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POLITICIAL SITUATION IN MALI

In 2012 a military coup in Mali changed the trajectory of the country. Jihadists took control of the north of the country and ruled there for 10 months with sharia law. Then the French liberated the north and stayed in the country to help fight Al-Qaida and ISIS and train the Malian army. In 2020 another military coup changed once again where Mali was heading, and it was reinforced by another coup in 2021, where the same coup leader took complete control. Everything has been going downhill even more since then. Last summer Mali kicked out the last of the French forces, and they have now turned to Russia for military assistence and have invited in the Russian Wagner group that is known to function above the law and that has already committed terrible atrocities in Mali. Just a few weeks ago a senior UN official was kicked out of the country, and tensions between the government and the UN keep rising. Mali is the deadliest UN peacekeeping mission in the whole word.

France's departure from Mali has given ISIS the breathing room it needed to regroup and gain strength and increase its power and sphere of influence. They've committed horrible massacres of entire towns to establish their superiority, and are expanding their territory in Mali. Even the other jihadist groups have now turned against them and are trying to fight them together with the Malian army and the Russians. Over 400,000 Malians have been deplaced, receiving no or little help from the government, and 9 million Malians are in need of aid. ISIS is not allowing any humanitarian groups receiving funds from France to help and have therefore severely restricted help from humanitarian groups.

Mali has been sanctioned and kicked out of the regional, economic block as well as the African Union. As the neighboring countries Guinea and Burkina Faso have also had coups and are in a similar situation, the three countries have now formed their own alliance. Mali is supposed to hold elections a year from now, and the government is currently working on a new constitution to be ratified before then. A draft has just been made public for the population to look at and approve of during a later referendum. The new constitution hands all the power to the president, it removes French as a national language and makes it a "work language", and for now it keeps Mali a secular nation. However, Muslim leaders have also gained a lot of power and are still pushing for Mali to be declared a Muslim nation. Just recently a high-ranking imam who has called for an uprising against Christians has been honored by the Malian government for his achievements.

The jihadist attacks are now moving closer to the capital. Just recently a checkpoint Paul goes through frequently has been attacked. Paul travels without his ID that says "pastor" on it, and he avoids taking our pickup truck as much as possible, when he goes to the villages, as the jihadists seek exactly those kind of vehicles. They have also inquired as to when we - the white Westerners - return, which is why we cannot travel to Mali right now. Please pray for Paul, for our center and the country of Mali.

HUNGER ON THE RISE

Rising prices are now making an already dire humanitarian situation in Mali even worse. Thanks to the German NGO CCARA and some of you, we've been able to give away around 40 bags of rice every month for the past few months. The leaders of Sebela have come to us to thank us from the bottom of their hearts and to let us know that it is only because of the rice we give them that a famine could be averted in their village, especially after the bad rainy season last year. Many people we give rice to haven't been able to eat a meal in a day or two or three and are so thankful, when we give them rice, and then they go and give some to other people in need as well. It reminds me of the New Testament church, where no one had a need because they shared with each other.

Every month people are now waiting impatiently for us to give them rice, and Paul carefully chooses those that have the greatest needs, together with the local leaders. People are so desperate that more and more husbands leave their families to try to make it to Europe, and many die trying, Europe turning out not to be the Promised Land at all. Women stay behind with their children, unable to feed them and considering leaving them, or ending up on the street begging or prostituting themselves. Today I want to once again share three testimonies with you:

This is Koumba from Sebela. It's been a year since she's heard from her husband who left to try to make it to Europe 13 months ago. She was pregant with her fifth child at the time. Since then she's been trying to survive by planting some vegetables, but it's not enough to feed her family. When we gave her rice, she and her children had not eaten in two days. She was so grateful und overflowing with blessings for us. She told us that she had wanted to abanadon her children and run away as she did not know how to provide for them.

This is Rokia who is 21 years old. She and her 15-year-old sister Fatoumata live in Dara. They had to watch their parents being killed in the north of Mali that is under jihadist control. As refugees in Dara, Rokia tried to survive by begging and prostituting herself. When we gave her rice, she promised not to do that anymore. Instead she'd like to start selling something. She's now part of our Bible discovery group, and we're looking into how we can help them get educated and to make a living.

This is Salimata. She has three children and lives in Sebela. Her husband is in Algeria, but it's been 9 months since she last heard from him. She hadn't eaten in 2.5 days, when we gave her rice. She said, "This rice saves our lives."

Rice prices have just gone up so that a bag of rice now costs 46€ or $49.

CHILDREN NEEDING SPONSORS

We currently have 53 children in our sponsorship program. A few of them have been trying for a long time to find someone who will support them with $60 or 50€ per month so they can go to school and to be taken care of. Please read their stories and consider becoming their "Western parents".

Adama was abandoned by his mother, when he was 6 months old. He lives with his father and his new wife. His father wants to send him to a community garden to work, instead of going to school, as he cannot afford it. With our help he went back to school and is now in 5th grade.

Bourama's father has been sick and paralyzed for a long time and has been home since 2019, unable to work. The doctors have not been able to find out what is wrong with him. Bourama's mother has become a believer and is part of our church. Because of their dire situation we have helped them with rice before. Thanks to the sponsorship Bourama went back to school and is now in 6th grade.

Dem is Fulani, a (semi-)nomad people that are fervent Muslims, and used to live in the north of Mali. Because of their ethnicity the population suspected they were jihadists, and so they finally had to flee for their lives. When they arrived in Dara, Dem was able to return to school thanks to a refugee program, but he could not even finish 6th grade, when they stopped their support. The family has no means at all, but thanks to our sponsorship program, Dem started 7th grade in 2021, after the director said that he was such a good student he did not have to finish 6th grade. He's now in 8th grade.

After Mery's father left her, his mother got remarried, and so she handed her son over to her mother to raise. Mery's grandmother could not afford for him to go to school, and so he had to drop out in the middle of first grade. Thanks to our sponsorship program he went back to school in 2021 to start first grade again. He's now in 2nd grade.

Joseph is his parents' fourth child. His father is a carpenter, and we make sure he can attend school. He's just lost his half-sponsor. A half-sponsorship is $30 or 25€ per month.

QUICK NEWS

•        Daily Blog - If you are not on Facebook but would still like to read my (nearly) daily blog about our life (with the triplets), including pictures, you can do so on our website. Go to https://h2tni.org/blog/.

•        Meeting With Government - Paul's meeting with government officials is finally taking place tomorrow Monday. Please pray for favor for him and us, as they question him more after having spent a few months investigating us after false accusations.

•        Bakary - This dear son of mine who's lived most of his life with us after we rescued him off the street at age 4, stole a few phones and ran away four months ago, just before finishing his carpentry school. Paul has just sent him money for a bus ticket home. Once back, he will finish his education. Please pray for him.

•        Construction - In July we finally received our building permit we'd been trying to get for years. First our builder waited for rainy season to end to pick up construction again, then he told us that he'd already spent our money so he needed to finish other projects first, now he said that he's about to get paid for a project and is going to start bringing materials and equipment to pick up work on our fourth building again.

•        The Wilson Five - The kids have started their spring semester, meaning a new schedule with different classes, like swimming, dance, physical exercise, French and piano. Sammy now has two therapies per week, physiotherapy and speech therapy, and he's just received a wheelchair, which will make getting around easier and gives him a new freedom to move. In just over a week we'll be on a short trip to Wels for the missions conference, where I'm doing a workshop on Saturday morning at 11:30. I'll be talking about going to Mali with nothing and the road to the work now being led by Paul, an indigenous leader. Paul is going to tell his side of the story in a video call from Mali.

•        First-Grade Teacher - We are still looking for a French-speaking first grade teacher to join our team. There is such a need for a good, Christian school where the children are treated with dignity and learn something. Many of our Muslim neighbors would send their children to our school. Please pray we'll find a teacher!

•       Volunteers - Do you want to come change an orphan's life? Do you want to heal the sick? Preach the gospel to those who've never heard? Come to Mali for a season and let God change your life. No language skills needed, but French skills are helpful.

A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. (Psalm 91:7)

Trusting HIM,

Claudia (& Randy)