International Christian Concern | October 20, 2020
This past week, Switzerland confirmed that an evangelical missionary named Beatrice Stockli has been killed in captivity. Beatrice, from Switzerland, has been an evangelical missionary in Mali since 2000. She has mainly worked in Timbuktu, spreading the gospel and working with women and children.
In 2016, she was taken captive by one of the many Islamic extremist groups that have run rampant in the country for many years. Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis of Switzerland said, “It was with great sadness that I learned of the death of our fellow citizen.”
Her death was learned of from Sophie Petronin, a French charity worker that was also abducted in 2016, but was recently released. According to Petronin, who converted to Islam during her captivity, Stockli refused to be moved to a new location about one month ago. She protested the constant changes of location that her captors made her make. When she continued to fight against her captors, they dragged her outside and shot her. It is believed that she had not converted at the time of her death.