The Effects of Trauma Care
Martine is from the village of Silgadji in northern Burkina Faso. On April 28, 2019, armed men stormed her church as the service was concluding. The congregation had just finished listening to an impassioned sermon by their pastor, Martine’s adoptive father on loving each other.
She remembers it like it was yesterday.
“Usually, another church member would lead the closing prayer, but that day he did it himself and asked, ‘When Jesus was about to go, what did he say to his disciples? We were all sitting down looking at him. Then he asked again, ‘What was the last word of Jesus Christ?’ Then I answered, saying that Jesus’ last word with his disciples was: Father forgive them because they don’t know what they are doing…then he made us pray for our enemies because they also do not know what they are doing, they
are influenced by something (else).”
“When we prayed and left the church, some minutes later, not more than ten minutes, we realized, that we were surrounded…”
Martine will likely never forget the terrifying sight of these attackers. She could tell they were not locals from their appearance. “They had belts with bullets hanging over their bodies and when they walked, we could hear the noise.”
Some people had already exited the church and were standing outside chatting with one another. The attackers gathered everyone into the building.
“They took the Bibles, the wooden pulpit and threw everything together and burned it all. And they made all those who were in the church walk out and stand near the big tree in front of the church.
“They told the men to follow them. And they took them behind the church. They made them to lie on the ground to shoot them.”
The rest of the congregation didn’t see it happen, but they heard the horrible bpree-bpree-bpree of the gunshots. The pastor and five church members, including two of the pastor’s sons, were dead – Martine lost her father, husband, brother, and brother-in-law.
During the attack, the attackers stole all their phones and ID cards and gathered some of the motorcycles.
They also made off with food. What they couldn’t or wouldn’t take with them, they burned, including three motorcycles.
“They told us to leave the place quietly. If we cried they would be back the next day to kill us all, they said.”
But Martine’s phone was hidden in her bag and so she was the one to call for help. “I was able to call people to come and help us because bad people have visited us and did awful things…I was very, very sad.”
Incomprehensible
What is hard for Martine to understand is why these things were happening when they had such good relationships with their Muslim neighbours.
“There was good understanding between the Muslims and Christians in our village. There were no problems between us. Even when these things happened, the Muslims were not happy. Muslims and we loved each other.
“Muslims sometimes came to our pastor to talk about what is happening in the country. Some of them said that Christians and Muslims should flee.
“But my father said that if it is because of the name of Jesus that people want him to flee, he will never flee this village. Even if it would mean death, he would die for the name of Jesus. He would not be afraid of what can only kill the body but not the soul.”
So, even though Martine is sad about the loss of her father, she knows if he had the choice to go through it again, he probably would. “He used to say while pointing his finger to the ground, ‘If I have to die for the name of Jesus Christ, you can bury me here. And nobody should cry for me then. Because it is for the name of Christ that I accepted death.’”
Opting to trust God’s purpose
As Martine was forced to leave the area, she remembers thinking: “I want those who did this awful thing not to die without knowing Jesus Christ.”
She had no idea what the future held for her. And she had no words even to pray. “I wanted to open my mouth to speak to God, or to ask God ‘why, why, why’ but all that came out were groans.”
Yet, she has decided to trust God’s purposes. “If a person knows Jesus Christ, you have to leave your problem in the hands of Jesus Christ. And follow Him. Then He will lead you. Otherwise…,” she concludes, her words trailing off.
There was also a pastor who was on his way to the service to warn them, but on the way there he got lost and didn’t make it in time. So, she figured: God must have his reasons.
“So, (I said to God), now it is your time O God, that’s why You allowed them to die. I leave the problem in the hands of God.”
“I told the Lord: ‘From now on it is You who will take care of my life day and night. I have no one else to whom I can carry my problems, except You. As You allowed this thing to happen, Lord, I am counting upon You. And it is You who will take care of me. I will go neither to the right nor to the left. When something is about to trouble me, or when a thought troubled me, I used to say, ‘Jesus, remember the prayer that I made to You. I will deviate neither to the right nor to the left. It is only to You that I lift my eyes. My hope is only on Your cross.”
Faithful provision
Through the generosity of people like you, Open Doors has been able to deliver much-needed emergency relief to displaced Christians in Burkina Faso like Martine. More than 2,100 families benefitted from emergency food relief (consisting of rice, maize, beans, and cooking oil) to help them bear the burden for a few months at least.
Martine and 83 other women widowed in similar ways have also benefited from trauma care. “The trauma care training has helped me. I have rediscovered joy through the teaching. I got peace of heart, through the teaching. The teaching that you gave me has renewed my life. And it has renewed my strength.
“I say, thank you for the fact that you thought about us. As widows and pitiful people. You also did not forget that our hearts have been hurt. You came to help us, so that we may have strength again. And our bodies may recover so that our lives may be better.
“Really, the teaching has given me strength…it was at that time that my heart started being untired, getting healed, and joy started coming in.”
“I say thank you to all those who sat and decided to take care of those who have these kinds of problems. May God bless you and renew your strength. May the vision you had, and that God gave you to do, may God accompany you and give you the strength to fulfil it. May you never regret the work you are doing. May God bless you. May God expand your work. In the name of Jesus.”
Pray Points
Please pray that the teaching they received will help heal this community and diminish the burdens on their hearts. Pray that they are strengthened and know Gods peace. Pray so that they may have victory in their faith, and that the nation with be filled with Gods peace.
