Get involved
Your support helps persecuted Christians continue to courageously follow Jesus.
Together, we can reach those where persecution hits hardest.
Mali’s presidential elections will take place on Jul 29 and the situation is fragile; please join us in praying for our Malian brothers and sisters during this time of tension and change.
Mali’s presidential elections will take place this Sunday on 29 July; please join us in praying for our Malian brothers and sisters during this time of tension and change.
The current president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, is running for a second term since being elected in 2013 and is expected to win the votes for a second five-year term, even though he is widely disliked for control of state media and alleged corruption.
The situation in Mali is still fragile after the political upheaval in 2012, in which the Tuareg people (a Muslim minority group) who felt overlooked by the government formed an alliance with radical Islamic militant groups and staged a coup, overrunning government forces and taking control of several cities and a sizable part of northern Mali. Even though militant Islamic groups have since been pushed out of most of the territory they occupied, their presence is still felt, and this continues to create an atmosphere of tension and anxiety for Christians.
Natasha, mother of two and a believer from a Muslim background, found herself caught up in the 2012 violence. She had been widowed shortly before; her husband had been gunned down for his faith on a business trip. Natasha decided to try to weather the fighting with her children, Jean and Alexander, by staying in Timbuktu. However, things took a turn for the worse - rebels belonging to the radical Islamic group Ansar al-Dine invaded Natasha’s house and abducted Alexander (a teenager at the time) from under her eyes.
"I was on my knees, praying all the time, pleading for the Lord to protect my son," she says. "Alex acted deaf and dumb in the presence of his abductors. They whipped him severely but released him after two days. This horrible experience has left Alexander severely traumatised. Jean was also terrified, and I realised we could not stay there anymore. We too fled to Bamako [capital of Mali]."
After their arrival in the southern city, Natasha and the boys stayed for more than a year in an Internally Displaced Persons camp belonging to a church. Eventually though, the camp had to close. “I had nowhere to stay and no money… I felt like I was chaff in the wind.”
It was at this point that Open Doors heard about her through her local church, and provided money so she could rent a simple apartment. “This help came just at the right time. It brought a huge sigh of relief.”
As thankful as she is for the roof over their heads, Natasha faces continued pressure for her faith from her neighbours; her apartment is in a compound of mostly Muslims. “They laugh at me when I sing and pray.” But the love of Jesus is evident in her attitude towards her persecutors. “I am a Christian, I have to show love even to the worst of my enemies. Who knows, I may draw them to Christ despite their attitude towards me. Christians are people who love their enemies – their haters – as brothers. That is how we can win them for the kingdom.”
Mali has around 400,000 Christians, who make up around two per cent of the population. In northern Mali, especially among the Tuareg, the influence of more radical versions of Islam has grown over the past few years. The civil war and the opportunity it afforded Islamist militants pose a serious risk and challenge to believers.
"God is not a God of disorder but of peace," says Paul in 1 Corinthians 14. Pray that our persecuted family will know and be comforted by this over the coming days and weeks.
Your support helps persecuted Christians continue to courageously follow Jesus.
Together, we can reach those where persecution hits hardest.
