21 SEPTEMBER 2009
On this day in 2009, Pastor Manuel Camacho was shot six times by soldiers of the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia).
Pastor Manuel had been ministering to people in the remote Chopal village of Colombia for almost nine years. Despite frequent personal threats, Pastor Manuel knew God was using him to reach the people of Colombia, including the FARC guerillas. Just five months before his death, he helped lead three guerrillas and seven members of the militia to Christ.
When a group of FARC soldiers approached his house one day, Pastor Manuel went out to speak with them. His wife, Gloria, and their children remained inside, looking on through a window.
They watched in horror as the soldiers shot Manuel six times in the face, neck and chest. Before leaving, the soldiers called out a warning to the onlookers who had gathered around.
“This is the end of the story,” they said. “He who rises up against us will have the same thing happen. This ends here. We killed him because we don’t share the same ideas.”
After the soldiers had left, Gloria and her children ran to his body and began wiping the blood from his face. When she noticed the crowd that had gathered around them, Gloria quickly fetched her Bible, gathered her composure, and began reading from the book of John.
“This is what my husband believed,” Gloria told the onlookers. “He didn’t do anything wrong, but he was willing to give his life for what he believed. Satan didn’t win the battle here today; God did.”
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