(From 30 Days of Prayer For The Muslim World ) “It was market day in a small village in Burkina Faso. Suddenly jihadists came and began threatening the people. A young Christian positioned his small radio on the market well, with a broadcast about Jesus in Fulfude (the language spoken by about 35 million people in West Africa.) In the young man’s panic, he forgot to switch it off.
“One of the terrorists came to the well and started listening, ‘Whose radio is this?,’ he asked. After a long time of silence, an older man said, ‘It belongs to this young man.’ The jihadist kept listening to the message, while his comrades kept threatening the villagers. Finally, he took the radio without any more words.
“After a week, the terrorists came to the market again–including the one who had taken the radio. He looked for the young owner of the radio, and when he couldn’t find him, he addressed the the old man who pointed him out a week before. ‘The message on the radio was very good! Where can I find a second one?’
“The jihadists need the Good News too, but who will bring it to them? According to a 2022 United Nations Development Program, poverty and unemployment, and not religious conviction, are the main reasons that people in Africa join extremist groups. Christians allow fear to prevent them from praying for terrorists. Fear also prevents them from investigating solutions for the material needs that drive people into extremism.”
“The Lord is my light and my salvation…whom shall I fear?
“The Lord is the stronghold of my life…of whom shall I be afraid?” – Psalm27:1
How can we pray?
-That we as Christians would repent if we have had wrong attitudes and that we would ask Jesus for His love and His attitude towards all people.
-That God would reveal the corruption and lawlessness that keep people in poverty and that sustainable solutions would be found.
-That God would open the hearts of many terrorists, that they would hear and accept the Gospel.