A former Muslim and two family members are determined to make sure every member of the Tuareg tribe in their region hears about Jesus — even if it costs them everything.
For three years, Brahim withstood the sweltering heat of a prison cell in the Sahara Desert — conditions that killed other inmates. Then, he witnessed something that gave him hope.
One day in 2017, a group of men visited the prison in Niger to make some improvements for the prisoners. They put windows in the walls, installed ceiling fans, cleaned bathrooms and other areas, and even brought a TV for the prisoners.
These men were not affiliated with the prison; they chose to serve the prisoners out of their love for Jesus Christ.
“Before they even opened their mouths to preach,” Brahim said, “these actions of taking care of people who were desperate and in terrible conditions started turning my heart towards Christianity.”Some of the visitors returned each
Sunday to share the gospel with prisoners and read from the Bible, and Brahim, imprisoned for his association with a crime, was moved by what he heard. “The message was so practical,” he recalled, “and they were practising what they were saying. Through their behaviour, I could see that this group of people feared God. That gave me confirmation that these people were on the right path.”
Brahim decided to follow that same path and put his trust in Jesus Christ. While still in prison, he studied God’s Word regularly and watched The Jesus Film, also provided by the Christians.
Upon his release from prison in 2018, Brahim met with a pastor to study the Bible before returning home to his wife and children. He wanted to return to his people with a better understanding of God’s Word so he could properly discuss it
with them.
As he returned to his home city, Brahim felt God calling him to take the gospel to all of the Tuareg people in his region of Niger, which covers hundreds of kilometres. His prayer is to do this by 2025, no matter the cost. “I am looking for 100 percent,” said Brahim, whose face was mostly covered by a green Tuareg turban. “The objective is to take the gospel to everybody, not just a few.”
REACHING HIS PEOPLE
Most of the Tuareg people live in a vast section of the Sahara that stretches from Niger into Algeria, Burkina Faso, Libya and Mali.
They are a semi-nomadic people, meaning they travel with their herds of livestock on a seasonal basis but also live on designated farmland. In Niger, 2.6 million people, or 11% of the population, are Tuareg.
As he set out to reach the Tuareg people with the gospel, Brahim started with his family. He first led his wife and seven adult children to Christ, and then shared the Good News with relatives, most of whom decided to follow Jesus immediately.
Early on in his mission to tell the Tuareg about Christ, Brahim visited the tribe’s leader in his region. He shared the gospel with the man, who also happens to be a relative, and discussed his intentions to witness to the Tuareg people.
“I am not Christian, but I am not against Christians,” the leader told him. “Whoever wants to become Christian in these more than 100 villages, he is free.”
With the leader’s permission and the help of the pastor who had discipled him, Brahim gathered the hundreds of members of his own clan and told the crowd why he had brought them together. “The truth I discovered is about Jesus,” he told them plainly. “He is the way. He is the light. Whoever does not follow Him cannot meet God.”
Brahim asked everyone who wanted to put their trust in Christ to raise their hand. Then the pastor recorded the names of those who responded. “If you are raising your hand,” Brahim said as the pastor continued writing down names, “I want it to be public so many people in the village will know you are a Christian.” More than 400 people placed their faith in Christ that day, and Brahim promised them he would return to share more about Jesus Christ and the Bible.
Two of Brahim’s family members soon joined him in his ministry work — his adult son, Wararni, and his cousin, Usaden, who serves as chief of his village. Like Brahim, both had a strong desire to share the gospel with other Tuaregs. “The understanding I got on the day I accepted Jesus is that this work has to be my life,” Wararni said. “The work is not for me only; the work is for more people to hear.”
When the men visit a new village, their strategy is to find a ‘man of peace’, someone who is kind-hearted, trusted by his community and open to hearing the gospel. That man then takes the gospel to his people and explains that those who shared it with him will visit on a given date to explain more to anyone who is interested.
Together or individually, the evangelists then return to the village as a guest of the man they met on the first visit. They share the gospel, read stories from the Bible and answer questions from those who gather to hear them.
BEARING FRUIT
Since 2018, when the three men began sharing the gospel, they have seen between 100 and 1,000 people come to faith in Christ each time they preach. In addition, Brahim has started 19 churches and Usaden has started six.
Usaden has been surprised by the rapid spread and acceptance of the gospel among the Tuareg. “People are coming to Jesus,” he said, “and that gives me courage — a lot of courage.”
The reason so many are coming to Christ at once, a front-line worker explained, is that the tribe has the characteristics of a close family. “The family connection is very strong,” he said. “When they see the leader doing something, they often don’t question it.”
In addition to sharing the gospel with Tuaregs, the men have preached to smaller groups of nomadic Fulani and Arabs who pass through their region. Wararni and his wife, who is Fulani, have started eight churches and led hundreds of both Fulani and Tuaregs to Christ. With each one of them, Wararni said, “There is no doubt of them accepting Jesus.”
Brahim said that while Arabs tend to be less open to the gospel, seven who came to know Christ are now making disciples among their own people. “Most of that work is in Algeria,” Brahim said. “We want to finish the task in Niger before we
enter another country, but the Arabs of Niger should be the ones to go there.”
While the number of new believers and churches is exciting, the three evangelists know much work is yet to be done. They take discipleship seriously, recording the names of each new believer and making sure to follow up with them. “We want them to be taught and discipled so they can go far in their faith,” Brahim said.
The men have found it challenging but not impossible to baptise new believers in the desert. When they take the gospel somewhere new, they bring a tarp along with them, dig a hole, line the hole with the tarp and fill it with water. Even in the middle of the desert, they have the pleasure of seeing men and women publicly proclaim that Jesus Christ is their Lord and Saviour.
STIRRING UP TROUBLE
As word spread that hundreds of people in multiple villages were leaving Islam for Christ, local Islamic leaders grew angry. Once, a group of men came to Brahim’s house threatening to kill him and his family if he didn’t stop his ministry work. Of course, the visit didn’t faze him; he knows where he’s going when he dies. “I know if you touch me, you are declaring war with heaven,” Brahim said.
Then, in 2020, Wararni nearly lost his life. During Ramadan, two Fulani chiefs and two Tuareg chiefs complained to a local government official that Wararni and his wife were forcing people to leave Islam. Islamic leaders frequently bring
such accused Christians before local leaders, demanding that the accused be prevented from continuing their Christian work. The leaders generally explain that they can’t do anything because the Nigerien constitution guarantees freedom of religion.
This time, however, the two Fulani and two Tuareg chiefs took matters into their own hands. As Wararni talked with a friend in a nearby village, the four Muslims approached and surrounded them.“What are you doing here?” Wararni’s friend asked. “We are after him,” one of the Muslims said, pointing to Wararni. “We want to kill him.” The men had swords, and one of them also had a pistol. “I was thinking, ‘This day they will end my life, but I am so happy even if they kill me as I do this work’,” Wararni recalled.
Although he was prepared to die for Christ if it was God’s will, Wararni also wanted to continue serving Him. He called a friend in the village who is a member of the Nigerien military, and within minutes his friend arrived with three other soldiers to arrest the four Muslims.
“I said, ‘There are four bandits here who want to attack us!’” Wararni recalled. “The military leader arrested the four of them and put them in the car.”
As their influence and reputation continue to grow in the region, Wararni and the others expect to face increased persecution — and they aren’t fearful. Each time they disciple a new believer, they teach him or her that persecution is sure to come and is simply part of following Jesus.
“It is part of my life and it is part of the life of many of my disciples,” Wararni said. “They expect it.”
CONTINUING THE WORK
VOM is supplying print and audio Bibles as well as other ministry tools to the three evangelists, who are thankful for the support. “We are also so grateful that you travelled all the way to meet us,” Brahim said, “and to find out how we are doing and how the Lord has moved.” The three men asked that we pray for the protection of Christians, especially pastors and other leaders, as they interact with Muslims. They also asked that we pray “against any strategy of the enemy” to stop their work.
“I want the work to continue expanding and moving,” Wararni said. “I want you and your people to pray for these believers to have unity so that Satan will not enter inside and create divisions,” Usaden added.
“When they are strong, they can move forward and follow God.”
Looking back on the past few years, Brahim said he’s thrilled to see how the gospel has flourished among the Tuareg and Fulani people in Niger. He’s also pleased with the faithful work of his son, Wararni, and cousin, Usaden.
“I am so happy, more than how somebody can be happy,” he said. “Whatever problem I face or I am facing, when I think of what is happening, I forget about everything. I just rejoice in the Lord.”