In memory of the martyrs: how you can help heal Pastor Michée’s community

Pastor Michée’s dad, Filibert, was killed in an attack on his village in Burkina Faso. Thirty other Christians were murdered in the attack. Here’s how he is starting the healing.

“My father was courageous. I have never seen anyone as courageous,” says Pastor Michée, walking through his village in Burkina Faso. “He was the second person to convert to Christianity in the village. He was deeply engaged in his faith. He loved his wife and us, his children.

“He was also a songwriter. Everybody was happy when he was singing, and everyone would feel the presence of God. This is how I would like him to be remembered.” As he speaks, Michée holds out a photo of his dad, Filibert. In the picture, Filibert is holding Michée’s young son, standing alongside his wife and Michée’s wife. It’s one of only two photos that Michée has to remember his father by.

Like many people who’ve lost a much-loved parent, Michée loves sharing stories of his dad and the inspiration he was to his family and many others. But Filibert’s death is painful to talk about. He, alongside dozens of other Christians, was martyred in a brutal attack on their village.

A terrible message

“I was in bed when I received a message from a friend,” remembers Pastor Michée. “He said: ‘The village was attacked today.’ I tried to ring my father’s number, but it wasn’t going through.”

He managed to get in touch with his sister, who was hiding in the bush. She explained that Filibert had been handcuffed in front of her and taken away – and she didn’t know what had happened to him. “Tears came to my eyes and my heart was deeply in pain,” says Michée. “I didn’t know what to say.”

First thing the next morning, he tried to go back to the village, but the military weren’t letting anybody in. Somebody managed to send a photograph. “I recognised my father by his shoes,” says Michée. That’s when he knew for sure that Filibert had been killed.

Harmony turns to violence

The attack on the villagers was a particular shock because the community had lived for years in harmony. “Before the attack, the village was comparable to a small paradise for us,” Michée remembers. “There was joy and a peaceful atmosphere.

“The church, which had started with only one person, had expanded. At the time of the attack the church had almost 600 members including children, so almost all the people in the village were Christians. We were proud to worship God.

“There was an ethnic group called Fulani living with us. We were living together as if we were the same family, and we used to drink tea and play football together.”

Things began to change when armed, militant members of the Fulani people group started coming to the village. They began turning the Fulani villagers against their Christian neighbours. “The trust that had been built was getting broken, bit by bit,” Pastor Michée remembers.

On the day of the attack, everything happened rapidly. “In a blink of an eye, more than 100 terrorists entered the village,” says Michée. “If they caught you, they handcuffed your hands behind you. There was another group in charge of chasing the animals, and a third in charge of setting houses on fire.

“Some were lucky enough to escape. But the people who were handcuffed were brought to the church and their eyes were covered. They were all shot dead.”

In one day, 31 Christian men were killed – including Michée’s father, brothers and uncles.

“We have nothing left”

In Burkina Faso, and across many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, this shocking violence is increasing. Last year, at least 4,491 Christians in sub-Saharan Africa were martyred for their faith. It is a tide of violent persecution that seems to happen with total impunity for the attackers.

As Pastor Michée explains, the persecutors targeted men, but men weren’t the only victims. “It was the women too, because the men who gave them hope and cared for their needs were now gone,” he explains. “The objective was to destroy the future of the village. They destroyed all our houses. Our possessions and animals were stolen. We had nothing left. The plan was to discourage the Christians in their belief.”

And, for Michée, it looked at first like the attack had succeeded. “This had a very negative impact on my faith,” he shares. “I asked, ‘Why has God allowed this to happen?’ For me, that was evidence that God had let us down.

“Prayer was no longer meaningful to me. As a pastor, I was compelled to do it. But I was just uttering words. Deep down, I was doubting. I had a lot of bitterness in my heart.” All Michée could think about was taking revenge.

Open Doors trauma care

When Open Doors partners heard about the attack, and the devastation it had caused, they came to offer relief aid and trauma care to the surviving villagers. Michée was among those invited to the trauma care training, and it has had an extraordinary impact on him.

“It really changed my life,” he says. “An untreated trauma is contagious. The trauma I was going through almost destroyed my faith in God, my ministry, even my relationship with my family. But after the training, my relationship with God was revived. I re-found hope in God.”

The attack on his village had cost Michée nearly everything he held dear. But the trauma care has shown him that Jesus was near every step of the way, grieving with him and holding him close. “My anger was gone,” says Michée. “I lacked forgiveness, I had revenge in mind. All that was gone. I have been renewed.

“One thing that helped me was the sharing of personal stories. That really relieved me. I had the opportunity to cry when I was relating my testimony, and I felt that I got free from the bitterness within me.”

Michée knows keenly that this life-changing trauma care is only possible thanks to people like you. “I want to say ‘Thank you’ to those who are supporting us,” he says. “It encourages us, it strengthens us and enables us to renew our engagement in worshipping God.”

“They are in dire need”

Having benefited from the trauma care himself, Pastor Michée is keen to see other members of the community receive it too. “There are a great number of people who are going through trauma but are ignorant about it,” he says. “They are in dire need of this training that I received.”

He is currently providing trauma care for 16 people in the village, among them many widows. “I see that the hearts of many have been healed,” he says. But the scale of the need is huge, in Burkina Faso and across sub-Saharan Africa. Many more believers need to know they aren’t alone – that their global family hasn’t forgotten them, and that God never abandoned them, even while dangers persist.

“I would like us to honour the people we lost in the attack – our fathers, mothers, brothers and children,” says Michée. “They died in Jesus’ mighty name and they will be rewarded as they deserve. And for that, we must honour them.

“Our people died as strong believers, and we are asking God to help us have the same faith, worshipping Jesus. I am praying for my people to be delivered, consoled and restored.”

Stop the violence. Start the healing.

You can help bring that deliverance, consolation and restoration to our African church family. Today, will you give and pray to honour the memory of the martyrs? When you pray for, speak out alongside, and support them, please do it for Filibert. Do it for the 31 Christians martyred in this village. And do it for those, like Michée, who loved them.

“Listen! Thousands of Christians are being killed across Africa,” says Pastor Michée. “We are talking about it. Will you join us?”

There’s still time to answer Michée’s call and sign and share the Arise Africa petition. You have until 2 November to add your voice, and share the petition with friends and family. Thank you!