Thank you for your messages of concern and prayers for our partners in Mali. We are relieved to share that Pastor Mohamed Ibrahim Yattara made it safely to Bamako after being stranded for days in the rebel-held city of Gao.
“We made it safe and sound to Bamako today on this blessed day of Easter,” Pastor Mohamed Ibrahim said earlier this week. “The trip was very difficult. The bus was for 50 people, but we were 129 people on the bus. We were hardly breathing. Two women fell down and fainted. I just cannot describe what I saw on the bus.”
Pastor Mohamed Ibrahim’s escape came just in time. “When I called Gao today, my friend told me there was no running water or electricity and that people are running away from the city by the hundreds,” he said. “The streets are dangerous, and thieves break in houses at night.”
Pastor Nouh Ag Infa Yattara has also escaped to Bamako from Timbuktu. He shared that the Christians who remain in North Mali are in great danger as Islamic law is being implemented in some areas. His heart is especially troubled for fellow TNT pastor Alhousseini and his family. So far, Pastor Nouh has not been able to contact them. Two families from the Gao Evangelical Church are missing as well. Their homes are empty, and no one has heard from them. Please pray that God would watch over them and bring them to safety.
Currently about 180 believers have fled Mali’s northern cities to Bamako. They have found temporary shelter at a Christian guesthouse and rented facility. However, they are in urgent need of food.
These families had to evacuate their homes quickly and with very few provisions. The Christians in Bamako have welcomed their brothers and sisters in Christ with open arms, but many of them are living in poverty themselves and their resources are limited.
