28/04/2025
CONGOLESE PASTOR ATTACKED WITH ACID AFTER JOINING THE ADVENTIST CHURCH
Imagine the scale of persecution when Mark 13:12-13 is fully fulfilled:
> “Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death.
And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”
THE STORY:
Banza Mwela, formerly a pastor of a Sunday-keeping church in the Democratic Republic of Congo, nearly lost his life after choosing to be baptized into the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
On the day of his baptism, Banza returned home joyfully, singing a hymn about the power of Jesus. But as he stepped inside, tragedy struck. His own son, enraged by his decision, hurled a bucket of sulfuric acid onto his face and body, while his wife stood by, complicit. Blinded and burning, Banza collapsed to the floor, writhing in agony.
According to Robert S. Muhune, president of the Adventist Church’s East Congo Union Mission, Banza’s wife and son had conspired to kill him for leaving their former church.
“But fortunately, a miracle happened," Muhune said. "The man didn’t die.”
Neighbors, hearing his desperate cries, rushed him to the hospital. Though his face was permanently disfigured, Banza survived — and with even greater resolve.
Today, Banza Mwela stands as a living testimony, now an Adventist pastor himself, preaching with power and drawing many souls to Christ.
“I praise the Lord that I am part of the Seventh-day Adventist family and that the devil has been defeated,” Banza declares.
His journey into the Adventist faith began when he enrolled at the local Philip Lemon University to study Adventist doctrines. Three months later, he was baptized — and though baptized into suffering, he was also baptized into a victorious life in Christ.
