n Die Kerkblad - The challenge of evangelizing Mali : van oraloor

Abstract

As I write these lines (end of January 2013), the news have just reached me that the legendary town of Timbuktu, in northern Mali, has been freed by French troops after ten months of violent occupation by Jihadist groups (in particular AQIM, Al Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb). No doubt the news of the liberation of Timbuktu would have particularly gladdened the heart of my friend and brother in Christ, pastor Abdoulaye C. Less than a week ago Abdoulaye was telling me over the phone (from Bamako, Mali's capital) that amidst bombings of Al Qaeda camps outside of Timbuktu by the French Rafale planes, Jihadists had sought refuge in the building where his Christian FM radio, Radio Tahanint, had been operating for the past seven years. How ironic that they would seek refuge in the very building which they vandalized shortly after taking over Timbuktu early last year.