Sister Congregation Celebrates Special Baptism Service
For several years the Mennonite Church in Kotoura, Burkina Faso and the Listowel Mennonite Church in Ontario have nurtured a relationship as "Sister Congregations." They have exchanged letters and prayer requests. Anne Garber Kompare and Daniel Kompaore who are residents of Ougadougou, Burkina Faso, and members of the Listowel Mennonite Church in Ontario, are a special link in this relationship.
In 1983 Anne Garber began her long term work as a missionary linguist in Burkina Faso, a west African country of 12 million people who speak over 60 languages. In her first assignment Anne lived in Kotoura, a rural community where the tribal language is known as "Sicite". In addition to learning the language and beginning the huge challenge of translating the scriptures into Sicite, Anne and her co-workers were led to plant a church.
In 1993 Anne married Daniel Kompaore and moved to the capital city, Ouagadougou, where she continues to use her training and experience in linguistics, Biblical Hebrew and consultation for Bible translation projects.
When received as members at LMC in 2001, Daniel and Anne presented the congregation with an embroidered Communion cloth depicting the Lord's Supper. At communion services in Listowel this gift is a visible reminder of our unity in Christ and our special relationship with African believers.
This summer Pastor Ezekiel Maadou Traore of Kotoura extended an invitation for representatives from Listowel to attend a special baptism service in Burkina Faso. Cost and time restraints prohibited the Canadians from attending, however, Daniel Kompaore who is an associate member of LMC agreed to represent the Ontario congregation at the special service.
On the day of the baptism service in Kotoura, many from LMC gathered for a morning prayer service, linking the two congregations by intercessory prayer. Daniel Kompaore brought greetings to the Church at Kotoura, and read a letter of greeting from the Listowel congregation. As a gift to honour the baptism commitments, Listowel will send one of their favourite worship banners.
