Troubling news surfaced this week in Burkina Faso: “This was an attack on a baptism service, specifically targeting Christians. It is believed that it was radical Muslims [who attacked], possibly affiliated with the Islamic State. It’s the latest in a string of attacks targeting Tin-Akoff in northern Burkina Faso. Within the last month, in this part of Burkina Faso, we’ve seen several attacks where civilians were killed.

Islamic terrorist groups are gaining ground in the Sahel region and have been for the past few years. Trends like these are troublesome, but you probably won’t hear much about it on the nightly news. It is ‘flying under the radar’ of the world [policymakers and news media], and there is not a good explanation for that.

One of the things that TEL International is doing in Burkina Faso is helping to prepare the church for persecution. [We’re] helping pastors understand the theology of persecution and what the Bible says about persecution so that they can turn around and pass that on to their congregations.

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