The main temple was burned down in 2011

Between 2010 and 2011, during a meeting where believers were seeking the Holy Spirit in the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God in Dakar, Senegal, in the Africa continent, youths with rocks, sticks, knives, hammers and axes stormed the temple, breaking and burning down everything: chairs, lamps, cabinets and appliances. The bathrooms and electrical installations were damaged. People were injured and everything was destroyed in minutes. Even a Bible was torn into pieces.

Renovated temple

However, after a great persecution, and renovation, the main temple of the Universal Church was re-inaugurated on the 10^th of March, and more than 1500 people were present.

“Our work never stopped, even after the church burned down, we continued to have meetings,” said Bishop Luis Valente, responsible for the Universal’s evangelistic work in Senegal.

To sum it all up, it seems like the years went by flying to those who remained faithful and kept their faith. But the truth is that there were some tough times, like bishop Valente recalls: “After that day, only those who were truly firm and had an encounter with God remained in the Church. That’s because there were constant newspaper articles written against the Church, accusing us of doing witchcraft, calling us a satanic cult, accusing us of drinking human blood. It was not easy for our people.”

Inauguration Day

About 97% of the country’s population is adherent to Islam. This directly interfered with the lives of those who would not bow down before the persecutions and decided to endure everything for the Lord Jesus. “Many members were neglected by their relatives. Many heard, ‘Either you leave that Church or leave my house.’ Women were abandoned by their husbands. We came across young people who were hungry, because they said that their parents did not give them food unless they left the Church,” says Bishop.

An Example of Perseverance

While going through this trial of fire, those who had a real encounter with God stood firm in the face of threats of abandonment made by their loved ones. Like Sokhna Adja Fall, 29, assitant (pictured to the right), who was bound by her husband in a room for 8 days. “My husband did this because I said that I chose to be with Jesus, because He was the One who had healed me, after I being deceived by doctors for so many years. My husband made me eat like a dog. He would throw food on the floor and say, ‘Either you leave this Church, or you’ll continue tied up.”

When a neighbor finally released her, the assistant quickly found shelter in the home of a friend of the faith, and continued going to meetings hidden from her husband. “Thank God, he got tired of persecuting me, and I did not get tired and will never get tired of seeking God,” she says triumphantly.

Such courage only caused bishop Valente’s and the missionaries of the Universal Church throughout the country to want to win more souls for the kingdom of God. “The faith of these people encouraged us every day, because it is a faith that had been deceived by religion for a long time, but now they were set free from that slavery.”

Still speaking about the reopening of the temple, the bishop makes a point of reminding everyone of the verse in Haggai 2.9, which says: “The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former.”