In recent years, Islamists invading the West African country of Burkina Faso have displaced two million people and killed many. While the Islamists have killed indiscriminately in the majority-Muslim nation, they usually target Christians first.
The effect of the murders, displacements and assaults is so widespread that pastors often struggle to care for all the Christians suffering from mental and emotional wounds. In August 2024, Islamic extremists killed 26 Christian men in the village of Kounla after binding their hands and forcing them into a church.
“Christians have likely suffered greater emotional turmoil than the general [Burkinabe] population,” a front-line worker said. “For this reason, the need to provide emotional care in areas such as Kounla becomes more pressing because the health of the future church in Burkina Faso may depend upon counseling interventions performed during the aftermath of such attacks.”
Yacouba Odineneka, a government worker, has survived multiple Islamist attacks. It had never occurred to him that he might be suffering from trauma.
“After the terrorist attacks, I realized that I was changed,” he said. “I became nervous. Sometimes I could be sitting alone and talking to myself.” Yacouba stayed mostly indoors, and he struggled to sleep at night.
During one attack, Islamists murdered an elder at Yacouba’s church and abducted his pastor. They held the pastor hostage for several days before finally killing him. Yacouba found his body, along with those of several others who had been killed, and buried them.
In another attack, Yacouba and two of his children were held hostage in their own home by two extremists. Yacouba thought they were going to kill him and his children, but the Islamists eventually left, presumably annoyed by the screaming of Yacouba’s infant child.
Yacouba was invited to a gathering of other Christians to hear how God can heal inner wounds. As he listened to the teaching of local pastors, he realized that both he and his wife were suffering from trauma. He recalls one specific teaching that helped him see the depth of his problem.
“For me, it was the lesson on forgiveness,” he said. “Because of what I went through, it was very difficult for me to forgive.”
As Yacouba studied biblical forgiveness, he came to realize that God’s forgiveness of his sins must lead to his own forgiveness of others. “I was able to forgive some people and to let some things go out of my heart,” he said.
When Yacouba told his wife what he had learned from the pastors, she too gained a new level of peace. He then shared what he had learned with others, including a doctor who was suffering mental and emotional distress from treating so many attack victims. Through their discussions, the doctor regained the strength to continue providing medical care.
Yacouba requests prayer as he seeks to comfort more people with the comfort he has received. “I want people to pray for me so that … I will be able to use [the lessons I learned] to help many people,” he said. “There are many people who are traumatized. May God give me more compassion, more strength to help all these people.”