Note: This story has been updated.
In the village of Sidi, Burkina Faso, Mennonite Christians face losing access to the land they farm, because of a growing conviction that the requirements for land use in the village are in conflict with their faith in Jesus Christ.
Land in Sidi is managed by a group of village leaders and parceled out to families and groups, mostly for agricultural use. The village leaders do not own the land, but they oversee its use, to ensure that everyone has enough land to grow the food necessary to feed their families.
In exchange for cultivating land, village residents are expected to provide a living chicken and four liters of dolo, a locally made millet beer. The land chiefs then use these items to make sacrifices to the spirits of the land.
The first Christian in Sidi, Seydou Sanogo, settled there in 1998. After an evangelistic campaign in 2011, a Mennonite congregation connected to the Evangelical Mennonite Church of Burkina Faso (Eglise Evangélique du Burkina Faso) began to form.
Initially Seydou Sanogo and other Christians complied with the requests of the village leaders in Sidi regarding land use, but as the Mennonite community grew, a sense of unease developed. Even though the Christians weren’t physically present when the sacrifices were performed, they felt that they were still indirectly participating in the sacrifices.
So they stopped bringing the chickens and dolo to the village leaders. Desiring to honor the spirit of the exchange, however, they proposed an alternative thank-you gift of money and produce from their farms. These would be true gifts arising from their gratitude for the land, and village leaders would be free to use these gifts as they saw fit.
But village leaders saw the Christians’ stance as an act of disobedience and a breach of trust. They feared that allowing Christians to propose an alternative system of exchange would encourage others to disregard the traditional laws that facilitate relationships and order community life in the village.
In the midst of this conflict, the Mennonite Christians in Sidi fear that they will lose access to the land they farm, and thus, to their livelihood. Without land, they could not stay in the village. In a worst case scenario, they fear that the land would be confiscated after they have already planted it for the season.
Indeed this is what the village leaders hope–that these actions will force the Mennonite Christians to leave Sidi. Yet the Christians have decided they will continue to worship God in Sidi, until they are prevented from doing so.
They believe that God is working through the difficulties they face and that God is using the conflict to speak to the people of Sidi. They carry the light of Christ and hope that their witness will enable village leaders and others to see the true nature of the Christian faith, which seeks reconciliation, not division. Indeed they wonder if, as a result of this conflict, the village leaders will themselves become servants of God!
Update (May 2016):
During harvest time (late in 2015) the believers in Sidi got the idea that they should approach the land chief and offer to help him harvest his cotton crop. They did so. And he accepted!
This act of love and humility broke through the hostility that the land chief had demonstrated previously. When he accepted their offer to help him with his field, he was accepting that they are part of his village.
Currently, tension in the village has greatly diminished, and Christians are once again preparing to seed their crops. The believers meet regularly for worship. The church building, that the land chief had threatened to destroy, is still standing. And the church is alive and well in Sidi. Their loyalty to Jesus, who told us to ‘love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you’, is shining both within the village and well beyond.
Written by Elizabeth Miller and Siaka Traoré, with translating help from Lynda Hollinger-Janzen. Update provided by Rod Hollinger-Janzen.
Sidi, Burkina Faso
Dans le village de Sidi, au Burkina Faso un groupe de chrétiens mennonites risque de perdre l’accès à la terre qu’ils cultivent et leur place au sein de la communauté villageoise.
Le terrain à Sidi est géré par un groupe de chefs de village et réparti entre les familles et les groupes, principalement pour l’usage agricole. Les chefs du village ne possèdent pas la terre, mais ils y surveillent son utilisation, ils veillent à ce que tout le monde a suffisamment de terre pour cultiver la nourriture nécessaire afin de nourrir leurs familles.
En échange pour cultiver la terre, les habitants du village sont censés fournir un poulet vivant et quatre litres de dolo, une bière de mil fabriquée localement. Les chefs du village utilisent ensuite ces éléments pour faire des sacrifices pour les esprits de la terre.
Le premier chrétien à Sidi, Seydou Sanogo, s’y installa en 1998. Après une campagne d’évangélisation en 2011, une congrégation mennonite reliée à l’Eglise Mennonite évangélique du Burkina Faso (Eglise Evangélique du Burkina Faso) a commencé à se former.
Initialement Sanogo se pliait aux demandes des chefs de village à Sidi concernant l’utilisation des terres, mais lorsque la communauté mennonite s’agrandit, un sentiment de malaise se développa. Même si les chrétiens n’étaient pas physiquement présents lors des sacrifices, ils estimaient qu’ils y étaient des participants indirects.
Ils ont donc arrêté d’emmener les poulets et dolo aux chefs de village. Désireux cependant d’honorer l’esprit d’échange, ils ont proposé comme cadeau de remerciement, l’argent et des produits de leurs fermes. Ceux-ci seraient de vrais dons découlant de leur gratitude pour la terre, et les chefs de village seraient libres d’utiliser ces dons comme ils l’entendent.
Mais les chefs de village ont vu la position des chrétiens comme un acte de désobéissance et comme un abus de confiance. Ils craignaient qu’en permettant aux chrétiens de proposer un système alternatif d’échange, cela encouragerait les autres à ignorer les lois traditionnelles qui facilitent les relations et l’ordre de la vie communautaire dans le village.
Au milieu de ce conflit, les chrétiens mennonites à Sidi craignent de perdre l’accès à la terre qu’ils cultivent, et donc, à leurs moyens de subsistance. Sans terre, ils ne pouvaient pas rester dans le village. Dans le pire des cas, ils craignent que la terre soit confisquée après qu’ils aient déjà planté pour la saison.
En effet, ceci est ce dont les chefs du village espèrent -que ces actions vont forcer les chrétiens mennonites à quitter Sidi. Pourtant, les chrétiens ont décidé qu’ils continueront d’adorer Dieu dans Sidi, jusqu’à ce qu’ils soient empêchés de le faire.
Ils croient que Dieu travaille à travers les difficultés qu’ils rencontrent et que Dieu utilise le conflit pour parler aux gens de Sidi. Ils portent la lumière du Christ et espèrent que leur témoignage permettra aux chefs de village et aux autres de voir la vraie nature de la foi chrétienne, qui cherche la réconciliation et non la division. En effet, ils se demandent si, à la suite de ce conflit, les chefs du village deviendront eux-mêmes des serviteurs de Dieu!
Écrit par Elizabeth Miller et Siaka Traoré, et traduit avec l’aide de Lynda Hollinger-Janzen et Angélique Birky-Hartmann.
