{"id":53133,"date":"2025-03-04T14:07:18","date_gmt":"2025-03-04T05:07:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/?p=53133"},"modified":"2025-03-04T14:20:56","modified_gmt":"2025-03-04T05:20:56","slug":"vomk-report-338","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/2025\/03\/04\/vomk-report-338\/","title":{"rendered":"BURKINA FASO: DISPLACED BY ISLAMIC TERROR GROUPS, UNABLE TO RETURN TO MUSLIM FAMILIES OF ORIGIN, CHRISTIAN WIDOWS FACE EXTREME CHALLENGES"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”53129″ img_size=”full” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”Attacks from Islamic terror groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and ISIS have been a regular part of life for residents across Burkina Faso\u2019s north central region since 2015. According to the country\u2019s National Emergency Response and Rehabilitation Council (CONASUR), more than 10% of the country\u2019s population, or about 2 million people, are now displaced. ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:1.2em|text_align:left|color:%23111111″ google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” css=”” el_class=”headline”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]A<\/span>ccording to Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr<\/span>.<\/span> Hyun Sook Foley, <\/span>one <\/span>particular group<\/span>\u2014the widows of Christians killed in the terrorist attacks\u2014may be the hardest hit.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

\u201cChristians make up about 20% of the population of Burkina Faso, with many having converted from Muslim families<\/span> of origin<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201cWhen terrorists kill the Christian men and chase their families from the villages, the Christian widows who come from Muslim backgrounds face a difficult challenge: If they go back to their <\/span>birth <\/span>families, they are pressured to marry Muslims and return to Islam. But if they <\/span>don\u2019t<\/span> go back to their <\/span>birth <\/span>families, where else can they go?\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]The case of <\/span>Anna <\/span>(name changed for security reasons) <\/span>is typical. Anna <\/span>lived in northern Burkina Faso with her husband, who was a tailor and <\/span>the president of youth ministry for his denomination<\/span>. <\/span>Both came from Muslim backgrounds but converted to Christianity. <\/span>In Anna\u2019s case, this led to communication with her father being cut off.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”53131″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” css=””][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]In 2016 the couple had a son. Then o<\/span>n <\/span>October 6, 2019, as <\/span>Anna<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s family and <\/span>the fellow members of Anna\u2019s congregation <\/span>were leaving <\/span>church <\/span>after Sunday worship, <\/span>a group of terrorists came on 20 motorbikes.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

\u201cAnna said <\/span>t<\/span>he <\/span>terrorists <\/span>surrounded the church and told everyone to sit on the ground<\/span>. <\/span>Then the<\/span> terrorists <\/span>entered the church and set fire to the pulpit<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley<\/span>. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>They told the men to stand behind the church and the women <\/span>and children to stay in <\/span>front<\/span> of the church<\/span>. <\/span>Anna <\/span>heard gunshots. Six people <\/span>were <\/span>killed: the pastor<\/span> and <\/span>his son, her husband, two of her husband\u2019s uncles<\/span>,<\/span> and a teacher.<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]The group told <\/span>all the church members <\/span>to leave <\/span>the <\/span>village<\/span> or they would come back again and kill everyone, including women and children.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>At <\/span>that <\/span>time Anna was <\/span>nine months pregnant with <\/span>their <\/span>second child<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley<\/span>. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>She <\/span>had to <\/span>fle<\/span>e <\/span>to <\/span>a<\/span> village where her <\/span>husband had family members<\/span>, where she <\/span>gave birth to their daughter 9 days later. However, her husband\u2019s family blamed his death on <\/span>Anna and her husband leaving Islam<\/span>. They tried to pressure her into marrying another family member, <\/span>in accordance with<\/span> Islamic tradition, and in so doing to become a Muslim, but she refused and fled to the capital.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”53126″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”A village in Burkina Faso” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230a0101|line_height:1.45em” css=””][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]Anna told Voice of the Martyrs that h<\/span>er husband\u2019s mother <\/span>invited her to come to her home, so Anna moved there. <\/span>But <\/span>the mother <\/span>also tried to reconvert <\/span>Anna <\/span>to Islam and then threw her out when <\/span>Anna <\/span>refused.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>As <\/span>Anna <\/span>left her mother-in-law<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s home<\/span>,<\/span> she <\/span>heard the sound of <\/span>Christians <\/span>praying and <\/span>followed the sound to a church<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley<\/span>. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>S<\/span>he explained her <\/span>situation <\/span>to the <\/span>p<\/span>astor<\/span>, and h<\/span>e found a small one-room place <\/span>for her <\/span>to rent.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Representative Foley says that i<\/span>n <\/span>s<\/span>ummer 2023, Voice of the Martyrs Korea\u2019s sister mission in <\/span>Poland <\/span>learned about Anna\u2019s case<\/span>, along with those of nine other Christian widows in similar situations<\/span>. The <\/span>Voice of the Martyrs <\/span>organizations partnered together <\/span>with the widows\u2019 churches in an aid project designed to provide emergency financial <\/span>assistance<\/span> along with materials and equip<\/span>ment<\/span> to help the widows provide for themselves and their families and become financially self-sufficient.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

\u201cChristian widows in Burkina Faso face unique difficulties,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201cCulturally, an adult male must act as the head of the family, standing and speaking for his family. <\/span>So<\/span> w<\/span>idows have to rely on people of <\/span>good will<\/span> to publicly represent them and help them in a wide range of everyday situations<\/span>. Being a Christian, often persecuted by the husband\u2019s family<\/span> and unable to receive help from them unless they reconvert to Islam<\/span>, makes things even harder<\/span> for these widows<\/span>. Anna\u2019s husband\u2019s family continues to search for her, <\/span>in order to<\/span> bring her back to Islam and marry again in her husband\u2019s family. Helping these <\/span>widows to become self-sufficient gives them a way to support their families now and in the future so that they can remain in the church and not be forced to return to Islam.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”53124″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”Anna and her two children ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230a0101|line_height:1.45em” css=””][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]In Anna\u2019s case, the Voice of the Martyrs organizations provided <\/span>food <\/span>and rent <\/span>assistance<\/span> to Anna<\/span>, along with financial <\/span>support to start sending <\/span>Anna\u2019s son<\/span>, now 7 years old,<\/span> to school.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Anna knows how to weave traditional clothes<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley<\/span>. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>Through <\/span>this <\/span>V<\/span>o<\/span>ice of the Martyrs<\/span> partnership<\/span>,<\/span> Anna received the funds to buy equipment <\/span>to enable her to <\/span>work and provide for <\/span>herself and <\/span>her<\/span> children<\/span>.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

Anna <\/span>told Voice of the Martyrs that she <\/span>likes to read <\/span>the Psalms<\/span> because <\/span>she says <\/span>David also went through <\/span>difficult times<\/span>. \u201cI am <\/span>displaced<\/span> and life was so hard for me<\/span>,\u201d Anna says<\/span>. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>But God used his people, <\/span>brothers<\/span> and sisters<\/span>,<\/span> to take care of us. Being honest, I cannot find words to express my joy. Because thanks to our friends we do not even know, we received a lot of help. We <\/span>have received<\/span> money for the house, food, like corn, rice, oil, <\/span>sugar<\/span> and pasta. I received the funds<\/span>,<\/span> and together with Pastor I am going to buy the necessary things that I was missing <\/span>in order to<\/span> work. Through this help, I can see the righteous God.<\/span>\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Representative Foley says that the Voice of the Martyrs organizations are continuing the Burkina Faso Aid for Christian Widows project in 2025.\u00a0 Individuals interested in supporting the project can visit <\/span>www.vomkorea.com\/en\/donate<\/a><\/span> or give via electronic transfer to:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

KB Bank: 463501-01-243303<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Account Holder: (<\/span>\uc0ac<\/span>)<\/span>\uc21c\uad50\uc790\uc758\uc18c\ub9ac<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Please note \u201cBurkina Faso\u201d on the transfer.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”53122″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”Anna weaving traditional clothing on equipment and materials purchased with funds from Voice of the Martyrs. ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230a0101|line_height:1.45em” css=””][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”53129″ img_size=”full” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”Attacks from Islamic terror groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and ISIS have been a regular part of life for residents across Burkina Faso\u2019s north central region since …","protected":false},"author":659,"featured_media":53128,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vomk-report"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"en","enabled_languages":["ko","en","zh","ru"],"languages":{"ko":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"zh":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"ru":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/659"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53133"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53139,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53133\/revisions\/53139"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}