Romulo Saune

Romulo and his family might have been descended from the royal Inca priesthood, but the Quechua Indian grew up poor in the Peruvian Andes. His mother's family was the first to become Christians in his village. At first his father was angry, but in time he accepted Christ and became an evangelist. When Romulo grew older, he became a pastor and helped translate the Bible into the Quechua language.

When Romulo was in his twenties, a Communist party called the Shining Path was formed and began terrorizing Peru. Its leader was Abimael Guzman. The Shining Path was responsible for murdering 25,00 people, including 4,000 Christians and 500 pastors. The Shining Path killed Romulo's grandfather, burned down his family's home twice, and destroyed his church.

But God was with the people of Peru. One time the Shining Path entered a village and demanded to see the leader. The village pastor, Jorge, stepped forward and they asked if he would accept the authority of the Shining Path. He refused and they tied him to a chair and attached dynamite to the legs of the chair. They lighted the fuse, ran for cover, and it exploded. When the smoke cleared, Pastor Jorge was alive without a scratch. The terrorists fled the village and the people praised God. Another time, Romulo heard a knock on his door and went to open it, but something made him stop. The knocker asked if the pastor was in. Romulo wasn't the local pastor, so he said no. The next day a man came to him and told him he and two men from the Shining Path had been sent to kill Romulo. Romulo took the opportunity to share the gospel with him.

On September 5, 1992, Romulo was stopped on the road by the Shining Path. He was in a bus with his brother, two nephews, and several other people. They commanded him to get out of the car. He did, but then boldly told them that God loved them and that their sins could be forgiven. They listened for a little bit, but then the leader rallied them and they shot Romulo and the others. The leader radioed their commander and said, “We got him!” Then they left.

Two thousand people responded to Romulo's death by marching through the streets singing “Onward, Christian Soldiers,” and carried banners, some of which said, “For me to live is Christ, to die is gain.” One week after Romulo died the government caught Guzman and within the next few months almost 2,500 terrorists were captured, ending the worse of the Shining Path's work.