In the fear of the LORD one has strong confidence.
Proverbs 14:26a (NRSV)
Isma Dogari (2011)
Prepared for Martyrdom
“I am not a pagan, but a servant of the living God. You need Jesus in your life.” This was the bold response of Nigerian missionary pastor Isma Dogari when radical Muslims posing as police pulled over the van he was travelling in and asked, “Is there any pagan amongst you?” This happened in Bauchi state on 18 April 2011 as Muslim rioters were rampaging through Northern Nigeria, savagely attacking Christians, using the re-election of Christian President Goodluck Jonathan as a pretext to vent their hostility.
The men who stopped Isma’s van pulled him out of the vehicle and took him to a mosque by the roadside. They gave him a Quran and told him to renounce Christ. But he refused, saying, “I have since passed that level a long time ago” and repeating, “You need Jesus in your life.”
They beat him and gouged his eyes out, asking him again to denounce his faith, but he persisted in his plea, “You need Jesus.” The pastor was then stabbed and burnt to death. Other Christians who were with Isma, a married father of seven, testified to his courageous martyrdom, describing him as a great hero of the faith.
It seems that the Lord had prepared Isma ahead of time. Not long before his death he had a dream in which he heard a voice saying, “Men were killed in a war leaving a good number of women as widows.” From that day, he constantly reminded his family of that revelation and urged them to stand firm in their faith no matter what. In the final sermon he preached, just the day before his death, he warned that it was time for Christians to stop living carelessly and be prepared, if the Lord willed, to lay down their lives for Christ’s sake.
The sight of any trouble strikes terror into the heart of those who do not have faith, but those who trust Him say, “Here comes my food!”
Watchman Nee (1903-72)