Five hundred Seventh-day Adventists in Mangochi, a town near Lake Malawi, are grateful that a day of rioting June 27 only damaged their church buildings. The riots, caused by a group of Muslims protesting the deportation of suspected al Qaeda terrorists by Malawi, also resulted in the burning of a Roman Catholic Church in Mangochi, as well as the local office of Save the Children, a charity.

According to Adventist church officials, two Adventist church buildings chiefly suffered shattered windows, while the larger building also had two doors destroyed. A bicycle belonging to a literature evangelist was also stolen.

No injuries were sustained as the people who were in the building—attending a literature seminar—ran away when they saw the angry mob approaching. Ironically, local leaders advised the rioters to avoid attacking the Adventist Church because of shared beliefs, such as refusal to eat pork. They attacked anyway.

The local pastor’s home is near the church buildings, and rioters moved toward the house after attacking those structures. Sensing danger, Pastor Phillip Kalumphalinga and his family ran away and hid in the bush. The pastor returned at 11 p.m. while his wife and children spent the night two kilometers away at a local elder’s home. Kalumphalinga has been serving the predominately Muslim region for two years.

Worshippers gathered on the lawn outside the two buildings to hold services on Sabbath, or Saturday, June 28, because the buildings were littered with broken glass.

Dr. Saustin Mfune, president of the Adventist Church in Malawi, said, “We cannot go for the tooth-for-tooth type of response and take the law into our own hands ... While we will remain calm, we will, however, let it be known to the powers-that-be to quickly redress this situation to ensure that freedom of worship is protected.”

News agency reports indicate that 20 people, including the local leader of the Muslim Association of Malawi (MAM), were arrested on June 30 in connection with the incident. Malawi state president Bakili Muluzi said he was opposed to the violence: “I am a Muslim, I don’t hide that, but I am a peaceful Muslim,” he told journalists.

There are 210,000 Adventists worshiping weekly in 2,634 congregations in Malawi.