09/19/2020 Mali (International Christian Concern) – Last month, Mali’s military conducted a bloodless takeover of the Central government. They were able to capture the president without incident and forced him to resign his position. Due to this, the country has been undergoing a lot of scrutiny as they continue to work towards a new form of government. The Economic Community of West African States has demanded that the military junta in control currently release power back to the former president. Despite this, the military has not done so.
The military leaders say they are committed to returning power to the people after things have settled down and they can get elections ready. This chaos has made Christians in the country feel unsafe. Christians in Mali are a very small portion of the society and are often seen as second class citizens. With this change of power, many thought Christians would be targeted.
Despite this, one missionary in Mali says that the church has not been targeted at all. According to EvangelicalFocus.com, Jim Bowers, an American evangelical missionary, says that the church does “not feel threatened either as foreigners nor as Christians.” He continued that “The churches have not been threatened at all throughout this political crisis. In fact, we have been asked to mediate at various points.” Though this does not mean that the church will not be persecuted, it is a hopeful sign that they will be included in the society more in the future. Please pray for peace and prosperity to come to Malian Christians.
