A big share of Africa’s terrorist groups is connected to Islamist networks. This has made the Christians on the continent especially vulnerable. Also the lives of several tentmakers are at risk.
The Christians in Nigeria have been under pressure for several years. Also the past 12 months there have been numerous deadly attacks against churches and congregations in Africa’s most populous nation. The Islamist group named Boko Haram has taken on responsibility for many of them. Their aim is to overthrow Nigeria’s secular government and implement Sharia as nationwide laws. Sharia already constitutes a big part of the legal system in several of the country’s northern states.
It is however not only in Nigeria that Christians increasingly are becoming targets for militant Muslims with clearly defined political goals. In Mali most of the Christians fled the Northern territories when Tuareg-rebels and Islamists gained control in the end of March. Eyewitnesses tell stories of rape, murder and robbed and ruined Christian homes. Christians in Kenya, Sudan, Morocco, Libya and Egypt have also become victims in bloody and deadly attacks the past six months.
According to World Evangelical Alliance al-Qaeda may be a major back player in
the attacks on Christians in Africa. WEAs conclusions are built on reports from the defense forum of Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). The forum indicates that the war in Afghanistan has forced al-Qaeda to establish its work in other region where their training can go on more or less unnoticed.
– Right now the leaders in al-Qaeda are trying to form strategic partnerships with likeminded organizations in Africa, for instance with al-Shabaab. At the same time they are strengthening their ties with organizations they are already collaborating with, states RUSI´s security analyst Valentine Soria in a report.
A great number of tentmakers both from Africa and other continents are serving God in the affected nations across Africa. Many of them are staying on at the places where God has put them despite the dangers. The past years Global Opportunities and Tent have run tentmaking courses in several of the nations where Christians have been targeted.