How Extremism Entered Peaceful Burkina Faso
Pastor Pengdwende used to care for a congregation in Bobo-Dioulassou in southwestern Burkina Faso. Under the ever-increasing danger of jihadist attacks, he was compelled to leave his home and congregation and join throngs of other Christians in displacement, hoping and praying for the day the Lord will entrust to him once more his own flock. He spoke to Open Doors about the way extremism came to Burkina Faso, a country that has always been known for peaceful relationships between Muslims and Christians and about the cost of it all to the Church.
Pengdwende is young, too young for the responsibilities he shouldered. He met and spoke with Open Doors visitors who came to Burkina to deliver trauma care and emergency relief. His tone is almost matter-of-fact, maybe stemming from his resignation to the fact that there are certain (terrible) realities human beings can do very little about other than accept.
When asked about how the changes came to his country, he explains: “First, a Muslim preacher, Malam Dicko*, came to our area and started preaching a new Muslim current in mosques. People started joining that new current. Then he brought weapons. Those who refused to fight, were killed, one by one at night. Then it was the turn of pastors, town councillors, village chiefs, and all those who cooperate with the state authorities,” pastor Pengdwende says.
“I don’t really know the content of the new Muslim teaching, but this new branch did not consider moderate Muslims as good Muslims. This new branch wants all the men to have shorter trousers and the women to be totally covered… So, if you are a Muslim and you did not practice these principles, you were in danger.”
“Even those who joined the branch (at first) didn’t know the depth of the thing. It is when they brought weapons to distribute to them that they understood the depth, and recognised that it’s not God’s (business)…They are more radical in their type of faith than the others and if you don’t obey, they just kill you.”
“We heard about it in Mali, Nigeria, but we didn’t see it before (in Burkina Faso). Unfortunately, it slowly started coming to us. Some Burkinabe travellers to Mali started telling us that there are people with guns in the bush.”
Then the attacks started in Burkina Faso. “In the beginning, they would come to a village for just one person, to kidnap him or to kill him and leave. Only men were affected by their killing. Sometime later, they didn’t distinguish. They entered a village, and they would kill men, women, even sometimes the children, both Muslims and Christians.”
Violence all around
Pengdwende watched the violence get closer and closer every day. One day, the jihadists kidnapped one of Pengdwende’s fellow pastors – an overseer. “The leader of the group called a colleague to tell him that the president is a Christian and this is why soldiers are arresting (and killing) some Muslims, while sparing Christians. He called to inform Christians that the terrorists were going to avenge those Muslims by killing Christians. That’s how Christians have become targets.”
Attacks started happening in short succession.
“In my village the terrorists came to one of my uncles. They entered my uncle’s house and shot him three times. He received one bullet in his abdomen, the second in his shoulder, and the third one just brushed his head. They left thinking he was dead. We brought him to hospital (and survived). Another pastor from our area, ran into terrorists as he was coming back from a funeral and was killed. He was serving God in a neighbouring village, about 15 km from my village.”
Forced to leave
With growing threats against pastors, Pengdwende and his family made the difficult decision to leave the area.
“We had spent 7 months without any rest. As pastors, we did not sleep in the same place twice. Sometimes, we slept in the bush for safety, sometimes, we stayed indoors for a long time so no one would know that we are there. Our village chief even sent a message to tell me I should leave, otherwise I could be killed.
One Sunday morning, Pengdwende was preparing to leave when he noticed terrorists moving around the area.
“Before they arrived, I told my family members to get ready, and I told the members who came to the Sunday service to go back home. I told them that if they found us there, it would be very dangerous. While I was still speaking, they surrounded the compound. I didn’t know what to do or what to say.”
Then there was a miracle.
The attackers left as suddenly as they had arrived. “It’s only God’s miracle, otherwise I don’t understand why they surrounded the compound and left without entering to kill us. They just went back like that. When they left, they met a man on the road, killed him and went their way.”
God miraculously protected them that day, but Pengdwende knew it was time to leave. He knew he was also being watched. “Every morning, these terrorists used to come and inquire about me. Even in the evenings, they used to come. It was like that every day.”
The Church in Burkina Faso
This situation has left the church in dire straits.
“I can say that in the north of Burkina, Christians are in sorrow and tears. When you have been born and raised somewhere, and you wake up one morning with only a few minutes to flee with only what you are wearing, and if your wife maybe has to bring only a few things with her to join you where you hide, it isn’t simple. We have been scattered.”
Asked if he can see anything good coming out of this situation, Pengdwende says: “The good thing that can come of this situation for Christians is to prepare their lives. Before, when they read the Bible, it was like stories to many, but now, it’s a reality. The Bible said that a time will come when people would kill you, believing that they are doing a work of God, but that they do not know God or Jesus. …I told you that we spent seven months without sleeping. When you sleep just a little, you wake up in fear to check if you are still alive. And if it is so, you just thank God. Because of that, everyone was just preparing himself, so that whenever he is killed, he may see Jesus.
Prayer
“Please pray for the healing of the pain in my heart because of thoughts. It is only two months after I arrived in Bobo that I started sleeping again. For five or six months, I had severe headache. The daylight caused me more pain through my eyes, and at night I was sleepless because of the many thoughts, until morning. So, pray for our healing from pain and fear. Sometimes when we hear a cry, it reminds us of the cries of someone who sees his relative being killed, and it’s very distressing for us.
“Secondly pray for my ministry. A pastor cannot just sit idle like this; I want God’s help me to have a ministry again where I am, that’s what I want you to pray for.”
