Welcome to November, the last month before we begin to reminisce and celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ once again. We thank God that our listeners in sub-Saharan Africa keep listening to our program Africanpathways in greater numbers. So far, we have tripled the number of listeners we had in the first quarter of 2023. Grant it, a lot has also happened in the region throughout this year. There have been coups and counter coups in sub-Sahara Africa in the last three years. Mali witnessed two coups on August 18, 2020, when President Ibraham Boubacacar Keita was overthrown by the military and replaced by a transitional government. In another coup in Mali on May 24, 2021, the military arrested the president and the prime minister, and Colonel Assimi Goita was inaugurated in June as transitional president.
On September 5, 2021, the president of Guinea Alpha Conde was overthrown by a military coup where Colonel Mamady Doumbouya became president. On October 25, 2021, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane chased out the transitional government and there has been a war for the succession since. On April 15, 2023, the struggle for succession led to the killings of over 5000 people in Sudan. January 24, 2022, President Roch Marc Christian Kabore of Burkina Faso was ousted from power by the military, replaced by Captain Ibrahim Traore as transitional president until July 2024. On July 26, 2023, the military in the country of Niger overthrew President Mohammed Bazoun replacing him with General Abdourahamane Tiani. On August 31, 2023, a military coup ousted President Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon and replaced him with General Brice Oligui Nguema.
In all of these coups, citizens spread to other countries. We have listeners who used to listen to our programs in their home country and are now listeners to Africanpathways.org in the places they are currently residing as refugees. The Bible shows how persecution leads to a wider gospel spread and the church’s growth. Historically, believers who were oppressed were forced to move out of their original homes into refugee camps carrying with them the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are witnessing this firsthand in sub-Saharan Africa these days. We know despite the sufferings; God is working to spread the gospels in these circumstances. We pray for God’s protection wherever every one of our listeners might be in these troubled times within sub-Saharan Africa. May the work of God remain their comfort.
Edet Udofia – Senior Producer Africa
Categories: AFRICA
