Imagine life on the run, taking everything you can and fleeing your home, just to make sure your kids weren't killed.
That's what life is like everyday for Christians in parts of Burkina Faso.
This fall, 147 Christians - including children, elderly people, and eight pregnant women - fled from two villages on the border of Burkina Faso and Niger. Hot on their hills were extremist Islamist fighters, intent on killing every one of them.
The militants had been entering villages and demanding 'taxes' based on the number of cattle owned by the people in each village. Recently, they have begun asking whether the cattle herders are Christian or Muslim, so the Christians can be killed. To be a believer, especially in northern Burkina Faso, is to have a target on your back.
The goal of the insurgents is to "Islamize" the country. Attacks in the northern region - where there is little security for Christians - have increased significantly since 2015. The government is launching a new strategy to fight terrorism, and it is hoped this will improve the situation.
Still, for the Christians trying to stay one step ahead of the militants, and the tens of thousands displaced by the violence, there is no safe place, except in God.
Please pray with these desperate brothers and sisters as they seek refuge from those who want to take their lives.
Pray for God's Hand to cover these fleeing people, blinding the enemy to their whereabouts and keeping them safe from attack.
Lift up the government of Burkina Faso and ask God to strengthen its resolve to put an end to the terrorism that disrupts the country.
Ask God to turn the hearts of the persecutors away from the plans they have made, and cause them to repent of the killings and attacks they have perpetrated. Only He can bring them forgiveness and peace.
Thanks so much for praying, God bless. Taken from Open Doors USA text alert.
That's what life is like everyday for Christians in parts of Burkina Faso.
This fall, 147 Christians - including children, elderly people, and eight pregnant women - fled from two villages on the border of Burkina Faso and Niger. Hot on their hills were extremist Islamist fighters, intent on killing every one of them.
The militants had been entering villages and demanding 'taxes' based on the number of cattle owned by the people in each village. Recently, they have begun asking whether the cattle herders are Christian or Muslim, so the Christians can be killed. To be a believer, especially in northern Burkina Faso, is to have a target on your back.
The goal of the insurgents is to "Islamize" the country. Attacks in the northern region - where there is little security for Christians - have increased significantly since 2015. The government is launching a new strategy to fight terrorism, and it is hoped this will improve the situation.
Still, for the Christians trying to stay one step ahead of the militants, and the tens of thousands displaced by the violence, there is no safe place, except in God.
Please pray with these desperate brothers and sisters as they seek refuge from those who want to take their lives.
Pray for God's Hand to cover these fleeing people, blinding the enemy to their whereabouts and keeping them safe from attack.
Lift up the government of Burkina Faso and ask God to strengthen its resolve to put an end to the terrorism that disrupts the country.
Ask God to turn the hearts of the persecutors away from the plans they have made, and cause them to repent of the killings and attacks they have perpetrated. Only He can bring them forgiveness and peace.
Thanks so much for praying, God bless. Taken from Open Doors USA text alert.