25 September 2024

“I can’t even describe my joy!” – 320 families supported in Mali

16.2 million Christians in sub-Saharan Africa have been displaced by violence and conflict. The need is enormous, but your support is already starting to make a difference – and that includes in Mali following a recent distribution of aid. Thank you, and please continue to remember your persecuted family in the region.


Families were overjoyed at receiving the aid provided with your gifts

Joy and thankfulness have greeted your provision of practical aid for 320 Christian families displaced by violence in Mali.

Since 2012, an Islamic extremist insurgency has had enormous implications for the minority Christian population in Mali, particularly the north. Churches have been burnt down and Christians displaced, leaving many homeless and their places of worship in ruins.

In Bandiagara, a region in central Mali, many communities have been forced to sign agreements with jihadists. If they don’t, they must leave or face violent attacks. The areas surrounding the towns of Koro, Bankass and Sangha have been especially targeted. For the last two years, attacks in the region have happened almost weekly. People are either killed, kidnapped or injured, and Christians are among the targets in every attack.

Since the end of last year, 320 displaced Chrisian families have been living in Bankass town, putting an immense strain on the local church who can no longer singlehandedly support the displaced. It’s here that, with your help, Open Doors local partners have been able to step in, providing the families with rice, oil and financial support for other needs like clothes, school fees and medicine. 

Stop the violence, start the healing

“I can’t even describe my joy!” says Pastor Thomas, a local church leader. “Our Christian brothers came to support us with rice, oil and money. More than 300 people were supported. Sincerely, I thank God and our brothers who came to support us.”

“My family and I are really happy”

Esther

“I give thanks to God that our brothers came to support us,” adds Esther, a beneficiary. “My family and I are really happy. We give thanks to the Lord for His glory. God willing, we will eat rice with fat or with sagasaga (leaf sauce) with our families.”

Thank you for your gifts that make it possible to reach families like Esther’s in Mali. The impact shown here is reflected across the broader region as your support brings timely aid and joy to many of our persecuted brothers and sisters displaced by violence and conflict.

However, many needs still need to be met, and recent events in the Mopti region of Mali – where jihadists recently summoned pastors and told them to help the jihadists’ recruitment or leave their homes – are a sobering reminder of the intensifying hostility facing Christians not only in Mali but throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Please continue to remember them as we to join with our African family in seeking to stop the violence and start the healing.


Please pray

 

  • Give thanks for the provision of this aid and the impact it’s having on the families
  • That local partners will be equipped to reach even more people in need
  • That the authorities in Mali will be given wisdom, boldness and breakthrough in their attempts to counter extremism.
Please give
 
  • Every £19 could give emergency accommodation to a displaced believer.
  • Every £35 could help sustain a displaced believer with food, clothing, hygiene products and medical care.
  • Every £58 could provide a day’s training to two church leaders to equip them to disciple believers effectively.

My gift

Get involved

Your support helps persecuted Christians continue to courageously follow Jesus. Together, we can reach those where persecution hits hardest.