ELKHART, Ind. (Mennonite Mission Network) – A joyful shout and applause erupted from the congregation as Pastor François Xavier Compaoré announced that a new church structure had been completed. But Compaoré wasn’t talking about the much-anticipated building to accommodate the rapidly growing membership of Sheckina Wend Ziiri.
Download full-resolution image.Instead, the Sheckina congregation celebrated because a church they had started in the village of Gbomblora was able to meet with a roof over their heads, thanks to Sheckina’s decision to stop progress on their own new building in order to send their funds to their church plant.
On that Sunday in June, Bill Frisbie, a special assignment worker with Mennonite Mission Network and LeaderSource, was worshiping with Sheckina, an Assemblies of God congregation in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. Frisbie had been invited to the service by Compaoré, who had been his translator for a seminar on leadership development earlier in the week.
“I rejoiced along with the church as I came to understand the beautiful self-giving, missional act being celebrated,” Frisbie said.
Three years ago, Sheckina members felt God’s call to reach out to Gbomblora, a remote village with neither church nor mosque. Their initiative met with vigorous resistance from the traditional chief, who declared that anyone who attempted to bring a new religion into Gbomblora would be run out of the village or killed.
The local police captain overruled this threat, informing people that while they did not have to listen to anyone trying to convert them, violence against missionaries would not be tolerated. The national government would protect their freedom of religion.
The people of Gbomblora responded to the good news of Jesus, and a small Christian community of about 65 believers was born.
Sheckina sent Raphaël Kassongo to lead the young congregation. There were empty houses in the town, but no landlord would agree to rent to Kassongo. Undeterred, he constructed a structure of branches and grasses. Though the shelter trembled in the wind and didn’t provide much shelter from the rain, the congregation continued to grow.
Meanwhile, Sheckina members in Ouagadougou had been collecting money for a larger building to accommodate their own growing congregation. However, when they received the news that their Gbomblora brothers and sisters were unable to gather for worship during heavy rains, they decided to delay their own building project for the sake of the church plant.
Using Sheckina’s gift, the younger congregation built a solid concrete block structure that shelters them from the burning sun and driving rain.
Compaoré said that the cost to build the Gbomblora church was far more expensive per square meter than construction in the capital city, due to the cost of transporting materials. But motivated by the passion they saw in this persecuted church, the Sheckina congregation raised additional money to complete the Gbomblora structure.
Surprisingly, when the village chief saw the new church building, he observed that this was “a serious group” and began to relate to Kassongo in a more open manner, and decreased his threats against the Christians.
People in a neighboring village about two miles away observed what was happening in Gbomblora. They invited Kassongo to come and preach to them. Many became Christians and yet another congregation began to take root.
“As to the implications of Sheckina’s decision to value the church plant’s needs above their own, Pastor Compaoré, without regrets, calculates it has probably delayed their own building project by two years,” Frisbie said.
Frisbie and Compaoré have become close as they minister together. When Frisbie returned to Burkina Faso for two weeks in September to lead four-day Developing Leaders like Jesus seminars, Compaoré translated for him again. Plans are to share the seminars more broadly with other denominations in Burkina Faso next year.
LeaderSource ministers globally, collaborating across denominations and church-planting movements, for the development of Christ-centered leaders.
“We empower with more than information because information alone does not automatically result in transformation,” Frisbie said. “We begin with the Scriptures where we discover the essential qualities of a leader and the dynamics that lead to life transformation.”
LeaderSource personnel walk alongside church leaders as they explore how to harness biblical dynamics and adapt them to the specific needs of their communities.
“Participants report the seminars’ impact goes well beyond their churches, to affecting marriage and family life along with their relationship with the broader community,” Frisbie said.
Bill and Carol Frisbie have a life-long passion to share the gospel with people who have never heard about Jesus, often called “unreached people groups.” From 1999-2001, Bill and Carol Frisbie served in Senegal through Mennonite Mission Network. Now, they direct LeaderSource’s ministry in West Africa.
Steve Wiebe-Johnson, Mission Network’s director for Africa, said that he is impressed with how West African churches are embracing LeaderSource’s program. The success is due to the model’s simplicity, its practicality, and its focus on church leaders’ relationship with Jesus.
“People walk away from the seminars with both skills and the sense of being a part of a network of supportive leaders. The program is well received, and I am glad that Mennonite Mission Network can be supportive of this ministry,” Wiebe-Johnson said.
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Mennonite Mission Network, the mission agency of Mennonite Church USA, leads, mobilizes and equips the church to participate in holistic witness to Jesus Christ in a broken world. Media may contact news@mennonitemission.net.
