Following the latest military coup in Burkina Faso, the West’s politicians are apparently now worried that Russian mercenaries may be invited in to quell the jihadist uprising there.
Meanwhile, Western Christians are being asked to pray for their brothers and sisters in the unstable and poverty-stricken West African nation, that they may have the courage to keep preaching the gospel.
Ibrahim Traoré, a 34-year-old army captain, took power in Burkina Faso in late September, overthrowing Lt Col Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, whom he accused of failing to effectively counter rising violence by Islamic extremists. The international community widely condemned the ousting of Damiba, who himself overthrew the country’s democratically elected president in January.
Traoré has now promised to commit ‘all fighting forces to refocus on the security issue and the restoration of the integrity of [the country’s] territory’. Some Western analysts fear Traoré will ask Moscow to boost the country’s failing struggle against Islamic extremists, which has already forced 2million people to flee their homes and killed thousands.
But even as Islam rips through the country, Evangelicals Now has received reports of how this severe persecution has become a refining experience for the church. For example, one pastor, having been warned not to speak at a meeting by a jihadist, nevertheless courageously carried on preaching the gospel – even though that same jihadist was in the crowd, carrying an AK-47 assault rifle. But after the pastor finished, the jihadist calmly walked up to him and shook his hand.
And prayer is undoubtedly working in these extraordinarily difficult times. One church asked for prayer after it was instructed to convert to Islam. It refused, but the jihadists who had issued the order – and threatened dire consequences were it not obeyed – quite remarkably failed to return as expected to carry out their threats.
One European mission partner, who has worked in Burkina Faso for many years, spoke to en anonymously about the current situation there. He related a conversation where some local Christians told him: ‘It is true, foreigners working in our country are able to go home, and that maybe is the right thing to do, but we must stay – we cannot leave. And if we must die because of our faith in Jesus, that is what we must do, and we will continue to entrust this also to God’. The mission partner said: ‘I find this heartbreaking, yet totally humbling. There is no doubt that, despite the appalling human circumstances, God is most certainly moving mightily in Burkina Faso right now.’
