December Prayer Letter

For the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. – Luke 1.49

Holiday greetings to you and your family! May the Peace that seemed completely inconceivable during the turbulent times of the Gospels become a reality in the midst of your own turbulent times this season.

Someone asked the other day what I (Jeff) consider a “God-thing”. Three examples from our context here in Burkina Faso:

1. Marcel was a quiet, shy teen in his village church close to the town of Tougan, some 300 km northwest of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. His friends now cannot believe the transformation in this young man. Not only has he stepped in to fill a leadership role in our new Sunday School program at the Foyer Mennonite Evangélique de Ouagadougou, but he leads passionate prayer services on Sunday evenings. Following a prayer service last week, the wife of our pastor, Noélie, stood up and shared a dream she had had just the previous week. In it she saw Marcel wearing the same shirt he was that evening and giving a powerful exhortation to the congregation. She expressed her joy in how God is using Marcel and developing his gifts for God’s glory. Dreams are taken almost as reality here. The realization of this dream in the context of our church was evidence of a “God-thing” to our congregation.

2. Shortly after the above incident, one of the young leaders who we have been nurturing along for the last 3 and a half years gave the sermon. It was so good that afterwards the worship leader led an impromptu “laying of hands” on this young man, who everyone respects. The worship leader prayed that God would open doors so that this young leader might use his gifts to glorify God and the church. The whole thing pleasantly surprised us because, although we had been encouraging this young man to keep thinking about church leadership, he now seemed to have the blessing (and push) of the community – and this was all completely unplanned, without our knowledge. This comes at a crucial time as our church is in the process of discerning its future in Ouagadougou.

3. God has answered our prayers in an enormous way by calling Nicodème Coulibaly to the position of Executive Director of the Burkina Faso Partnership Council. We were in our annual meetings, once again blocked by the question of what to do without someone in this position. (For the moment, Tany is doing the finances of this position, but there are many other administrative tasks that can fall through the cracks.) International partners had expressed their strong desire that this be a Burkinabé that assumes this leadership position. What makes this all such a “God-thing” from the Burkina perspective is that Nicodème’s name just kind of came to me suddenly during the meeting. Nobody had mentioned him previous to this, possibly because he is relatively young for a Burkina church leader. When I mentioned the name, it was as if we had finally found the missing puzzle piece that we had been seeking for the past 3 years – and it was right under our noses! It is awe-some what God is doing among the young people in the Burkina Faso Mennonite Church. The youth are taking the helm – the future is bright!

*****

The university year is finally nearing its end, with many students having completed their first round of exams. If they pass, they are exempt from the second round. Many who are in this situation are returning to their villages for Christmas.

We have already hosted one new student from the Mennonite Church in Orodara, who came to Ouagadougou to register at the university for the next academic year. So we are getting ready for the transition of students exiting and new students entering our residence building.

We praise God for…

• The visit of Jeff’s parents and for good health during this time.
• The young leaders God is developing in Burkina Faso. Our sister Mennonite church in Bobo (Burkina’s second largest city) has sent a young man to Bible School who will likely take a much-needed leadership role in that church upon completion of his studies.
• Cooler nights and the hope God gives that good health is returning for us all, despite all the dust.

We request your prayer support for…

• Land – the Ouaga church has decided to look into land prices, even though we have no idea where funding for this might come from. Purchasing land can be a very tricky process. Pray that God would guide us and allow us to make wise decisions.
• Students who are preparing to write the second rounds of exams. This can be a stressful time because not passing the exams means failing the school year, losing a year of tuition, and maybe being excluded from bursaries and other student financial aid.

Burkina Traditions

There is a very interesting article on the traditional Mossi Chief who "holds court" every Friday afternoon in Ouagadougou. Check it out at:

www.lonelyplanet.com/burkina-faso/ouagadougou

Christmas Fundraising in Africa - or Something Else?

It's been a while since I've posted on here. Sorry for the silence! Besides the busy-ness of Christmas (Yes, even in West Africa, it get's kind of busy!), it is dusty season and it is sometimes hard to stay healthy.

On Nov 16, a series of bandit activity in previous weeks culminated into one of the biggest highway robberies in Burkina history. Nine transport cars and a small pick-up truck were stopped by an unofficial road-block in plain day. Eight armed men with 4 military rifles got everyone out of the buses. Over 15 million fcfa in money (Around 38,000 CAD)was taken, as well as some deluxe cell phones.

Is it some last minute Christmas fundraising by some lucky bandits who will have a very Merry Christmas? I don't care to think of it as much more than this, even as some here in Burkina claim that this is the tip of something much bigger and deeper. After all, some claim, this was exactly how trouble started in Ivory Coast - by filling the float of the renegade army.

One of our Bible students recently lost his whole year's tuition in a similar robbery as he was traveling to his school. Please pray that those affected by these robberies may experience the Peace of Christ this season. Pray also for safety for those traveling over the Christmas season.

5. The role of the Christian in the state

Due to computer-related problems, this article came much later than anticipated. Thanks for your patience!

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If there is one way Christians in Burkina Faso would like to impact their country positively, it is through their government. The Evangelical community stands squarely behind their Prime Minister, who is part of the Christian community. The Prime Minister has recently worked visibly against the corruption of the country. The President too claims to be Christian, although less is said about his attachment to any church.

A few weeks ago, I preached a sermon on Matthew 13 (the mustard seed and the woman hiding yeast in an enormous amount of dough). The theme was on how the little things we do count in the Kingdom of God. Referring to John Howard Yoder, I talked about how the Kingdom is less concerned with who is president or what kind of laws are made, but about how we are faithful in daily life: raising our children to be disciples of Jesus, caring for each other, loving our spouses, our neighbour, our enemy, and renouncing injustice. After the sermon, the worship leader got up and, as is often done, summarized my sermon. He said, “You see, we have to be faithful in the small things because that way God will make us big and powerful and give us important things to do.” Did I not fail to get my point across here?

The Kingdom is coming in a big way and through big efforts from the Burkinabé (Ouagadougou) church perspective. That’s what makes them excited every time a Christian moves up the ladder in politics. Enter the Mennonites and our political phobias and apprehensions. Where to go from here? Solutions?

This is where I end this series of articles (unless I somehow discover other themes in the near future.) In closing and in summary (and to answer the two short questions I just posed), the answer is time. We can’t expect our Burkina brothers and sisters to embrace such radical Anabaptist values overnight. Relationships must be continually developed. Many of you have suggested not speaking about Anabaptist values, but about what is biblical from the Anabaptist perspective without spelling out that these are Anabaptist principals. This has been helpful, but the challenge is still to tell some of our great Anabaptist stories in a way that makes the hearer reflect on whether or not this is something that is feasible or worth emulating in one’s own life.

It was interesting the response given by one Burkinabé to the story of Dirk Willems, who was fleeing from a guard who would catch him, and return him to prison where Dirk would ultimately be executed. As the chase was on, the guard fell through the ice. Dirk returned to save his life and help him out of the water. A Burkinabé response was, “God delivered Dirk, and judged the guard. Why did Dirk not accept this deliverance and flee?!!” Perhaps another thought might be, “How many Israelites jumped into the Red Sea to save an Egyptian after God closed the waters?”

As much as we would appreciate seeing more of the world embrace such Anabaptist values, we need to also be ready to learn from our Burkinabé brothers and sisters who unconsciously challenge our Anabaptist values. Do Mennonites not need to re-examine themselves and ask: Are we doing enough to work for ecumenical unity? How do we neglect the work and power of the Holy Spirit in our lives? In our attempt at a rebuttal of the evangelical perspective on eternal life, how do we snuff out the joy one feels in knowing that life next to God forever, away from sin and all that is bad, is what is awaiting us after death? How does a peace theology apply in one’s home country where there is already a relative peace? How do we limit God’s work by implicitly suggesting that God cannot or chooses not to work through national and international government bodies? This is the richness that exchanging with our Burkinabé brothers and sisters will bring.

Please respond!

http://warkentins-blog.blogspot.com/

4. The Relative Peace in Burkina Faso

The Burkinabé have a dysfunctional democracy, not that pure and functional democracies solve everything. However, the Burkinabé look around them at the rest of Africa – there is war, there is violence, there are ethnic disputes. They are glad that these problems have not affected their country for quite some time and many are grateful to their president for providing this stable atmosphere to their country, even if the country remains quite poor and dependant. Peace is a given for the society. The lack of peace is something that most people detest, and the country’s lack of peaceful times is already a distant memory.

There are even built-in cultural strategies for dealing with differences of opinion, which all help to keep the peace. Examples of this include ethnic teasing (plaisantérie) groups where 2 of the 80+ ethnic groups in the country are paired up and culturally have the right to tease the other group all in good fun. Your average Burkinabé will rarely disagree with you, and if he or she does so, it is to “complete” what you are saying or to “add” another idea. For this, it is hard sometimes to get to the bottom of the truth sometimes. For instance, asking someone if they would like to go to church with you will always elicit a positive response so as not to offend anyone.

When I consider places like Ethiopia or the Congo where the largest groups of Mennonites are today; or South Korea where Anabaptist views are being wholeheartedly embraced despite a militarized culture; or even Columbia where peace and justice issues dominate church life, I find myself wondering how the Mennonite peace perspective can take hold in a country that is relatively peaceful. Sure there are injustices. The church can speak against corruption, but does encourage change in the here and now? The Protestant/Evangelical church preaches first and foremost a message of hope for those who suffer here – that they will one day escape this life and experience eternal life if they accept Christ as their personal saviour. This appears to be a stronger call to Christ in the Burkinabé context than the Kingdom theology Mennonites believe so strongly in.

Our next and last topic: The Role of the Christian in the State

September Prayer Letter

Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.

- Psalm 62:8

The rain started in Ouagadougou around 4 am. It would not stop until almost 4 pm that same Tuesday in the afternoon. When it was all said and done, almost 300 mm of rain fell on our usually dry city. Much damage was done. In the city centre, shops and businesses offices filled up with water. Basement parking garages became underwater caves. Personal items left by missionaries in the basement at the local Bible translation facility were ruined. But the greatest impact was felt by those in the so-called “non-lotis”. These are the undeveloped outskirts of the city, or squatter settlements where drainage and roads have not yet been developed, and where housing is usually done as cheaply as possible. Many of these poorly constructed houses were completely washed away in the flash flood. Money, photo albums, even a small child were taken by the rushing water. It was the biggest rain in the recorded history of Burkina Faso/Upper Volta. Two days later, in the parts of Ouaga that we frequent, you would hardly notice that a catastrophe had occurred. But now is when the real catastrophe begins as people move on and forget the many homeless that must find a way to keep on going.

*****

The university students had 2 weeks of classes following the professor strike. Then everyone claimed their right to the August vacation and most people went home for the month. Currently, students are back in classes. The big problem now is that the university restaurants claim they are out of money and cannot open for the rest of the university year. You can probably guess what happens in a French bureaucratic system in such a situation, when one group of stakeholders is not happy. Yep, strike! We will keep you posted. For now, students continue their studies in the hope that this will be resolved soon and that they might finish the school year. Will we ever get a “regular” university year?

We praise God for…

• Safe travels for our students, many of whom went home to their villages and returned to Ouaga safely.
• God’s protection during the big rain. Shortly after, Jeff rode his bike home. His bike wiped out, but strangely he did not.
• A brave start to the school year for Asher and Danika. It was Asher’s first time.

We request your prayer support for…

• Those who lost their homes and much more during the rain.
• Our students as they try and get enough to eat and study for the end of the school year at the same time.
• Asher, as he adapts to a new school and new teacher. The French school system seems quite different than the Canadian one at times, and this can be hard on a little guy.

3. Kingdom Theology and Eternal Life

(Notice I took the vs. out of the title - it seemed too competitive!)

An escapist view of the gospel – one that centres on salvation as the assurance of eternal life away from the hardships of this life – characterizes the Evangelical church here in Burkina. Kingdom theology, on the other hand, holds that with the coming of Jesus (The Christmas event), the Kingdom has already penetrated the earth. We live in a Kingdom that is already present but not yet fully realised; in a creation that is already being transformed, even though this is at times imperceptible.

In a context where most people are poor with little practical hope of improving conditions, the escapist view is certainly attractive. Who would want to hang around where there is suffering and hunger? Won’t it be glorious to be whisked away to heaven when we die or when Christ returns? It reminds me of old gospel music. One famous group sang the song, “Don’t it make you wanna go home…anxiously awaiting, anticipating, prayin’ that it won’t be long.” Another popular one is, “I’ve got a mansion just over the hilltop.” Such songs almost seem to insinuate that if I could die instantly, I’d be better off. It’s not that this is untrue – who can fathom what eternal life will be like? But it is incomplete.

As disciples of Christ for whom Jesus’ life is normative, we believe we have a duty to reveal how the Kingdom of God has already penetrated the Earth. When John the Baptist sends his disciples to Jesus asking if he is indeed the Messiah, the one who would save the world, Jesus says nothing about whisking people away. Instead, he responds, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.” These are characteristics of the Kingdom. The Kingdom’s values could be better understood through the Beatitudes in Matthew 5. Again, the limits of this article do not allow more depth here – Jesus does elsewhere talk about preparing places (in heaven?) for the disciples. “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” John 14:2

So it seems yet again (and maybe this conclusion holds for most of these articles) that an equilibrium must be found between these two perspectives. Is it insensitive for Mennonite Mission workers in the Burkina church context to focus on Kingdom issues – working for justice, healing, against poverty; trying to bring a whole or more complete gospel to a people (at least in the Christian community) who would just as soon focus on one day escaping the broken systems of government and society? It seems an odd question for those of us from a Western Anabaptist perspective. Often we phrase the question in the opposite way: Isn’t it insensitive to evangelize in a setting where people are firstly hungry or hurting? Is it not better to meet those basic needs and reveal God’s will (or Kingdom/Shalom project) for the healing of Creation?

This latter approach will be a long, difficult process in Burkina Faso. The “escapist view” gives much faster results and is something that the very spiritual-minded Burkinabé can understand. For a more wholesome Kingdom theology to take root here, it will be necessary for Mennonites/Anabaptists to work with, better understand, and not be so critical of this “escapist perspective”.

Am I way off here? I’d like to know. Please respond.

By the way, two authors I really appreciate who talk the "Kingdom talk" are Walter Wink and Lee Camp. Check them out.

2. The Holy Spirit vs. Jesus life as normative

One of my best Burkinabé friends here the other day gave me the following example of how the emphasis on all things spiritual can hurt Africa. To convince people to keep human excrement deep down in a hole, and better yet, covered, is difficult, he said, even though science proves that not doing so can spread disease. A typical Burkinabé does not see things this way. If one falls sick, it is because of God or maybe because of some evil spirit. In any case, it is beyond our human control.

Yet I have witnessed this same friend healing others through prayer. So I have rediscovered this paradox that I think most of us are aware of: there is far more of a spiritual element to our daily lives than westerners care to believe; and far more of a physical element to daily life than a lot of Africa (although I can only speak of Burkina) cares to acknowledge.

So what does this have to do with Anabaptism? By the way, I don’t want to in any way give the impression to non-Mennonite friends who may be receiving these articles that the raison d’être of Anabaptists (aka Mennonites) is to “expand the denomination”. Rather, as I said in the first article, I believe in learning from the richness of the Christian denominations (and beyond) and with that comes the responsibility to participate in this sharing by giving what my tradition has to offer to the discussion.

To put it briefly, Mennonites accentuate and find normative the life of Jesus. This means that the life of Jesus is as central to understanding the will of God for humanity as his death and resurrection. This can sometimes contrast starkly to other Christian views, though it would be preferable if it complemented them. Typically, the “core of the gospel” for most Evangelical Christians is that Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins. Mennonites tend to add, “Amen, but what about his life and how he showed us how to live in the present?” Can this emphasis on the earthly existence of Jesus somehow be reconciled with the Burkinabé spiritual worldview?

A Burkinabé sees firstly a spiritual realm in which spirits are fighting each other for power. In Christ’s death and resurrection, we have freedom from the binding spiritual powers that can make earthly existence miserable. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit after he departed from his disciples that glorious yet confusing ascension day. The disciples were filled with this Spirit and did amazing things.

What we can offer the Burkinabé is the aspect of “doing” or acting in faith of the Spirit. The Spirit helps us do and live how Jesus taught us to live. His life is normative for us – our example. (But of course, we will not be able to do all that the Son of God did!) At many times in the Gospels, Jesus is interacting simultaneously with the spiritual and physical realms.

What the Burkinabé can offer western Mennonites in particular is to be more attuned to the Spirit while we are doing. The early Anabaptists were Spirit-filled people – how else does one face that kind of persecution and torture with joy?

Perhaps Burkina needs to top up its “physical realm” tank while we in the West top up our “spiritual tanks”.

Next time: Eternal life vs. Kindom theology

1. Why the Anabaptist/Mennonite perspective can be a tough fit in the Burkina Faso Church – New Discussion Series:

This article marks what I hope will be a change in how this blog is used. Up until now, this blog has given news and personal updates, sometimes posting pictures and interesting videos. Such posts have solicited little feedback from blog readers. This isn’t a criticism of the blog’s readers, but rather of the blog. Perhaps the blog has not been provocative enough. However, my intention is not to be provocative for the sake of provoking, but rather to have conversation with people who might know a little something about the issues with which we struggle here in West Africa. We need your input. Those especially who know a little something about the Mennonite Church or Anabaptist church history – we would love to hear your point of view. I would love to see this blog become more of a place for dialogue than simply a place to read and look.

Part of our job description in Burkina Faso is to provide an Anabaptist/Mennonite perspective on Biblical teachings to a new church in Ouagadougou. This has sometimes been a frustrating task in some ways. I’ll explain why below. I have been wondering about characteristics of “place” and “culture” that cause one to either be welcoming or unwelcoming of Anabaptist principles. Here I will propose some reasons why the Christian church in Burkina Faso is a tough audience for Anabaptist teachings.

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The reasons I propose here may be applicable to other African countries as well. In Burkina Faso, these reasons stem from the values of the Burkina Church (including all denominations). I will be focussing on the values of the Evangelical Church, which is the mainstream Protestant church in Burkina Faso. I can think of at least 5 reasons that make Anabaptism a difficult fit for the Burkina Faso Church today. Today, we look at church unity.

1. Church Unity vs. Denominational Gifts

Putting the word “versus” or vs. in the title here is oversimplifying and only for discussion sake in order to juxtapose two perspectives. It isn’t as if these two cannot go together.

In the Evangelical community in Burkina Faso, church unity is extremely important. Denominations are considered the “devils work”. These denominations are a reality, but an unwanted one. Many in our church are very sensitive about talking about the history of a denomination or the gifts thereof because of experiences with “denominational expansion” in the past. Certain denominations have, in the past, become neo-colonialists seeking to expand their denominational territory, and claiming that unless one is from their denomination, one is not fully Christian.

More recently, the majority of the Evangelical community has been against such approaches and actively speaks against it. This is an important step for the church in Burkina Faso. Christ brings unity to his body. Many good things are happening in this regard.

Enter the Mennonites with their subversive history – ana-baptist, anti-church/state, anti-mansion-o’er-the-hilltop theology. (Anabaptist refers to the history of the people who were against the baptism of infants, and so re-baptized people upon their confession of faith in Christ – for more, see links below.) Mennonites often define themselves in juxtaposition to other traditions – i.e. what we are not: we are not Catholics, but not completely Protestants either; we are against war, against injustice. Our whole history is based on subverting (or else running away from) corrupting systems of power. I see the Mennonite perspective as an invaluable gift to the Christian community. However, in the Burkina Church scene, emphasis on denominational “gifts” sounds a lot like the promotion of a denomination over and above another, and thus is discouraged – in fact, denominations themselves are of the devil.

So how does one respond? We believe that Anabaptism has a unique and paramount perspective to offer the church here. But how does one talk of Anabaptism without coming across as superior to other beliefs or values within the Christian community? Here is a good question even for “western” Mennonites? Do we see ourselves as somehow “better” than other church groups? How important is church unity for the Anabaptist community? How do Mennonites work for ecumenical unity?

Stay tuned for the next article: The Holy Spirit emphasis vs. Jesus’ life as normative

Links: http://www.anabaptistnetwork.com/whatisanabaptism

http://www.thirdway.com/menno/

Back to School...Then Take a Break

It's important not to scratch your head too much living in West Africa. The people are wonderful for the most part. But there are head scratching moments in any new context - like the time a friend took us on the city bus all the way downtown when we only needed to go a block, because he figured that way we would get our money's worth.

Well, the government has ordered everybody back to school at the University of Ouagadougou while they study the proposal of the university professors. So school officially resumes on Monday. The catch is, the professors still want their month of vacation - which is the month of August! This means this academic year, the university officially will have run for a month, than went on strike for 3 and half months, restarted for two weeks, and then will have taken another whole month off. Yikes!

A thought about evangelism

“Do not try to call them to where you are, as beautiful as that place might seem to you. You must have the courage to go with them to a place that neither you nor they have ever been before.” - Vincent Donovan from Christianity Recovered.

July update

Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21

Last month Tany did something that the church had wanted her to do for a long time – lead us in a course on finance management. This was a huge task. The African worldview makes for a very different perspective on money.

Money is something to be used in Burkinabé culture (like in other African cultures); not to be saved. If you have money, it is available for your family and neighbours to use as well. Somehow, putting that money in the bank does not change that. You still have the money and if someone gets sick, you are obligated to use that money. On the other hand, we learned, buying bricks and keeping them somewhere to someday build a house is different. Those bricks have already been bought and are destined for a purpose. This money cannot be redeemed. (When in reality, selling the bricks would be similar to withdrawing money from a bank.)

We in North America would do the same for our sick ones, giving when we needed, only for most of us, using this money to help someone does not prevent us from doing or buying the things we want. So one must tread a bit carefully when talking about such things in such a culturally different context and Tany did just that. The 3-day course was a conversation together with community members on how God is calling us to manage our money. Biblical passages and perspectives on resource management were peppered throughout the course providing a framework for discussion. This was all done with the acknowledgement that many African practices are good and whole (as are many occidental practices) while many other practices need to be transformed for the good of God’s Kingdom (as is also the case in the West).

Some of the big questions raised: Is it appropriate to save your money in African culture? Tany used the story of Joseph saving Egypt from famine with God’s help. Who should be in charge of the family resources, the man or the woman? It was lamented by one female student that in her sub-culture, the woman is always left in the dark about the family’s resources. It is the man who manages that, whereas women generally are more responsible with money and tend to have gifts in that area. In some cases, the man will refuse to even tell his wife how much his salary is so that the wife will not be able to hold him accountable for his spending. Some of this discussion will lead nicely into some Bible studies on marriage and relationships in the future, which the students have also been anticipating for some time.
*****
We have very little news from the university scene. Some faculties have increased the number of courses offered at this time. Our law students fall into this category. They say the classes are moving very quickly and there is way too much material to cover in a short amount of time. Other programs have not restarted since the professor strike, even though the government has agreed to properly study the demands of the professors in order to make a good decision. Many students plan on going home at the end of July if things continue to move this slowly for most of the university programs. They would come back in September after what is usually the vacation time (August).

We praise God for…
• The end of hot season – there has been plenty of rain in Ouagadougou
• A great few days of chatting with students about what God wants us to do with God’s money.
• The end of Danika’s school year

We request your prayer support for…
• Rain for the rest of the country – outside of Ouaga there has been a shortage
• Some of our students who will be writing special exams (called concours) to possibly integrate into professional schools and get good-paying jobs
• Those who will be traveling. Rainy season can make it difficult. We also sent 4 pastors to Paraguay this year for Mennonite World Conference

Signs of Hope at the University

Bit by bit, professors at the University of Ouagadougou are returning to campus to continue their courses. Law students, who hadn't had class since the beginning of April are now having at least some of their classes during the week. It's a promising sign.

It seems the demands of the professors are justified, but are fairly extensive and it will take time for the various government ministers to study their demands and then make a decision. In the mean time, the government seems to have convinced the students that it will act in good faith and that everyone should go back to life as usual on campus while the various ministers can do their job and get a deal made with the professors before the start of the next school year. So it seems like the year will continue without canceling it, although we can expect a very late end to the school year, maybe as late as February 2010. Thank you all for your prayers.

Are you listening? Umm, I'm trying.

I (Jeff) have started taking Morré lessons again. Morré is the language of the Mossi people, the domant ethnic group in Burkina Faso. This was first of all a way to once again awaken the love I have for the Burkinabé people - but after all, I am somewhat of an introvert. I'm fairly sure this word doesn't exist in Morré! Living in a big African city means always being around people, so it's important to show interest in those around you, and what better way than to speak (a bit better) their language. The second reason to improve my Morré-speaking ability (by the way, you can get my quite nicely with French in Ouaga these days) was that the more you learn the local language, the more you understand the people. It's very interesting to know, for instance that, that word for "husband" is similar to the word for "truth". A Mossi person might say these two words have little to do with each other, but linguists say otherwise. Or, to find out that to say you are happy, you say that your heart is smiling.

So, improving these language skills provides a lot of social, intellectual and relational stimulation. But you also learn a lot about yourself. When you speak, are you more interested in what the other person is saying, or are you thinking about what you will say when the person has finished talking? It sounds easy to say that we should listen more to the other person first - that makes you a good listener. But the balance tips very quickly when working in another language. After 4 weeks of lessons, I can already string several sentences together, but I can barely understand anything people say to me. I have been more focussed on looking good through what I can do instead of trying to understand what people are telling me. Of course, understanding a native speaker speaking rapidly takes years. But still, I know I need to really force myself to concentrate and listen to people as they speak, and not let my mind wander. It's a good thing to apply to my native language, English, as well!

University Decision to be made by June 15

Students of the University of Ouagadougou should know within the week if the government will close the university again this year, or if a settlement has been reached between the professors' union and the government. Professors have been on strike since mid-April. Most classes have been canceled. If the university closes, it will mark the second time in the span of the year that the academic year has been cut by university closing. Last year the university closed due to student unrest over poor academic conditions. It is still unsure what a closure could mean for the school year. Will the entire year be canceled, or will they try to finish the year in September like they did this past year?

Students at the Foyer Evangelique Mennonite de Ouagadougou, meanwhile, are preparing to write "concours". These are government entrance tests that allow a given number of people to enter the public sector of work. Those not writing these tests may be forced to return to their home village due to the comparatively expensive cost of living in Ouagadougou. Others may stay in Ouaga to look for work.

Please pray for these students as they face an uncertain future.

May 2009 Prayer Update

“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” Matthew 13:31-32

One of Tany’s major contributions to our church community has been through English courses. Twice a week, the FEMO has a one-hour English course at the church. On Saturday nights, our advanced English faculty students lead the discussion, which usually centres on important themes ranging from politics, to African traditions like marriage, to other current issues. On Sundays, Tany facilitates the discussion.

It is amazing to see the cultural barriers that get broken down as students try to speak a foreign language. French (the official language of Burkina Faso) has become another African language in some ways in Ouagadougou, the capital – there is a certain lingo that reflects the syntax and structure of other Burkinabé languages. There is also a certain etiquette in “Burkinabé French” – what you can and can’t say. This is also a crossover from the local languages. But in English, this linguistic etiquette gets thrown out to allow for more direct and communication. Thus, Tany often comes away from these classes enlightened and better understanding of cultural values that usually remain “hidden” in the language of the people. (In turn, we too have noticed that our weaknesses in French make us think about what we really want to say before speaking, and actually makes us more patient and open to people than if we could speak quickly and naturally with people.)

So it was that we were blessed again yesterday when a 3^rd year English student expressed his gratitude for the Foyer (our church residence) not only for what it has done for him, but for the others. He mentioned a student he had known from his home town who had been so shy, isolated, and unconfident. Today, this student lives in the residence of our church. He is one of our best Sunday School teachers. He recently offered to give leadership to our weekly prayer hour on Sunday nights, which was lacking direction.

Like a mustard seed, leaders are developing in our churches in unexpected ways. Sometimes, this development is slow and unperceivable. But from time to time, God gives us a boost by revealing to us how that seed is developing and growing into something bigger.

Another way this is happening is through an Anabaptist history project that we are working on. In order to provide some background to the history of the Mennonite Church for our Burkinabé brothers and sisters, we are putting together a collection of Anabaptist stories from the past to present. Our English students are helping to translate these stories (most of which are in English) to French. This too is slowly making progress and should be a valuable resource to the church here. In the mean time, some of our translators working on this project are being exposed to a way of thinking that had not occurred to them before – an approach to living out the gospel that (I believe) is an important contribution to ecumenical dialogue in Burkina Faso. I mean, who would think to serve a meal to the men vandalizing your house, as in the story of Preacher Peter and the Mystery of the Thatch; or save the person trying to send you to your execution, as in the story of Dirk Willems? These small seeds will surely produce some day.

We praise God for…

• Blossoming relationships with our university students
• Jérôme, a French seminary student who is doing an internship with us at the FEMO until June 21. His contribution and attitude have been greatly appreciated.
• The occasional rain which cools us off

We request your prayer support for…

• The University of Ouagadougou and the professor strike (see blog for more details – the professors have been on strike and most courses have been on hold since mid April)
• Government and university officials, as well as their mediator so that classes may continue soon
• Jérôme as he continues to build relationships, learn, and integrate into the life of our community

A word from those baptized

Esther (pseudonym) shares about how God has been changing her lifestyle from that of a rebellious teenager to a disciple of Jesus. Her parents too have noticed a huge difference in her life and her happiness since she started making more of an effort to seek out her relationship with God.

Easter Day Baptisms at FEMO

It is tradition in Burkina (as it was in the Early Church) to baptise on Easter Day. Here, Eleanor commits herself to seeking relationship with God. Earlier, one Burkinabe pastor kidded us: don't let the person's head out of the water until they've seen Jesus! Well, we won't go that far. In Burkina, immersion baptism is the practice of all of the Protestant (Evangelical) churches.

Broken-hearted

Last night, one of the university students showed up at our house looking very dejected and troubled. Normally, he is quite upbeat and positive. In fact, I had never seen him like this before. I was worried that he had perhaps lost a member of his family, or else that there had been renewed problems on campus. People are talking about another professor strike which could possibly cancel the school year. There are still some very glaring problems on campus, namely the professor’s low salaries but also the student financial aid which has not yet come. The lack of aid has meant that some students are skimping on meals. To make matters worse, sometimes the university restaurants are not producing enough food. Many of the students did not get lunch yesterday, which in Burkina is the big meal of the day. And touching people’s food sources often leads to irrational thinking.

Our friend was one of those who did not get to eat. He showed up at our place around 6:30 pm looking rather famished and at the end of his wits. The real problem, we soon learned, was that he had a broken heart. This was new territory for all of us. We felt honoured that he would feel comfortable enough to come to us to get this off of his chest. He complained that he could no longer study or even sleep because he couldn’t stop thinking about this girl who was apparently not interested in him.

Contrary to my understanding of friendship (listen without throwing out advice), in Burkina friends are expected to give advice. So I shared some stories of girls who had let me down (dumped me, you might say) only to realize that God had something in store for me beyond my comprehension; something more fantastic than the most perfect relationship I could have dreamed of. We prayed together and our friend was on his way.

My fear for our friend is multifaceted. Is he spending too much time in our home observing our own family dynamics and imagining he could have a more western-style relationship with a girl when his culture dictates otherwise? Or is he sincerely interested in discerning how God wants men and women to live together? In any case, he may be ahead of his time in this culture. We have met other similar young people in the city who have a more traditional view of marriage: For the guy, a good wife means someone who is obedient, hard-working, knows how to cook and be a mother; for the girl, a good husband is someone who looks after the family financially, first and foremost. Other details like looks and personality play a very secondary role.

How does our culture define our intra-gender relationships? How should the Bible take precedence over these cultural definitions? I’d be interested in hearing your responses. Feel free to reply to this post, and any others that interest you.

-Jeff

April 2009 Prayer Letter

How can young people keep their way pure? By guarding it according to your word.. Psalm 119.9

Some of you who donated old film cameras might be wondering what became of them. Let me tell you the story of François. He bought one of the more quality cameras donated. These cameras were not just given away, but a reasonable price was agreed on and the money was given to the church. François not only paid back the money he gave for the camera (around $60 CAN) but he took the camera home over Christmas, took pictures of people in his village, and made enough money to pay for his entire university year. Not only that, but he is becoming a quality photographer. He has a gift. He is continuing to earn small amounts of money on the side with his camera as he continues his studies. Thanks again to all of you for donating the cameras. We will let you know if we can use more some time.

We are nearing the end of a baptism course which prepares the participants for a life of discipleship, marked by a baptism on April 12. Please pray for the two young women, both with fairly similar and difficult experiences, who are learning about discipleship and being new creations.

We praise God for…

• A smooth start to the university year.
• Energy during a very hot time of year.
• A successful change of motors in our car.

We request your prayer support for…

• Our baptismal candidates.
• Wisdom for discerning the future of the Foyer Evangélique Mennonite de Ouagadougou.

We welcome your contributions for our
support and invite you to send these to:

Mennonite Church Canada WITNESS
600 Shaftesbury Blvd
Winnipeg, MB, R3P 0M4

FEMO Choir

From time to time, the city churches appreciate trying a more western style of music.

University Renovations

One of the results of the professor strike in February was that what had been a big block of student housing on campus is being turned into office space for professors. The student housing is being moved quite a distance from the campus, compounding the problems students already face at the university as they seek out comfortable places to study, commute long distances on dangerous roads, and suffer from classrooms that are too small.

Warkentin Prayer Letter

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Finally! We’ve been waiting for last year’s university year to wrap-up since we came back to Burkina Faso at the end of last August. Almost 5 months later, exam results are, for the most part, in. We are awaiting the results of 1 last student. To our pleasant surprise, every student connected to our church community has passed so far. This is no small thing.

Last Sunday, we had a meal at church to celebrate Christmas - the students were dispersed throughout the country during Christmas time and came back shortly after only to continue their exams, thus hindering our Christmas celebrations. We also celebrated the end/beginning of the academic year. The mood was grateful and optimistic – a day of pure Shalom since it was that period between the stress of writing exams and waiting for marks yet before the pressures of homework and tests that the new year brings.

All in all, we are very recognizant. After many frustrations – the university situation, lingering colds, the abrupt return of hot season, and many things breaking down, including a wrecked motor in our van – God seems to be smiling down on us allowing us to consider God’s faithfulness. The university year has restarted normally, our colds are finally letting up, and we have even had 2 days of fairly light rain – another oddity in Ouagadougou this time of year.

Soon we will give you an update on new faces in our residence. We are awaiting the arrival of 3 new students, to add to the 3 other new ones who have already arrived. This will give us 14 lodging at the residence for the year.

We praise God for…
• The positive university results.
• The little frustrations of life that are slowly evaporating in the heat.

We request your prayer support for…
• A continued smooth start to the academic year.
• Good health for our family.

Struggles and Rewards

Here is a video we made for Foothills Mennonite Church in Calgary, AB. It is based on the daily struggles and rewards of ministry and uses 1 Corinthians 9:23 as reference. There is some good music on it too. Enjoy!

http://foothills.mennonitechurch.ab.ca/media/Foothills%20video_0003.wmv

A Franciscan Benediction

May God bless you with discomfort
At easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships
So that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger
At injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,
So that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears
To shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war,
So that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and
To turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness
To believe that you can make a difference in the world,
So that you can do what others claim cannot be done.

Amen

Weddings

A wedding is a great opportunity to experience some of the important customs and values in a family or culture. Othniel, a close friend from day 1 of our Burkina adventure, invited us to his brother's wedding in Doumbala – a village some 400 km from Ouagadougou, near the Mali border. We knew it would be a long trip so we decided that just I (Jeff) would go. See our January update for more reflections on the wedding.

I show this picture because this is so typical of Burkinabé weddings. The bride and the groom seem so distant from each other. Neither shows much emotion – to the point that they seem to expressing pain, almost wishing they were somewhere else. I am told that this is expected of them. The whole day is in their honour and this is one way to show humility.

How to Have Fun at a Bwaba Wedding

At a Burkinabé wedding, you must make noise and lots of it. If you have a gun, shoot it in the air (preferably without bullets – see collection of wedding pictures). If you have less means than that, get creative. Here, Othniel’s nephew has fabricated his own noise-maker – a motorcycle wheel spoke is bent around and fastened to a stick by some old rubber tire tube. A nail is also attached. Cut off the head of a match, place it in the spoke, put the nail snugly against the match head, pound the head of the nail on a rock, and boom! You have your noise-maker. Pretty ingenious (and inexpensive). Watch the video for the demo.

Here's how the noise toy works...

Wedding Celebration in Doumbala.

Watch these videos (continued below) to see some pure, unfettered dancing. The Bwaba people (Othniel’s ethnic group) love to dance and they are amazing dancers. Even the children pick it up quickly. The wonderful part about their dancing for me was that it included people of all age-groups, genders, and abilities. Even I could give it a try with some simple steps while I marvelled at the moves of the experts. The key thing is to do it together in community, and to have fun – no alcohol needed.

The young dancing team.

These were the expert dancers at the wedding. They could really get going.

Not done yet.

Are they tired yet after 3 hours of wedding dancing? Nope.

Bus Trouble - I think the goat must have tipped the scale.

Our bus had two flat tires and after putting on the spares, the driver noticed that at least one of the spares had been cut in half and sewn back together at one point. This resulted in a 7 hour delay on the side of the road while we waited for a solution. But this picture will always remind me of how the bus-hand let down the spare tire from the roof, where you see the goat. Instead of dropping it parallel to the side of the bus, or waiting for help, the bus hand dropped it perpendicular to the bus. The huge tire promptly hit a rut and shot straight out towards me. I took one step sideways and watched the think streak past at another young man who wasn’t paying attention. It caught him so off guard, all he could think to do was to start running with the path of the tire, instead of side-stepping it. So he tried to outrun the tire for a good 3 seconds before diving out of the way. The tire continued another good 20 metres after that.

Watch me now, hey!

I think dancing is as natural as walking for a Burkinabe kid.

January Prayer Letter

January 2009

Warkentin Prayer Letter

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine, your anointing oils are fragrant, your name is perfume poured out. – Song of Solomon 1:2

I had had a preview of the trip – the road had been awful that first time so I was prepared. This time promised to be longer and more rewarding. My two short, recent village experiences were like book-end glimpses into two of the most significant markers of African life: first, a funeral, then, a wedding.

The road had dramatically improved from the funeral visit 3 weeks earlier. After an hour of paved road and 4 hours of unpaved, the first great challenge this time came when the police officer stopped the bus some 100 km from our final destination asking everyone to get off. I was relieved to see my passport still had at least a month left on the visa. I chuckled nervously when Othniel showed me his identification card: a 10 year old boy smiled back at me…Othniel is 28. His card had expired years ago. I looked up. The 28 year old was now smiling at me. I was glad he was so confident. The police man did not seem in good humour.

We were separated into two groups – those with valid identification, and those without. I found myself wondering if this was how calm it was in places like Rwanda where similar grouping had occurred in more dire times. Othniel was not in my group. My group was told to get on the bus and take off. I started praying. The bus driver was nowhere to be found. I heard someone say that he was "negotiating" with the police. Moments later, Othniel ran gleefully back onto the bus and sat down beside me, smiling even bigger. "On peut aller!" We can go. I was greatly relieved.

I am screaming down a dirt road on the back of a motorcycle. Cold. This was as cold as I'd been since being in Burkina. My jacket was zipped up over my head to protect me, now a headless horseman, from the cold and dust. We drove for almost an hour. I was blindly balancing myself on the back of the bike as we seemed to swerve and hit every hole along the way, my bag in my arms preventing me from holding on effectively. What if I fell? I was a hundred miles away from…anywhere.

We arrived in the village of Doumbala – a village of the Bwaba people, 10 km from the Mali border. The Mali border literally cut right through some of the Bwaba villages. What was the white man thinking? We arrived at night, under a multitude of celestial Christmas lights – enough to give you a neck ache, or worse if you tried to walk and look at the sky at the same time.

For the next 2 days, I was the King of the Sahel – at least, my hosts treated me as such. What was most remarkable was that Othniel, who hadn't been back to his home for over a year, never left my side. I was his priority, even before his childhood friends who he hadn't seen in so long. I thought about western hospitality. I thought about stories of missionaries leaving African guests outside while they go in to eat. I learned and thought about a lot of things those 2 days.

The wedding itself revealed the high points of Bwaba culture: music and dance. In fact, most Burkinabé love to celebrate. While the married couple traditionally must look reserved and almost bored (see blog and web pictures), the rest of the congregation is alive and lively. Even at 5 am the morning after the wedding, there were still dancers regenerating the eternal dust cloud of the courtyard by the church. The same balaphone player (see pictures) had played from 8 pm to 5 am with very few breaks!

We left at 5 am to catch our bus back to Ouagadougou. Othniel had an exam the next day – yet one more frustration with the university system: because of all of the striking, some students only had Christmas Day off before they had to continue their exams. This messed up Othniel's entire Christmas and New Years plans – a much needed and well-deserved week in the village with his family was cut down to 2 days.

Our bus broke down 30 minutes into the trip. We waited almost 7 hours on the side of the road for a fix (see blog for more info). These various challenges made me think of the effort "incarnational ministry" takes and how much it is worth. I could have dreaded such a trip – why not stay home and read a book? It is Boxing Day! When I have a busy week – a sermon to write, a Bible study to prepare, I often find myself torn between two paths: the known (books, commentaries, a laptop, efficiency) and the unknown and unpredictable (visits with strangers, conversations, a stroll through the neighbourhood, taking the time to get to know what people in our church need).

The 7 superfluous hours turned into great conversation time. I learned valuable insights into the culture I live in. My travel companions and I talked about what marriage and weddings mean in the Burkinabé context. This is such a crucial topic for the students with whom we work. We talked about what being a servant-spouse looks like. Burkinabé young adults are struggling with the ideologies of marriage: Do you have to follow the traditions of your culture when getting married? Do you need to be completely financially autonomous before taking the step? Do you marry a woman you know will be hard-working and serving, or does romance play a bigger role? Young adult Christians in Burkina are pushing some of these boundaries and asking important questions while discerning what the Bible says about these themes. And we are listening and praying for ways to treat these issues respectfully in our young church context.

We praise God for…

• A wonderful holiday season of fellowshipping with church members and mission team members alike.

• Astonishingly good health throughout our years in Burkina and especially during the Christmas season.

• Significant "bonding" between Jeff and some of the students at the wedding in Doumbala

We request your prayer support for…

• Knowing how to progress in our ministry in the ambiguity of the coming school year. Will there be a school year? When will it start?

• Students who are still finishing up exams, now even in the midst of a professor strike

• Attentiveness to God's calling as doors shut for some because of failed exams or a yet-again postponed school year.

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For elaboration on any of the above, please visit our blog and website.

http://foothills.mennonitechurch.ab.ca/warkentin.html