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PERMISSION IS GIVEN BY JIM WAGNER TO COPY & DISTRIBUTE THIS REPORT FOR NON COMMERCIAL USE ONLY
MAKISABO VEHICLE AMBUSH
BASED ON OPEN-SOURCE INTELLIGENCE (OSINT) AS OF JUNE 25, 2022 A.D. • COMPILED & ANALYZED BY JIM WAGNER
DATE & TIME: June 21, 2022 at 5:00 p.m.
LOCATION: Democratic Republic of the Congo, near the village of Makisabo (near the city of Beni). TYPE OF ATTACK: Vehicle ambush.
SUSPECTS: Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), and Islamic terrorist group with ties to ISIS.
MOTIVE: Animosity towards Christian churches, of all denominations, for their Biblical pro-life beliefs.
WEAPONS USED: Religious terrorism.
INJURIES OR DAMAGE: More than 10 Christians killed, and three vehicles set on fire. SITUATION: Christians (the city of Beni has several Christian churches and organizations of various denominations) were driving in the war-torn zone of Beni territory along the Beni-Kasindi Road when they were ambushed by gunmen. RED ACTION: Witnesses, who came across the burning vehicles, stated that the vehicles and bodies showed signs of an ambush.
BLUE ACTION: There was no help or rescue during the attack on the remote highway through the jungle. The bodies and the smoldering vehicles were found a few hours after the attack.
JIM WAGNER’S COMMENTARY: In the United States vehicle ambushes are rare. However, in Third World countries, especially in conflict zones, they are common.
For Christians in regions hostile towards Christians, which includes foreign missionaries, pre-mission training, besides knowing how to spread the Gospel, should include knowing how to avoid roadblocks and what to do if the vehicle is fired upon (maneuvering the vehicle, interior positioning to avoid being injured, and a basic understanding of ballistics of car glass and penetration points). Additional training should include kidnapping avoidance and captivity survival if criminals/terrorists succeed in taking hostages.
Although giving one’s life as a martyr is one of the highest honors to the Lord, and doing so merits receiving another crown in glory, like Paul (when he was lowered down a wall to escape – 2 Corinthians 11:33) we try to stay alive as long as possible to continue to spread the Gospel until the day we can no longer do so or we are finally killed for our faith.
According to the Open Doors World Watch List 2022 the Democratic Republic of the Congo is ranked 40th where Christians suffer the most persecution.
On Friday, June 24,2022 a missionary, “Veronica,” returned home from a mission trip in Uganda (within 100 miles of the Beni territory). I had trained her for a year in Security Operations, which I teach every Monday evening to a mixed group interested in hand-to-hand combat, security operations, and learning what the Bible has to say about being “Christian Soldiers.” During a debriefing on Sunday, June 26, 2022, she told me that a motorcycle rider had been doing surveillance on their small group (their group being a man, a few women, and a translator) as they were walking back to their compound. Veronica was the only one who detected the surveillance, which included the signaling of the motorcycle rider to another person nearby. She could not tell her group directly about the danger, because she did not know if their translator was part of the set-up, so she convinced everyone to follow her in taking evasive action (although they didn’t know why) from a vehicle that was setting up an ambush down the road. At one point they even had to run.
Veronica also told me about encouraging a fellow missionary, at another time in a Congolese refugee camp, who was going back to the conflict area of Beni to preach God’s Word despite the high risk of doing so.
Take just a moment or two right now to pray for our brothers and sisters persecuted in Africa today, and for added strength and courage for those spreading the Gospel there. By doing so, you are rightly using your Weapon of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17) by flipping the selector switch from SAFE to AUTO to pray and spray (multiple prayers concentrated on the enemy).
Finally, just because vehicle ambushes are rare in the United States does not mean they don’t happen. Churches that have pastors who openly speak against our society’s sins, such as those who are pro-abortion, and who are preaching the full counsel of God, then those pastors are more at risk of a vehicle ambush, which can occur at any point from their church to their home (or to their children’s school, to scheduled meetings, etc.). Anyone hostile doing enough surveillance on a pastor will determine their driving patterns and can pick the kill zone of their choosing. Training to counter such an attack falls under the category of Executive Protection. Obviously, it is better to be proactive than reactive. Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon. Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me. Nehemiah 4:17-18
LOCATION: Democratic Republic of the Congo, near the village of Makisabo (near the city of Beni). TYPE OF ATTACK: Vehicle ambush.
SUSPECTS: Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), and Islamic terrorist group with ties to ISIS.
MOTIVE: Animosity towards Christian churches, of all denominations, for their Biblical pro-life beliefs.
WEAPONS USED: Religious terrorism.
INJURIES OR DAMAGE: More than 10 Christians killed, and three vehicles set on fire. SITUATION: Christians (the city of Beni has several Christian churches and organizations of various denominations) were driving in the war-torn zone of Beni territory along the Beni-Kasindi Road when they were ambushed by gunmen. RED ACTION: Witnesses, who came across the burning vehicles, stated that the vehicles and bodies showed signs of an ambush.
BLUE ACTION: There was no help or rescue during the attack on the remote highway through the jungle. The bodies and the smoldering vehicles were found a few hours after the attack.
JIM WAGNER’S COMMENTARY: In the United States vehicle ambushes are rare. However, in Third World countries, especially in conflict zones, they are common.
For Christians in regions hostile towards Christians, which includes foreign missionaries, pre-mission training, besides knowing how to spread the Gospel, should include knowing how to avoid roadblocks and what to do if the vehicle is fired upon (maneuvering the vehicle, interior positioning to avoid being injured, and a basic understanding of ballistics of car glass and penetration points). Additional training should include kidnapping avoidance and captivity survival if criminals/terrorists succeed in taking hostages.
Although giving one’s life as a martyr is one of the highest honors to the Lord, and doing so merits receiving another crown in glory, like Paul (when he was lowered down a wall to escape – 2 Corinthians 11:33) we try to stay alive as long as possible to continue to spread the Gospel until the day we can no longer do so or we are finally killed for our faith.
According to the Open Doors World Watch List 2022 the Democratic Republic of the Congo is ranked 40th where Christians suffer the most persecution.
On Friday, June 24,2022 a missionary, “Veronica,” returned home from a mission trip in Uganda (within 100 miles of the Beni territory). I had trained her for a year in Security Operations, which I teach every Monday evening to a mixed group interested in hand-to-hand combat, security operations, and learning what the Bible has to say about being “Christian Soldiers.” During a debriefing on Sunday, June 26, 2022, she told me that a motorcycle rider had been doing surveillance on their small group (their group being a man, a few women, and a translator) as they were walking back to their compound. Veronica was the only one who detected the surveillance, which included the signaling of the motorcycle rider to another person nearby. She could not tell her group directly about the danger, because she did not know if their translator was part of the set-up, so she convinced everyone to follow her in taking evasive action (although they didn’t know why) from a vehicle that was setting up an ambush down the road. At one point they even had to run.
Veronica also told me about encouraging a fellow missionary, at another time in a Congolese refugee camp, who was going back to the conflict area of Beni to preach God’s Word despite the high risk of doing so.
Take just a moment or two right now to pray for our brothers and sisters persecuted in Africa today, and for added strength and courage for those spreading the Gospel there. By doing so, you are rightly using your Weapon of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17) by flipping the selector switch from SAFE to AUTO to pray and spray (multiple prayers concentrated on the enemy).
Finally, just because vehicle ambushes are rare in the United States does not mean they don’t happen. Churches that have pastors who openly speak against our society’s sins, such as those who are pro-abortion, and who are preaching the full counsel of God, then those pastors are more at risk of a vehicle ambush, which can occur at any point from their church to their home (or to their children’s school, to scheduled meetings, etc.). Anyone hostile doing enough surveillance on a pastor will determine their driving patterns and can pick the kill zone of their choosing. Training to counter such an attack falls under the category of Executive Protection. Obviously, it is better to be proactive than reactive. Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon. Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me. Nehemiah 4:17-18