Source: World Watch Monitor, October 20, 2016<\/p>\n
The kidnap of a pioneering American missionary in Niger is a \u201cterrible tragedy\u201d for the communities he served for 24 years, according to the local mayor. It has also raised security concerns among the country\u2019s missionary community.<\/p>\n
Jeff Woodke, 55, who worked for [a branch of] the US-based Youth With a Mission (YWAM), was abducted by unknown assailants late on Friday evening (October 14) from the town of Abalak in northern Niger.<\/p>\n
Bilou Mohamed, the mayor of Abalak, told World Watch Monitor the community had \u201csuffered a terrible tragedy\u201d and locals \u201cwept with sorrow, lamenting the loss of a friend\u201d the day after his abduction. He added: \u201cThis man has lived among us for years, even in when it has been difficult to accompany vulnerable populations\u2026 Everyone knows his goodness.\u201d<\/p>\n
Woodke is known in Abalak for his devotion to Niger and its nomadic populations. He runs several development projects among the Tuareg, focusing on farming, health, literacy, primary school education and improving access to drinking water, among other things.<\/p>\n
He has spoken internationally on the impact of climate change on nomadic peoples and is a pioneer of \u201csustainable nomadism\u201d\u2014enabling nomads to maintain their traditional lifestyles in the face of increasingly frequent drought. He is the only American in his team.<\/p>\n
Rev. Kagninde added: \u201cJeff has given everything for the Tuaregs, which raises the question: how did people of malign intent kidnap a man well-known in the community without arousing the suspicion among the local population, especially given that his house is next to that of the mayor of Abalak? The kidnappers must have been outsiders.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00bb Read full story<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Source: World Watch Monitor, October 20, 2016 The kidnap of a pioneering American missionary in Niger is a \u201cterrible tragedy\u201d for the communities he served for 24 years, according to the local mayor. It has also raised security concerns among the country\u2019s missionary community. Jeff Woodke, 55, who worked for [a branch of] the US-based … Continue reading NIGER: American Missionary Kidnapped<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-resource-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6759"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6759\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7265,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6759\/revisions\/7265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}