It was market day in a small village in eastern Burkina Faso. Suddenly jihadists came and began threatening the people. A young Christian had positioned his small radio on the market well, with a broadcast about Jesus in Fulfulde. In his panic, he forgot to switch it off.
One of the terrorists came to the well and started listening. “Whose radio is this?” he asked. After a long time of silence, an older man said: “It belongs to this young man.” The jihadist kept listening to the message, while his comrades kept threatening the villagers. Finally, he took the radio without any more words.
After a week, the terrorists – including the one who had taken the radio – came to the market again. He looked for the young owner of the radio, and when he couldn’t find him, addressed the old man who had pointed out the young man a week ago. “The message in the radio was very good! Where can I find a second radio?”
These jihadists need the Good News, too. But who will bring it to them?
According to a 2022 report by the United Nations Development Program, poverty and unemployment, and not religious conviction, are the main reasons that people in Africa join extremist groups. Christians allow fear to prevent them from praying for terrorists as well as investigating solutions for the material needs that drive people into extremism.
How to Pray
- Pray that we Christians would repent if we have had wrong attitudes, and that we would ask Jesus for his love and attitude towards all people.
- Ask God to reveal the corruption and lawlessness that keep people in poverty and that sustainable solutions would be found.
- Pray that God would open the hearts of many extremists, so that they would hear the story of Jesus and believe the Gospel.
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