, of which 35% are former Muslims, according to the church website.

Police have yet to find those who attacked him on Christmas Eve 2011, and the file of that attempted murder is alleged to have been stolen from the police. Pastor Mulinde suspects an illegal network within key positions has planted agents who are making sure that witnesses will be silenced so that the perpetrators will never be arrested.

The same ones who threw acid on him later sent letters threatening more violence against others, and police were presented with those letters, he said. Since 2011, other pastors have been attacked by gunmen or kidnappers, or had hot oil thrown over them. The pastor called on Christians to examine Islamic extremist ideology and to challenge it.