Source: Barnabas Fund, September 26, 2014
Many Christians who were driven from northern Mali by Islamist rebels have begun to return to their homes in the region, which was liberated by French troops in early 2013.
Upon arriving in their communities, Christians have found that their churches were looted and desecrated by the al-Qaeda-linked Islamists. The cities of Timbuktu and Gao were left with no churches intact.
Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim Yattara, president of the Baptist Church in Mali, told World Watch Monitor that properties and vehicles belonging to Christians were also damaged and that an important community water project set up by a church in Timbuktu was all but destroyed by the Islamists. The substantial cost of rebuilding churches and infrastructure will be a heavy burden for Christians who have returned with very little.
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