CRISISBOOM

examiner.com

Persecution is something that many people have claimed recently, yet in Mali, West Africa, Christian persecution has reached desperate levels.  According to ASSIST News Service, one Christian leader has been beheaded and others are being threatened with similar treatment as Islamic militants run amok in Mali, West Africa.  Christians have subsequently fled the town of Timbuktu in the north of the country where harsh Sharia Law has already been imposed.  There have also been reports of churches in Gao, 200 miles to the east, have been completely destroyed.  This news comes after a military coup in the country, which has cut off electricity supplies.

Local Christian Timothee (Tim) Yattara, who recently returned to his home country to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ has fled with his family to Bamako, the country’s main city roughly 400 miles south west with no money to support his family.

“We have escaped in the wake of horrible death threats as the Islamists have a list of all the Christians in Timbuktu whom they intend to execute by beheading. As proof of their intentions, one leader has already been killed in this way and some churches in Gao have been demolished. Most Christians have already fled for safety, but Sharia Law has been imposed all over the north.

“As refugees in Bamako, life is very difficult for me and my family as we are in desperate need of finance, just to pay for shelter and safety,” he said.

Mali is also being terrorized by Al Qaida.  Last week it was reported that Timbuktu was surrounded by tents inhabited by impoverished people who have fled the countryside in the wake of the spreading famine, rising unemployment and massive inflation.