It’s the same everywhere there is an Islamic
presence. And the world does the bidding of these
savages. Astonishing. Africa, the Middle East,
Australia, Asia, Europe, North America and South
America ….
“Islamists want to ‘wipe out’ Christian
presence in northern Mali,” World Watch
Monitor, September 2, 2014
The city of Gao was left badly damaged
during the conflict between Malian forces
and the Tuareg-led Islamist groups last
year.
NUSMA/Marco Dormino / Flickr / Creative
Commons
It’s not only in the Middle East that the
advance of Islamist jihadists is exercising
the international community. While attention
has been focused on Northern Iraq and
Syria, the French government has been
bombing Islamist militant positions in Africa
to stop the emergence of jihadists in the
Sahel. Now on 1st Sep, peace talks about
the future of northern Mali start again
between the government and mainly Tuareg
armed groups. For nearly a year in 2012
armed Islamist groups had ruled the region,
banning the practice of other religions and
desecrating and looting churches and other
places of worship
. Thousands, including many Christians, fled
the occupation and found refuge in the south
of the country or in neighboring countries
such as Niger and Burkina Faso. On January
11 2013, French troops moved to regain
control of the region after militants had
attempted to progress further south, but the
re-establishment of security took time and
necessitated mass reconstruction, as many
displaced people returned home. As
government and international organizations
– including UNESCO
– have undertakento rebuild destroyed
infrastructure, and notably the mausoleums
and ancient monuments, Christians in Mali
say that their loss is not being taken into
account. Dr Mohamed Ibrahim Yattara is the
President of the Baptist Church, mainly
present in Northern Mali. He expressed his
feelings to World Watch Monitor. WWM
What’s your reaction to the reconstruction
efforts undertaken in Northern Mali, when, as
you tell us, it doesn’t include the damage
sustained by Churches during the jihadists’
occupation? MIY We are outraged by this
policy of double standards. We do not
understand why a UN Agency can rebuild
mausoleums, which are still used
asmosques, where people go to pray, while
when it comes to churches, nothing is done
– despite all our efforts to sensitize the
government and international organizations.
So do you feel that you have been
overlooked? The facts speak for themselves.
So far nothing has been done. All indications
are that the cake has already been shared.
Unfortunately, we do not have our share.
Does this mean that in the end, you will
have torely on yourown means? In fact this
is what we have always done. Historically,
churches were built by nationals. But we had
hoped that, because of the particular
circumstances of a post-conflict situation,
our government and international community
could help us in the reconstruction effort.
But if that support does not come from
outside, we will continue to do what we did
in the past: to rely on our own resources. Do
you really have this capacity? Actually, with
regard to the current post-conflict situation,
we have no means to undertake
reconstruction projects. We can only rely on
the generosity of people of good will to walk
with us in these efforts of reconstruction.
What is the realextentof the damage
sustained by Churches? We have engaged
the evaluation process aimed at assessing
the scale of the damage. But we already
knew that the loss sustained by Christians in
the north amounted to hundreds of millions.
We have lost most of our buildings but also
vehicles and other objects of inestimable
value. The churches are in ruins: in Gao, in
Niafounké, in Hombori and other towns
occupied by jihadists. In Timbuktu, for
example, in addition to buildings, our ‘Water
Project’ set up over a period of 20 years, and
which has cost billions, is no longer
operational, because all the materials were
stolen. This constitutes a heavy blow to the
population, the main beneficiaries of this
project. Is it an exaggeration to say that
Islamists attempted to erase the presence of
Christianity in northern Mali? No, we had
this feeling that jihadists wanted to wipe out
any trace of Christianity in the north of Mali.
But God in his goodness has not allowed
such an eventuality. The church is still there
and most of the believers have returned,
albeit in very difficult conditions, without
external assistance or the financial resources
needed in such circumstances. And despite
such adversity we are determined to resume
our ministries because after all, this northern
Mali is ours. We have the right to freely
exercise our faith and we are firmly
committed to make this happen. Further
notes In 2013, Mali was ranked No. 7 on
World Watch List, a ranking of the 50
countries where persecution of Christians is
most severe. The list is published annually
by Open Doors International, a charity
supporting Christians worldwide who live
under pressure because of their faith.

http://pamelageller.com/2014/09/muslims-islamists-want-wipe-christian-presence-northern-mali.html/

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