Jun 13, 2026 · 34 min · 11 segments
In a Muslim village in East Africa, 47 people confessed belief in Christ. But then Christian persecution came. Radical Muslims went house-to-house, threatening new believers and demanding they return…
Todd NettletonHost
Paolo, let's talk about East Africa and the countries where you oversee work now.
It seems like whenever we talk about Africa, we talk about Islam and especially radical Islam, the sort of pledge allegiance to ISIS, have a caliphate, that kind of Islam.
How have you seen that sort of increase over the years that you've been in that part of the world? And is it really increasing or are we just hearing more about it now than we did maybe 10 years ago?
It is really increasing, especially in some areas in the coastal region.
Somehow some leadership from the Islam, of course, they force people to come to the Islam or sometimes they... let's say sometimes they buy their faith, giving them what they need, understand? But also because some of families, they can have maybe six, seven, even 10 children inside the family.
It is really increasing in some areas, but of course the gospel is bigger.
Still, there is many things to do among of them.
to them? Of course, for some Muslims, when they really live inside the Muslim community or inside their family, for them, when they accept Jesus as a Lord, For them to come out of the family and tell them or to tell everybody, oh, now I am a follower of Jesus, now I am a disciple of Jesus, is very difficult because they can suffer a lot of persecution.
We have seen in some areas, I can mention some places, for example, in Zanzibar, northern side of Mozambique, northern side of Malawi, northern side of South Sudan.
So many of them, they are coming to Jesus.
They keep their faith inside, but many of them, they cannot mention it to the public.
Even baptism sometimes, we have to hide it.
I have some experience.
We had to baptize them 6 a.m. in the morning.
Wow.
And we had to find a place that was a small river, 6 a.m. in the morning.
Where nobody else would be.
Yeah.
It still was a little bit dark on that day, so nobody was there.
I mean, just myself, my wife, and the family.
Paolo, let's talk about East Africa and the countries where you oversee work now.
It seems like whenever we talk about Africa, we talk about Islam and especially radical Islam, the sort of pledge allegiance to ISIS, have a caliphate, that kind of Islam.
How have you seen that sort of increase over the years that you've been in that part of the world? And is it really increasing or are we just hearing more about it now than we did maybe 10 years ago?
It is really increasing, especially in some areas in the coastal region.
Somehow some leadership from the Islam, of course, they force people to come to the Islam or sometimes they... let's say sometimes they buy their faith, giving them what they need, understand? But also because some of families, they can have maybe six, seven, even 10 children inside the family.
It is really increasing in some areas, but of course the gospel is bigger.
Still, there is many things to do among of them.
to them? Of course, for some Muslims, when they really live inside the Muslim community or inside their family, for them, when they accept Jesus as a Lord, For them to come out of the family and tell them or to tell everybody, oh, now I am a follower of Jesus, now I am a disciple of Jesus, is very difficult because they can suffer a lot of persecution.
We have seen in some areas, I can mention some places, for example, in Zanzibar, northern side of Mozambique, northern side of Malawi, northern side of South Sudan.
So many of them, they are coming to Jesus.
They keep their faith inside, but many of them, they cannot mention it to the public.
Even baptism sometimes, we have to hide it.
I have some experience.
We had to baptize them 6 a.m. in the morning.
Wow.
And we had to find a place that was a small river, 6 a.m. in the morning.
Where nobody else would be.
Yeah.
It still was a little bit dark on that day, so nobody was there.
I mean, just myself, my wife, and the family.
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