Islamic Terrorists in Burkina Faso Execute Six at Pentecostal Church

Today's Assault in the War on Christianity

Assemblies of God pastor preferred to “die for his faith rather than leave the village” he served for decades.

KATE SHELLNUTT , CT

Security forces guard the armed forces building in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The country has suffered hundreds of terrorist attacks amid rising extremism since 2016, including its first church attack this week. Image: Ludivine Laniepce / AP

Christians in Burkina Faso are mourning a deadly attack on a Protestant church as “a new turning point in terrorism” in the West African nation.

Sunday’s shooting at an Assemblies of God congregation in a northern village left six people dead, including the pastor, and represents the first church attack among the recent surge of Islamist violence.

Evangelism - Islam style

A dozen gunmen on motorcycles stormed the courtyard of the Sirgadji church after worship, fatally shooting its longtime pastor as well as five other congregants after demanding they convert to Islam, according to a statement sent to CT by the general superintendent of the Assemblies of God in Burkina Faso, Michel Ouédraogo. The attackers also stole from the church and burned its pulpit.

The church was one of the oldest Protestant congregations in the region, which borders Mali to the north, and pastor Pierre Ouédraogo had served there since its founding in the 1980s. The longtime pastor had sensed danger, but told family members “he prefers to die for his faith rather than leave the village where he has served for nearly 40 years,” said his son-in-law, according to the AG statement.

His testimony “shows the commitment that Pastor Pierre Ouédraogo had for the ministry,” Michel Ouédraogo told CT. “His family and members of the church are shocked, and naturally live in fear. However, we firmly believe that God will comfort them in these moments of pain.”

Martyred pastor Pierre Ouédraogo

Image: World Watch Monitor

The victims include the pastor’s son and his son-in-law, who served as a deacon in the church. In response, “more than 100 Christians already have left for more secure towns further south, such as Kongoussi, over 75 kilometers away,” reports World Watch Monitor (WWM).

“It’s not only the church of Sirgadji that has been attacked; all the values of tolerance, forgiveness, and love that have always led our country have been hurt,” said Henri Yé, president of the Federation of Evangelical Churches and Missions in Burkina Faso (FEME), in an April 30 statement. “The freedom of worship consecrated by our fundamental law [the Constitution] has been flouted.”

“In the face of blind hatred, let us ask God to give us the strength to spread love, which makes us the children of God,” stated Yé. “The unity of the body of Christ and of the whole nation must be preserved at all costs.”

WWM noted he also called on “Christian organizations to be involved in the search for peace, through prayers and training of Burkinabe youth, in order to involve all sections of the population in the quest for social cohesion and better communal living.”

Ouédraogo, whose denomination includes 4,000 local churches across Burkina Faso, has urged Christians to remember the Romans 12:18 call to live at peace with everyone.

“Revenge has never been a good solution,” the AG leader told CT. “Besides, the God we serve is LOVE. He invites us to love our neighbor. The world is bad, and the church must play its full role. Let us be sentinels, and God will do the rest to the glory of His holy name, even in difficult moments.”

FEME president Henri Yé speaks at a press conference in the capital, Ouagadougou.

Image: FEME c/o World Watch Monitor

Burkina Faso declared a state of emergency in some of its northern provinces last year, due to ongoing violence. The church attack comes days after another half-dozen people were killed by assailants elsewhere in the country. Islamists have been blamed for the abductions of a Spanish Catholic priest and a Canadian geologist earlier this year.

After 200 attacks over the past three years, the government considers Sunday’s shooting to be the first at a house of worship, a sign that the violence could be shifting from indiscriminate to targeted. Burkina Faso is about 60 percent Muslim and about 25 percent Christian (around 20 percent Catholic and 5 percent Protestant).

According to Ouédraogo, a fellow Assemblies of God pastor had been taken hostage along with his church members in the northern part of Burkina Faso last year. The AG leader has urged Christians to maintain their relationships with Muslim neighbors, and commends the neighboring Muslim communities for their efforts to support the church of Sirgadji as they buried the victims of Sunday’s attack.

An op-ed in L’Observateur Paalga suggested that pastors will begin to fear their public worship gatherings could become targets. “Evidently, the forces of Evil who are imposing their dirty war on us, and who know … where it hurts, now want to set religions against each other in a country where, nevertheless, peaceful coexistence between the different religions has always been the bedrock of social cohesion,” read an English translation of the article.

Of course, this is the nature of Islam. Radicalism is inevitable, followed immediately by violence and intolerance.

Pope Francis offered prayers for the entire Christian community in Burkina Faso after the Assemblies of God attack.

The country has faced a growing threat of terrorist violence ever since 2016, when al-Qaeda affiliates took hostages and went on a shooting spree in the capital city of Ouagadougou. Seven missionaries were killed in the incident.

Also, there was a similar massacre in August 2017 in Ouagadougou. Al-Queda was blamed for that one.

And just 2 days ago in Nigeria, Scores were massacred as an entire Christian village was destroyed by Fulani Herdsmen. Mainstream media has completely ignored it and very few people have even bothered to read my blog post. Curious, since most of my readers are Christians, and in this 21st century with global news and internet - everyone is our neighbour.

The incidents in Burkina Faso in recent years have been attributed to Ansarul Islam, the Support Group for Islam and Muslims, and the Islamic State of the Great Sahara (EIGS). 

WWM offers more context on the unrest.

He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.

N.Y. Church Descended into Fear Before Teen's Fatal Beating

Many current members fear talking publicly about ultraconservative Word of Life Christian Church

The Associated Press 

A teenager was beaten to death and his brother sent to hospital with severe
injuries following a 'counselling' session at the Word of Life church
in New Hartford, N.Y. (AP file photo)

Former members of the upstate New York church where two teens were viciously beaten, one fatally, paint a picture of a once vibrant and joyous house of worship that had declined into a place of fear and intimidation under new leadership.

"When I first arrived, it was warm and welcoming. It was encouraging. It was helpful," said Chadwick Handville, a massage therapist in Phoenix, Ariz., who left the Word of Life Christian Church in June 2000 after 10 years that included a stint as a worship leader and trustee.

Things went downhill after founder Jerry Irwin returned from some time away and reclaimed his position as pastor, Handville said.

"What was off the wall was his attitude toward others," Handville recalled. "It wasn't happy. He accused every male of lusting after his wife."

Personal attacks

Handville said Irwin's preaching was filled with personal attacks on parishioners, whom he forced to work long hours renovating the Irwin family's apartment on the third floor of the former school building that houses the church in New Hartford.

"He did have good points," Handville said. "Through him I was able to memorize half the Bible. He taught me a lot. What he failed to teach me was how to use what I read — how to treat people."

Church Killing

Bruce Leonard has been charged with first-degree manslaughter in the beating death of his son, Lucas, 19. (New Hartford Police Department/AP)

Deborah Leonard is also facing a first-degree manslaughter charge in the beating death of her son, Lucas. (New Hartford Police Department /AP)

Handville said many current and former church members are afraid to talk publicly about the church for fear of recriminations.

In a letter to the Post-Standard of Syracuse, former congregant Nathan Ames said the church started out as a fast-growing Pentecostal church, but declined after Irwin reclaimed leadership. Ames described Irwin as controlling and intimidating.

Since Irwin's fatal stroke several years ago, his wife, Traci, and their children — Tiffanie, Daniel and Joseph — have been in charge. Ames said they continued in the style of the founder.

Six church leaders and parishioners now face charges including manslaughter and assault for a brutal beating in the sanctuary last Sunday that left Lucas Leonard, 19, dead and his brother Christopher, 17, in hospital.

Church members Bruce and Deborah Leonard, parents of the victims, face the most serious charge of manslaughter. Deborah Leonard's daughter, Sarah Ferguson, and Joseph Irwin, both face assault charges.

Police say the beatings arose out of a "counseling session" that may have been related to Lucas Leonard wanting to leave the church.

The New York Times reported Daniel Irwin told investigators that his sister Tiffanie, the pastor at Word of Life, told the church congregation that some members were practising witchcraft. The paper reported that Irwin said Lucas Leonard was one of them and that he was going to make a voodoo doll of a church leader.

New Hartford police said there is "no evidence that we are aware of that supports that Lucas Leonard was engaged in any such activity."

The roughly 30-year-old church has declined to about 20 members from 40, police Chief Michael Inserra said. Remaining members are devoted to their pastor and often "wait to be told what to do," Inserra said.

Unreasonable devotion to the pastor has been the ruin of many a church. Parishioners, particularly Board members or Trustees have to be able to hold the pastor's feet to the fire when he or she does not behave in a Christ-like manner. They have to be able to remove that pastor if he continues in said manner. Failing to do so leads to tyranny and serious error endangering the whole congregation both physically and spiritually.

If there is anyone left in the church after charges have been laid, they either need to disband the church or get rid of the Irwins, all of them.

Traci and Tiffanie Irwin haven't been charged and haven't commented.

David Bromley, professor of religious studies and director of the World Religions and Spirituality Project at Virginia Commonwealth University, said there are thousands of similar small, independent Christian churches around the country. They're typically very conservative, following a very strict fundamentalist theology with a literal interpretation of the Bible.

"Every now and then, one pops up that has gone awry," Bromley said. "That's statistically not shocking because there are so many of them."

Thanks for confirming that the vast majority of these churches are not a threat to themselves, and may well be of benefit to their community and beyond.

'Charismatic leaders'

The trend toward independent, conservative churches coincides with a decline in membership in mainline Christian churches. "A lot are forming in reaction to the liberalization of mainline churches," Bromley said.

The churches generally start with a pastor, sometimes branching out from an existing congregation, who starts out with a group meeting in a home or rented storefront. Many disband after a few years, but some flourish. As with any organization, leadership may take a bad turn, Bromley said.

"There are certainly cases of charismatic leaders who abuse their power," Bromley said.

The theology of a congregation may lead to strong resistance to a member's wish to leave the group. Nevertheless, Jesus never restrained any of His disciples from leaving, and many did. He even encouraged some who were not committed to Himself. The idea that you can keep someone in the congregation against their will is simply absurd.

"If you get into a very conservative group where there is only one way and God's wrath is about to be unleashed on humanity and we're the faithful remnant, then leaving the group is a very serious condition from the point of view of members," Bromley said. "Essentially, if you leave you're walking into Satan's dominion and your soul is lost."

There are cases where groups use physical restraint to prevent a person from leaving, he said.

"These cases look very bizarre to outsiders," Bromley said. "To scholars, they look like rare, radical events that occur in groups that are tightly organized and very conservative."