Mennonite Weekly Review

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso — Without conflict, there is no progress, Siaka Traoré told a group of West African church leaders and expatriate missionaries attending the Institut Missiologique du Sahel, an interdenominational mission training school.

Siaka Traoré, president of Burkina Faso Mennonite Church. — Photo by David Fast/MMN

Whether conflict is between angry spouses or between a national leader and rebelling people, Traoré, president of Eglise Evangélique Mennonite du Burkina Faso (Burkina Faso Mennonite Church), emphasizes the importance of dialogue in conflict mediation.

“The nonviolent approach to conflict relentlessly seeks out dialogue, and if refused, provokes it,” Traoré said.

Burkina Faso’s 500 Mennonites may seem like a few grains of salt in the sauce of a predominantly Muslim nation that numbers more than 13 million inhabitants. However, because they are known as people of peace, Mennonites are sought out to season society through mediation of family feuds as well as societal disputes.

Mennonites are recognized for their work in reconciliation and social justice, said Jeff Warkentin, who, with his wife, Tany, works as a church planter in Burkina Faso through Mennonite Church Canada Witness.

Warkentin also serves on a national Partnership Council, an administrative organization, that includes Eglise Evangélique Mennonite du Burkina Faso, four North American mission agencies — Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission, Evangelical Mennonite Conference, Mennonite Mission Network and Mennonite Church Canada Witness — and Comité de Mission Mennonite Français, (French Mennonite Mission Committee).

Mennonites entered the arena of national conflict mediation in 2001 when President Blaise Compaoré called for a National Day of Forgiveness to bring together factions that had fermented during the four years after the coup d’état that brought him to office. Traoré, appreciated for his peacebuilding ability, was named to the presidential advisory commission charged with implementing the conciliatory actions resulting from the Day of Forgiveness.

Traoré has experienced both conflict’s pain and the transformative aspects from the beginning of his Christian life. Born into a Muslim family, Traoré found compelling questions in the Islamic texts he studied as a boy, but few satisfying answers.

As he became acquainted with the Bible, he recognized the Old Testament prophets from reading about them in the Quran. However, the new flash of understanding came as he discovered the New Testament. In the life and teaching of Jesus, Traoré found the truth he longed for. It was as logical as a mathematical equation, Traoré said.

“I saw that all people are sinners and that God is holy. Sinners cannot come close to what is holy. Jesus came to help us get close to God. There is no way for us, as sinners, to approach God except through Jesus,” Traoré said.