Burkina Faso (MNN) — Burkina Faso is leaving the West African regional bloc ECOWAS to join counterterrorism forces with Niger and Mali. The junta leaders of those countries criticized sanctions imposed by ECOWAS and are pledging to address regional unrest through an independent confederation: the Alliance of Sahel States.
What prompted the move?
Jihadist activity continues to rise in West Africa. Burkina Faso, plagued with violence for the last decade, is seeing a surge of such activity at its northern border. Jihadists based in Mali are increasingly taking ground.
“They are pushing further and further south into Burkina Faso, and that is resulting in violent attacks against Christians,” says Todd Nettleton with Voice of the Martyrs USA.
Regular attacks on villages sometimes claim dozens of lives – other times hundreds. Mali-based al Qaeda affiliate Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) is the primary group terrorizing the region.
Burkina Faso has seen three coups in the last two years, an internal struggle compounding external jihadist threats.
“There really is no stable government structure to try to push back against the jihadists coming into the country,” Nettleton says.
Niger’s defense minister says the coordinating of air, land, and intelligence resources is a no-brainer.
“We are in the same space. We face the same types of threats, in particular this threat from criminal groups,” he told AP news. “We had to pool our efforts.”
How is the church responding?
Burkinabe man. Courtesy of Abigail Hofland.
One of the challenges for the church in Burkina Faso is to address the needs of Christians who have been displaced along the northern border, where violence is thickest.
“There are tens of thousands of Christians living in displaced person camps or living wherever they can find a roof over their head,” Nettleton says.
These are only a fraction of the 2.5 million people displaced in the Sahel region – 3500 of whom were displaced in the last six months, according to the United Nations refugee agency. Nettleton says the upheaval comes with questions for believers.
“How do we care for these thousands of people that have just come into our city? How do we encourage them? How do we help make sure they don’t starve to death?” he says.
One of the most obvious answers is to provide practical assistance, which Voice of the Martyrs has been doing in the form of food aid. Nettleton says a Burkinabe believer recently thanked a VOM staff member for the assistance, but he pinned prayer as the more valuable help.
Burkinabe girl. Courtesy of Abigail Hofland.
How can we pray?
In addition to praying for the Burkinabe church to be strengthened, we can pray that the church would grow. Nettleton says many Muslims are rattled by the violence of their brothers and are being moved to “try out” the Christian God.
Please pray for both the Muslim and Christian communities in West Africa. Pray that Muslims would come to Christ, and pray that Christians would persevere in hope. For all displaced people, pray for God’s provision and protection. Pray also for the ushering in of a stable government that would allow this nation to protect its own citizens.
Featured photo courtesy of mayns82 via Pixabay.
