At approximately noon on Sunday on 28 April, in Sirgadji village in the north-eastern province of Soum, after the Assemblies of God church had ended its service, Pastor Pierre Ouédraogo, 80, and other members were chatting in the church yard. Around 1 pm a dozen armed men arrived on motorbikes to storm the place and according to a local leader, who wanted to remain anonymous, told that:
“The assailants asked the Christians to convert to Islam, but the pastor and the others refused. They ordered them to gather under a tree and took their Bibles and mobile phones. Then they called them, one after the other, behind the church building where they shot them dead”.
The pastor, his son Wend-Kuni and brother-in-law, were killed, along with 3 others. The General Superintendent of Burkina Faso, Pastor Michel Ogoudago has informed that since then, the AG Pastors and Believers in the North had to flee the area to safe areas due to continuing terror threats.
The Burkina Faso Assemblies of God is one of the oldest and largest movements in Africa. Even though more than half of Burkina Faso’s people are Muslim, the Assemblies of God has grown to more than 4,600 churches serving 1.2 million believers.
Please pray for Burkina Faso Pastors and Believers in the North:
- Pray for the Assemblies of God of Burkina Faso to experience “the peace which passes understanding” in the coming days. Pray that the Holy Spirit will give them a sense of His close presence as they grieve and that they will be shining examples of the love of Christ in the coming days.
- He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds (Psalm 147:3).
- Pray for the safety of churches in the region and for provision and refuge for thousands who had to flee their homes. Pray for boldness for leaders who can hope and courage to their members.
- “Be brave when you face your enemies. Your courage will show them that they are going to be destroyed, and it will show you that you will be saved. God will make all of this happen…” (Phil 1:28 CEV)
- Pray that acts of terror would be thwarted and that God will be glorified through His Church.
- “He thwarts the plans of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success (Job 5:12).
- Pray for the salvation of those seeking evil against the Church, that God would turn their hearts to Him and use them to proclaim the gospel.
(Photo: FEME) FEME President, pastor Henri Yé, speaks at a press conference.