Islamists crossed the border from Mali into the central African country of Burkina Faso last month and attacked Christians in the town of Gorom-Gorom, according to Todd Nettleton of The Voice of the Martyrs (VOM).
Burkina Faso is labeled as a hostile nation on VOM’s Global Prayer Guide. The term is used to identify nations or parts of nations “where governments may attempt to provide protection for the Christian population but Christians are still routinely persecuted by family, friends, neighbors or political groups because of their witness.”
“There was an attack on a village in Burkina Faso on May 11 that left 21 people dead. The first house targeted was the house of a Christian pastor,” Nettleton states.
He says they went next to the homes of two other Christians and killed the head of the household in each of those homes as well before residents had a chance to fight back.
“The villagers gathered to try to stop them, and they opened fire, and 18 more people were killed. A total of 21 people killed in this attack in one night in one village in Burkina Faso,” Nettleton says.
He comments that the area is heavily Islamic, especially along that border with Mali, where there are Islamist groups that control territory and have weaponry.
According to the prayer guide, a little over half of the Burkinabe are Muslims, making it the major religion, and the biggest persecutors in the region are Islamists connected with al-Qaida and ISIS terrorist groups.
“There are several groups that are active in that area, several that are affiliated with either Al-Qaeda or ISIS. We assume Islamist terrorists,” Nettleton states.
There has been a spike of Islamic activity in the country since 2016, and Christians have been a primary target since 2019.
He notes that the Burkina Faso believers are typical of persecuted Christians, putting the gospel before their very lives.
“They know they're in danger, but they stay, and they keep ministering in the church. They keep building the church, preaching the gospel, even evangelizing to lost people, even though they know that puts a target on them,” Nettleton says.
