But the facts on the ground are grim. Islamic insurgents control large portions of the country. Clashes between armed groups and the Burkinabé army catch civilians in the crosshairs. According to a lengthy report from Human Rights Watch in April 2026, war crimes and crimes against humanity have been documented by all sides of the conflict.

Yet in the midst of destruction and a displacement crisis, a handful of women press on toward life and faith. Greg Yoder with Christian World Outreach says 25 young women have recently graduated from their vocational training programs.

Cooking school at CWO’s Village of Opportunity in Burkina Faso. (Photo courtesy of Christian World Outreach)

“It is a great opportunity to just share with them and love on them. Our directors there love these girls like their family,” he says.

CWO’s Village of Opportunity has been a refuge from Burkina Faso’s insecurity for these graduates, who have worked hard to achieve their goals. Now they are re-entering the country’s realities with sewing or cosmetology skills.

“Some of them are going back to displacement camps or finding a relative that lives in another area, but some are going back home,” Yoder says. “These villages out in the countryside are really poor, but these young ladies leave with a heart to share what they’ve learned with others.” 

Skills aren’t the only thing these young women take from their two- or three-year training course. Yoder says many of the young women arrive without faith in Christ. But by the time they leave, transformation has often taken place. 

“We do Bible training with the young ladies once they become believers, teaching them how to share their faith with their family, with others,” says Yoder. “Some aren’t necessarily accepted back with their families because they’ve changed in what they believe.” 

Christians make up around 20 percent of Burkina Faso’s Muslim-majority population. Praise God for raising more Christian women to enter their communities. Pray for their wisdom and passion as they live in the context God has placed them. 

“Pray for them as they share their faith that God will protect them, and that He will just use their newfound faith to spread the word about what God has done for us in sending His Son,” says Yoder. 

Header photo: Students at the Village of Opportunity (VOO) with CWO in Burkina Faso. (Photo courtesy of CWO)

The West African country has been fighting Islamic insurgencies for over a decade. The junta’s suspensions are an attempt to stop foreign funds that it suspects could be fueling terrorism. But these actions also tighten the junta’s control over the nation, critics say.

Greg Yoder with Christian World Outreach says their ministry has not been affected by the recent changes, since they operate within the education and religious sphere. In fact, CWO’s women’s vocational training center, the Village of Opportunity, has been viewed favorably by government leaders.

Students at the Village of Opportunity with CWO in Burkina Faso. (Photo courtesy of CWO)

“We have had some of the directors of ministries visit the center and see what we do there. They’re excited about that part of [CWO],” says Yoder.

“If anything, we’ve gotten more negative from those that are trying to attack villages and churches, asking us to stop giving education to young ladies. We haven’t had any physical threats, but our staff there has heard that they want us to stop.”

Burkina Faso continues to experience raids from groups with ties to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. Yoder says CWO staff have security measures in place as they continue serving as the hands and feet of Christ, but they are undaunted. 

“The reason we’re not in crisis mode is because we know who we serve, more powerful than any of the things going on in Burkina and the countries around there,” Yoder says. 

The context is serious. Mali and Niger border Burkina Faso. Together, the three countries make up the region known as the Central Sahel. All three countries have experienced coups within the last five years and are “marked by poverty and insecurity,“ a United Nations article reports. 

But Yoder says CWO’s staff and the people they serve press on in these circumstances. 

“People are determined to continue to get an education. These young women will do what they can to get vocational training. People are coming to know the Lord — the young ladies at the school, and through our mobile clinic when they’ve visited villages and even displacement camps,” says Yoder. “God is still working.” 

Praise God for preserving hope in the midst of challenges. Pray for the safety of CWO staff, the young women they serve, and other activities they do in Burkina Faso. 

“The determination of our staff there to continue on and to give their all — I think that’s something that we need to be encouraged by as believers, that God is working despite the things going on in the world,” says Yoder. 

Header photo: Girl pushing a bicycle on a field in Burkina Faso (Photo courtesy of Murat Kahraman via Pexels).

As President Donald Trump added nationals from Mali and Burkina Faso to the list of countries facing restricted entry to the U.S., both countries responded with their own limits, barring Americans from traveling there.

Beyond political tensions and disrupted private travel plans, another sphere is also affected: ministry. For Christian World Outreach, Burkina Faso is the second country — after Haiti — impacted by the law. Yet the organization’s long-standing strategy is helping it adapt.

Greg Yoder with Christian World Outreach says, “That may become an issue at some point, but right now, it is not affecting our ministry.”

Kids in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (Photo courtesy of Fatih Turan via Pexels)

Yoder says the hardest part hasn’t been logistics yet. It has been the loss of in-person interaction.

“Working with leadership, it’s good to be face to face at times, and to work together, to plan ministry,” he explains.

CWO works alongside local leaders in Burkina Faso and trusts them to carry the ministry forward. That approach has helped them avoid the travel ban’s immediate impact. They also prioritize local products and services whenever possible.

“We have taken on the mindset that we want to help support the local economy and the businessmen there, and so we try to purchase things in country as much as possible,” Yoder explains.

To put it in perspective, buying supplies locally often goes further than shipping them from abroad, since the cost of one container shipment could cover a large amount of in-country purchases.

Burkina Faso continues to face drought, low literacy, extremist violence, and a fragile economy. CWO serves communities through healthcare, education, and practical projects.

For now, teams continue to stay connected through regular communication.

“For today, we’ve stayed connected with our leaders, and we communicate back and forth as often as we need to, and so we’re just grateful for God, for technology,” Yoder says.

While ministry continues, the situation in the world is changing rapidly — especially in the countries CWO serves, including Haiti, Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso, South Africa, and Sri Lanka. Please pray for local workers’ protection, strength of faith, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

“Pray for safety and security of our staff and the students,” encourages Yoder.

Visit Christian World Outreach to learn about their work more!

Header photo courtesy of Nothing Ahead via Pexels.

Mali’s capital, Bamako, has been without fuel imports since September. Surrounding cities and communities are suffering too, as insurgents use a favorite strategy. 

“They are avoiding direct confrontation by attacking many cities. By imposing a blockade, it is another way to put high pressure on the government or security forces,” says Illia Djadi with Open Doors International. He serves as the senior analyst for freedom of religion and belief in sub-Saharan Africa.

The central Sahel countries of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger are some of the poorest in the world, Djadi explains. Though their governments are willing to fight, they have little capacity to oppose well-equipped insurgents. They are also the only countries where both an al-Qaeda-linked group and an Islamic State-affiliated group are active.

“That’s why this region —central Sahel — has become now the new epicenter of international jihad, or international terrorism,” Djadi says. “The Islamists are putting a lot of pressure on the countries and the population living there. It is a very fragile context. That’s why the pressure on the Christian minority is also high.”

Whether tied to al-Qaeda or the Islamic State, these insurgents share the same ideology and goal: to establish a caliphate and impose Sharia law. As they gain control, they are scattering the local church. 

“Their primary target is Christians. When they first attacked Mali in 2012, they attacked and destroyed churches. They killed Christians, and many of them fled northern Mali to elsewhere, to become internally displaced, or refugees in neighboring countries,” says Djadi.

Flag of Mali (Stock photo courtesy of Aboodi Vesakaran via Pexels)

They will tell Christians, “This is the deal: convert to Islam, or be killed.” Many believers who have the choice will escape to another region, often arriving empty-handed and having witnessed terrible violence. Christians who can’t escape either lose their lives or live under heavy restrictions and taxation.

Ask God to strengthen believers in Mali with resilience and faithfulness to the end. Pray for global support for Mali’s leaders, that they may be able to fulfill their responsibility to protect their citizens.

“This is a forgotten crisis, but it’s a major crisis which has displaced millions in the Sahel and elsewhere,” says Djadi.

“Let’s continue to pray, but let’s continue also to provide support, because they are in need of support. At Open Doors, we are working closely with partner churches locally: how to provide the basics for the Christians living there, how to provide trauma care, and how to provide food for them to feel like they are not alone in these difficult circumstances.”

Header image is a stock photo courtesy of Alfred Dena via Pexels.

Marina is one of 23 siblings — her father has four wives, and was known as a harsh, distant man.

Marina, a student at CWO’s Village of Opportunity. (Photo courtesy of Christian World Outreach)

Although Burkina Faso is largely Muslim, Marina’s mother heard the Gospel at a local church and began following Jesus. Eventually, her father did too, and the family dynamic has changed.

Greg Yoder with Christian World Outreach (CWO) says, today, the ministry is holistically supporting Marina’s faith and future through the Village of Opportunity (VOO).

“Marina is now a sewing student at the Village of Opportunity and excited about growing in her faith, learning a trade… and her whole family is just excited about the possibilities that come from that.”

At the VOO, students gain more than a career start. “Community is very big at the Village of Opportunity,” says Yoder. “Our leaders there treat these girls like their family.”

For Marina, the community aspect is crucial since she is also grieving the loss of a dear friend. At the VOO, Marina sees the Body of Christ at work.

“She’s got the support of our staff, but also the other young ladies that attend the vocational school there. They encourage each other [and] they grow together in their faith,” says Yoder.

“Our hope is that they (students) will go back to their villages and make a difference and share what they’ve learned, but also share about Jesus and share the Gospel with the people around them.”

Students at Village of Opportunity (Photo courtesy of CWO)

Pray for Marina and her classmates as they train, grow, and shine Christ’s light in Burkina Faso.

“If God calls you to give financially to support this ministry, costs have gone up for the food and things that we need to minister to these young ladies. We appreciate God’s people coming together and doing that.”

Click here to give to CWO’s ministry in Burkina Faso.

Header photo courtesy of CWO.

Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs, USA (VOM USA) says that the last five years have marked a rise in persecution of Christians.

“It’s certainly true in China. It’s true in the Middle East, it’s true in North Africa. And some of that is a good news story, because part of the reason for that is there’s more Christians in these places. There’s more Christians in the Middle East. So yes, there are more Christians who are facing persecution. The church is growing in China. So yes, there are more Christians who are potentially arrested or beaten or put in prison. There’s a good news side to that story; the church is growing, so there’s more persecution. But there’s a bad news side too, because that means there’s more of our brothers and sisters who are suffering.”

Persecution in Unseen Areas

According to the 2024 World Watch List from Open Doors, more than 380 million Christians face very high persecution for their faith. With fast internet and phone connections, the Church can often share stories within minutes of persecution. However, there are harder-to-reach areas where information is scarce. Nettleton notes that many of these difficult-to-reach places include areas of Africa like Eritrea, Mozambique, and Burkina Faso or places in the Middle East like Afghanistan.

(Photo courtesy of VOM USA)

“There were, I believe, five pastors who in 2024 marked 20 years in prison in Eritrea,” Nettleton states. “Some of those pastors I met. It’s great to talk about the joy of the Lord, and it’s great to talk about how the church is growing, but that’s 20 years that those guys have been in prison, and they’ve been away from their families. I know that the Lord is with them. I trust that He is caring for them and encouraging them, but that’s such a hard thing. So I never want to get depressed, but I also never want to forget that this is very real suffering that our brothers and sisters are encountering and dealing with.”

Yet, despite the intense persecution and years left languishing, many persecuted Christians truly exemplify James 1:2 by counting all their troubles as joy for the spread of the Gospel.

“One of the counterintuitive things about interviewing and talking to persecuted Christians is our picture of them is these sad, depressed, downtrodden people who have just suffered so much they can barely put one foot in front of the other,” Nettleton says. “Then when you sit down with them, they are filled with joy and excitement about what God is doing. Yes, it’s coming at a cost, but boy, look at what God is doing. They are not depressed.”

An Impetus for Sharing Truth

The bigger picture of what is happening fuels these brothers and sisters. Ultimately, the enemy they face is not men, but Satan and the forces of darkness. Pastors in the Middle East have told Nettleton that they don’t hate Muslims who persecute them. They know sin holds people hostage. Those in darkness need to be rescued. And whatever happens to the Christian, God will ultimately win the battle.

For many in the West, persecution is not a personal trial, but there are still ways to be faithful. The number one thing persecuted Christians ask for is prayer.

(Photo courtesy of VOM USA)

Nettleton challenges Christians. “Number one, commit to pray. Number two, educate yourself so that you can pray more effectively. And then number three is whatever God asks you to do. Do it because as you’re praying and as you’re learning, God’s going to put his thumb on something and say, ‘Okay, I want you to x’… We have to choose to be obedient when God asks us to do that.”

VOM USA offers many different ways for the Church to support persecuted Christians. Their app makes specific prayers simple. VOM USA also shares many resources and ways to get involved on their website. Commit to praying for the persecuted Church today.

Header photo courtesy of Voice of the Martyrs, USA

This exit drops ECOWAS’s membership to 12 countries and highlights growing frustrations in the critical regional bloc.

For Christians in Burkina Faso, this change could make an already dangerous situation worse. Greg Yoder with Christian World Outreach (CWO) explains, “ECOWAS has been a thing that’s supposed to be helping the 15 countries work together and help economically, but also with peacekeeping.”

Students at the Village of Opportunity (VOO) with CWO in Burkina Faso. (Photo courtesy of CWO)

Over the past several years, Muslim extremists in Burkina Faso have been destroying churches and killing or kidnapping believers. Now, without ECOWAS, there’s concern that Burkina Faso will struggle even more to fight these extremist groups.

The country already feels the impact economically. Yoder says, “What they’re seeing is it’s caused prices to go up for food and necessities, anything.”

Yet, CWO persists in offering skills training for young women and medical care in Burkina Faso — all in the name of Jesus.

“Ministry continues on,” affirms Yoder. “It does put a strain on the funds, but our staff there are very frugal and they do whatever they can to stretch the dollars. They buy in bulk and do whatever they can. So we are grateful for what God’s provided for us, and we try to do our best with what we have.”

Pray for God’s continued provision.

Learn more about CWO’s ministry in Burkina Faso.

Header photo: The UN Security Council attends a UN ECOWAS meeting, 2017. (Photo by UK Mission to the UN New York/Lorey Campese, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59944675)

What prompted the move?

Jihadist activity continues to rise in West Africa. Burkina Faso, plagued with violence for the last decade, is seeing a surge of such activity at its northern border. Jihadists based in Mali are increasingly taking ground. 

 “They are pushing further and further south into Burkina Faso, and that is resulting in violent attacks against Christians,” says Todd Nettleton with Voice of the Martyrs USA. 

Regular attacks on villages sometimes claim dozens of lives – other times hundreds. Mali-based al Qaeda affiliate Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) is the primary group terrorizing the region. 

Burkina Faso has seen three coups in the last two years, an internal struggle compounding external jihadist threats. 

“There really is no stable government structure to try to push back against the jihadists coming into the country,” Nettleton says. 

Niger’s defense minister says the coordinating of air, land, and intelligence resources is a no-brainer.

“We are in the same space. We face the same types of threats, in particular this threat from criminal groups,” he told AP news. “We had to pool our efforts.”

How is the church responding?

Burkinabe man. Courtesy of Abigail Hofland.

One of the challenges for the church in Burkina Faso is to address the needs of Christians who have been displaced along the northern border, where violence is thickest. 

“There are tens of thousands of Christians living in displaced person camps or living wherever they can find a roof over their head,” Nettleton says. 

These are only a fraction of the 2.5 million people displaced in the Sahel region – 3500 of whom were displaced in the last six months, according to the United Nations refugee agency. Nettleton says the upheaval comes with questions for believers. 

“How do we care for these thousands of people that have just come into our city? How do we encourage them? How do we help make sure they don’t starve to death?” he says. 

One of the most obvious answers is to provide practical assistance, which Voice of the Martyrs has been doing in the form of food aid. Nettleton says a Burkinabe believer recently thanked a VOM staff member for the assistance, but he pinned prayer as the more valuable help.

Burkinabe girl. Courtesy of Abigail Hofland.

How can we pray?

In addition to praying for the Burkinabe church to be strengthened, we can pray that the church would grow. Nettleton says many Muslims are rattled by the violence of their brothers and are being moved to “try out” the Christian God. 

Please pray for both the Muslim and Christian communities in West Africa. Pray that Muslims would come to Christ, and pray that Christians would persevere in hope. For all displaced people, pray for God’s provision and protection. Pray also for the ushering in of a stable government that would allow this nation to protect its own citizens.

Featured photo courtesy of mayns82 via Pixabay. 

Helen Williams from World Missionary Press recalls the time local partners were delivering containers from Togo to Niger:

“They asked for prayer going through Burkina Faso because of the robbers and the unrest and the potential violence. They also had an army or police escort. So it is very, very dangerous there!”

Girl pushing a bicycle on a field in Burkina Faso (Photo courtesy of Murat Kahraman via Pexels)

Despite the dangers, Williams describes the workers as “terrific,” highlighting their joy and determination to bring literature to communities thirsting for the Good News and solid biblical teaching. “It’s a needy area,” she says, “but the Lord is meeting the need through His Word and His people.”

The threat of armed danger is not the only challenge these workers face. Unpredictable complications from some authorities also add to their burden. In one case, a government official failed to complete the necessary documents on time. In another, the government changed how they categorized the shipment upon arrival at the port, which altered both the paperwork and payment fees.

“It’s a difficult place right now, but all of these years, the Lord’s just always made a way, and He’s had faithful ones that are willing to stay with the work and ask for the literature,” says Williams.

Despite these challenges, local workers remain steadfast and unwavering in their call to share the Word with those in need. If anything, the obstacles only strengthen their resolve:

“They don’t give up, and they continue, and they know that it’s for souls, and they go, and they show the love of Christ and give the Word. And I believe the Lord’s going to honor that in bringing many in these nations to the Lord as a result of their faithfulness.”

Portrait of an elderly woman in Burkina Faso (Photo courtesy of Afrique Ayele-y via Pexels)

The World Missionary Press and local workers rely on prayers and practical support to continue sharing the Word. Pray that orders from global communities for Christian literature can be fulfilled. Pray also for the safety of the workers delivering the containers and for their faith to be strengthened by the abundant fruit of their labor.

Michelle adds, “I’m encouraged, and I believe that the Lord has a lot of things for World Missionary Press to do to support the work around the world, in so many places.” Visit their website here to learn more!

Header photo: Close-up of a World Map. Photo courtesy of Mart Production/Pexels.

“Usually when we talk about our ministry there, I have to kind of explain where Burkina Faso is. They’ve not heard of it. It’s not been in the news,” says Greg Yoder with Christian World Outreach (CWO). 

Islamic militant groups entered Burkina Faso from neighboring Mali nearly a decade ago. They’ve been fighting each other and the government ever since. One city in the north has been under a blockade by Islamic militants for two years. 

Civilians are caught in the crossfire. Today, two million people are displaced within Burkina Faso. In 2023, one quarter of all terrorism-related deaths reported in the world were in Burkina Faso, surpassing Afghanistan. (Source: Institute for Economics & Peace, Global Terrorism Index 2024 report.) Just this past August, up to 600 men, women and children were shot within a few hours in an eastern town by jihadists.

Yet for the number of people caught in this crisis, the humanitarian aid, media coverage, and political and diplomatic efforts to intervene are incredibly low, as the report from the NRC points out.

In the midst of these deep-seated problems, CWO’s medical clinic and its vocational training school for young women have felt the pressure.

Village of Opportunity graduation in Burkina Faso 2023. (Photo courtesy of Christian World Outreach)

“We’ve had our girls from the Village of Opportunity come back early — some of them — just because of the safety [concerns], but that puts a strain on our budget because we’ve got girls coming back early and need to feed them,” Yoder says. 

“[Some of them] came back about a month early. It’s a blessing to be able to help them that way. God’s been good and supplied what we’ve needed.”

Would you consider becoming part of CWO’s financial support for ministry to the people of Burkina Faso? What the team is doing is making a difference for eternity.

“You know, if people are are fleeing their homes and they’re hungry, just sharing the gospel with them is not going to do much. Being able to to love on them and supply some of those physical needs gives the opportunity to share the gospel,” Yoder says. 

And of course, pray! Pray that the right people in the world will see and stir themselves to take action on behalf of Burkina Faso. 

“Pray for our leadership staff as they make discerning decisions on who to help and how to help,” Yoder says. 

“Pray for the safety of the Village of Opportunity. Pray for the mobile clinic as they go out. They’re going into the villages, and so they’re risking their safety sometimes.”

Learn more about CWO’s ministry here. 

Header photo of women in Burkina Faso is a representative stock photo courtesy of AFRIQUE AYELE-Y via Pexels.