BurkinaMenno
Although the Mennonite Church Canada Learning Tour to Burkina Faso is over, the experience lingers on. Join us as we continue to share stories and reflections on ten days of immersion in another culture, connecting with an emerging church community beyond familiar borders. How is God at work among the people of Burkina – and at work within us? Keep checking in to find out!
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
The Experience Lingers On...A Farewell to Ken Cressman
Ken and I remained in contact over the last few years since our Burkina Faso adventure. I especially appreciated receiving Ken & Helen's Christmas letter every year and reading about yet another series of courses Ken had taken or was considering taking. We had several visits over the past few years running into each other at MCEC events and a few other happen chance occasions.
Attending Ken's funeral on January 16, our Learning Tour experiences in Burkina Faso were referenced numerous times. It was a blessing to be a part of celebrating Ken's life and remembering the brief days we shared together in Burkina. The experience does linger...rest in God's embrace my friend.
Obituary of CRESSMAN, Kenneth Willard
Born February 10, 1935 in Wilmot Township, passed away suddenly on January 10, 2014 at age 78. He was the son of Zenas Cressman (1994) and Mabel Hannah Burkhart (1946). Remembered by his wife, Helen Ruth Burkholder, children Kevin, Sheila, Denise (Mao) and Stephanie (Charles), and stepmother Eloise Cressman. Also survived by six grandchildren, Sophia, Bianca and Avalene Fraresso and Jessamine, Rose-Hélène and Benjamin Le. Missed by sisters and brothers Jean Swartzentruber, Joyce and Kaye Collard, Glen and Ruth Cressman, Lyle and Karen Cressman, Eileen and Willis Freeman. Ken taught secondary school for over thirty years in Campbellford, Simcoe and Paris, Ontario. Following retirement, he did substitute teaching in Paris, Stratford, Kitchener-Waterloo and Cambridge. He also did volunteer work at Waterloo-Oxford DSS near Baden for a number of years. Ken was active in teaching adult Sunday school in his home church and took courses at Conestoga College. At the age of 75, he graduated with a Masters of Theological Studies from the University of Waterloo, to go alongside his Masters of Geography degree. Visitation will be held at the Mark Jutzi Funeral Home, 291 Huron Street, New Hamburg on Wednesday, January 15 from 2 to 4 p.m. and from 7 to 9 p.m. The funeral will take place at Nith Valley Mennonite Church on Thursday, January 16 at 3 p.m., followed by food and fellowship. Private family interment in Nith Valley Mennonite Cemetery. Donations may be made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation or the Mennonite Central Committee (school kits). Online condolences and donation information available at www.markjutzifuneralhomes.ca
Thursday, June 16, 2011
A Poem
Burkina Faso
by Margaret Harms
Red dust on my sandals
Dust in my eyes
Heat, hot days, sun every day
Bicycles, motorcycles, pedestrians
Le Baobob green taxis, donkey carts,
Busses and transport, trucks
The old and the new
Hot sun, heat, red soil.
Warm days, warm Burkinabé hearts
Welcoming smiles, warm handshakes
Children’s brown faces beaming
Faces express awe and trepidation,
“I touched a white woman’s hand.”
Her mother smiles approval.
Warmth everywhere.
The market is teeming,
Old people, babies, all ages between
Faces hopeful as they tend their wares
The sun beating down
Shaded only by woven thatched shelters.
Intoxicating smells of fresh produce
Bright colors, red, green, orange, and yellow.
Walls and walls of cloth
Bold patterns and colorful designs,
The tailor awaits.
The African village sleeps
The stunning star-studded night sky
Hovers over sun-dried brick huts,
Mothers and children safe inside.
The shee-p, goats, pigs, and cattle rest.
Under her wings,
A mother hen shelters her baby chicks.
Far away in Burkina Faso
God is watching!
Monday, April 18, 2011
Friday morning Feb.25th five of our group and Karim Traore loaded Anne's truck with supplies for the weekend . We left Orodara and headed for the open road towards the Village of Kotura which was the Village where Anne Garber Kompaore lived for 10 years before she married Daniel and moved to Ouagadougou. The rest of our tour group of 17 also left for different villages as well.
After about 3 hours of driving we saw a sign for Kotura. We turned onto a dirt road passing cashew and mango orchards. We were dropped off at the village and Anne continued on to her house to arrange lunch. We were given a tour of the village and then had lunch with Anne. After lunch we had a rest and then went on to see other villages.
That evening we had dinner over an open fire and later we sat around the fire and listened to their African music and they shared and testified what the Lord has meant to them. As the evening went on and when the music and dancing stopped, we were asked the question "and what are your challenges?"
What could I say?
This left a very big impression on me; not only had we helped restore some of the damage in the village but healed a very large division in an entire village!!
Submitted by Leonard and Clara Bauman
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Post Burkina Faso happenings
Monday, March 28, 2011
What Difference Can a Church Make?
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Rules of the Road
Monday, March 14, 2011
The Kingdom of Heaven is Like...
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Language Barriers
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Experience in Burkina Faso
Monday, March 7, 2011
Unsettling Complacency
In group reflections on the many conversations we had with different church members and leaders, many people mentioned how inspiring it was to watch these people at work. They faced so many difficult challenges and obstacles in their context. Animism is prevalent. The large Islamic population is not always tolerant of Christians. And yet these Mennonites carry on anyway, working at the seemingly futile tasks of bible translation and church development. And then, consistently, these conversation partners would turn to us and ask, what are your challenges? Every time, our group hesitated. I think we found it difficult to answer in the face of that kind of dedication and determination to make a change. This left me unsettled. After each one of these conversations, I was left with a knot in my stomach. Why? Because the challenge we face, as a Mennonite church in North America is apathy. It is a lack of courage to work within our own contexts and inflict change on them. We love going to other places and being inspired by what others are doing there. But what about here? What are we doing in each of our communities and neighbourhoods?
I did learn on this learning tour. I did engage, and I did grow. But it wasn't in the ways I expected. I was impressed by what I saw from the Burkinabe people. And I was unsettled by it. And so the question I come away with, and I would like to see others wrestling with too, is the one of what now? We are back home. We interacted with a people of resistance, a people who struggles to change what needs changing. And they asked us how we face our challenges. I would name our challenge as complacency. Now, after that experience, how are we going to face our struggle of complacency? Are we going to allow ourselves to remain unsettled and to learn in unexpected ways, even in our home context?
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
This is Africa
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Under the Baobab
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Trapped!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
God for all People
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
To Market, to Market
Saturday, February 19, 2011
A Whirlwind Start
But wow! Are we glad to be here! The smile on Josh's face says it all.