matyred for Christ
Rev. Isma Dogari was one of our EMS Missionaries stationed at Muktoshi, ECWA Tafawa Balewa LCC, in ECWA Dass DCC, in Bauchi state, Northern Nigeria. On the Sunday after the Nigerian Presidential Election had taken place and the results had started coming in indicating that Goodluck, Ebele, Azikiwe, Jonathan, a Christian was winning, hell was let loose in the Northern part of the country which has a substantial Muslim population. It was suppose to be a political matter, but the aftermath of the riot was a clear proof that not only Christians were the primary target, the attacks against Christians were not spontaneous , but were well planned and prepared assaults that were executed under the guise of political protests. Many Christians were matyred and this is the heroic story of one of our Missionaries Rev. Isma Dogari, who died in the midst of the conflicts, killed, not because he belonged to the Nigerian ruling Party, the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) or any other party for that matter, but because he dared to acknowledge that he is a Christian and would not deny Jesus Christ, His Saviour and Lord.
A Buli by tribe, before Rev. Isma Dogara became a Christian, he was an African Traditional worshipper and one of their chief masquerades (Dodo) which were revered as gods and basically served and even worshipped within their cultural Bulawa tribe context. His conversion was dramatic. On this very day in his sleep, he saw a dark cloud and white cloud with someone directing him to follow left or right. Suddenly, he heard a voice telling him to follow Jesus. He was confused by that, as he did not even know who Jesus was. Somehow, he instinctively knew, that it had to do with the Christian religion, so the following morning, he visited a nearby pastor and narrated what he saw in his sleep. Then the Pastor took time and explained to him about Jesus and then he agreed to follow Him as Lord and Saviour.
Later, he became so committed that he felt called to enter the ministry. He went and trained at ECWA Bible Training School (BTS) Bayara. Upon graduation, he joined EMS of ECWA and had been serving for up to 22 years when he was martyred this year on 18th April 2011.
From the testimony of preceding events to his martyrdom, there is no doubt that the Lord prepared him ahead of time. The wife told how just sometime before his martyrdom , he related a dream he had to her. He said, “I saw myself in a very vast farm land which had not been cultivated, working alone. Then someone told me to lie flat on my stomach on the ground. Then I heard a voice saying, 'men were killed in a war leaving a good number of women as widows.'” When he woke up, he prayed. From that moment he constantly spoke to his family about holding on to their faith, so that when Christ comes, He will meet them ready. According to his wife, he never stopped reminding them of that revelation and also the need to stand firm in their faith no matter what.
When we went to visit the wife and family, she looked quite distraught, but when she began to recall the last message of her husband on the Sunday morning a day before his martyrdom, she really lightened up, even putting on a smile. She told us he preached from Proverbs 7:1-26, on the topic “Yanayin Rayuwa A Karshen Zamani,” that is, “Living in this End Time Generation.” In his message he emphasized the need for Christians, especially our Christian young ladies, to separate themselves from any entanglement with the world and unbelievers. He warned again, that it was time Christians stop living carelessly and be prepared if the Lord wills, to lay down their lives for Christ sake.
After the message on that Sunday, 17th April 2011, Rev. Dogari went home to visit his son in-law who had been attacked by Moslems aftermath of the Presidential Elections. The son-law is an ECWA Pastor working with ECWA Dass DCC. On his way to Dass the following Monday, their vehicle was intercepted in a Muslim dominated village of Mararaba Liman Katagum They stopped the vehicle with passengers inside and asked, “ is there any 'Kafiri' (pagan) amongst you?” Then Rev. Dogara came out and said “I am not a 'Kafiri' (pagan), but a servant of the Living God. You need Jesus in your life.”
The Muslims took him to a mosque just by the road side and once inside, gave him a Qua'ran and told him to denounce Jesus and leave. But he refused and told them, “ Na wuce wannan wurin tuntuni”, meaning, “I have since passed that level a long time ago.” He then added again “You need Jesus Christ in your life.” They then plugged his eyes in the mosque, brought him outside, took him under a tree and asked him again to denounce his faith and leave but repeatedly, he told them, “you need Jesus”. A retired Police Inspector, a muslim, was the first to stab Rev. Isma Dogara with a knife, slaughtered him and put a tyre on him and burned him to death.
According to the late Missionary's wife, later that evening, their local Overseer asked of him (her husband), if he had arrived. When they told him no, he then told them about a car that was attacked and that the case was with the Police, and advised them to go and find out. His younger brother went with some people to the Police and they took them to where he was burnt. The brother recognized his burnt remains only from a small residual part of the clothes he had worn which was left unburnt. That was when they knew that he was dead.
Among those passengers in that vehicle, were other Christians, who gave this touching testimony about how he was martyred. They confessed that he was indeed a great hero of faith and a General of the Lord's army.
The wife needs our prayers. She is traumatized very seriously, but she is slowly getting over it. Sometimes, she is lost in thinking. Other times, when someone knocks at her door, she will expect to see her husband. Often she would think her husband just went out and would be coming back. She mentioned that nothing can replace him in her life. According to her, the late Reverend built a two-rooms apartment, already roofed without windows and doors. She is also worried that her late husband had to borrow the sum of =N81,750 (eighty-one thousand, seven Hundred and Fifty Naira) during the roofing work and she does not know she will be able to pay this amount of money. This has been taken care of from EMS Crisis relief funds and also, work is being completed on the compound of rooms of the late Missionary from the funds.
However, Rev. Isma Dogari who served for 22 years as a Missionary with EMS of ECWA, left behind 7 children. Two of them are ladies who have married but five of them are males that are in school. EMS of ECWA setting up a fund to ensure that the children's schooling is not terminated due to the sudden death of their father. If you feel led to contribute to this fund please send donations and inform us that it is for Rev. Isma Dogari family relief fund. God bless you.