How Christians can be drivers of peace in Burkina Faso  

It is said, “United we stand, divided we fall,” and “Unity in diversity is strength.”

The idea that any community can endure challenges and succeed in its objectives only to the degree that its members are united in diversity, is reflected in two passages of scripture.

The first is John 17: 20-26, Jesus prays that His disciples then and now, would be united so that those outside of the Church would be confronted with and believe the Gospel.

The second is 1 Cor 12:12-27. Paul likens the Church to the human body with .many parts, but each joined to the same person. In the Church there are different denominations, congregations, parachurch organisations, and members from different backgrounds, each possessing and exercising different gifts, talents, and functions.

Furthermore, Jesus said of His disciples in John 13:35, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Love is what cultivates the unity within a diverse Church that is fundamental for witnessing to Christ.

Simply put, the fulfilment of the Great Commission (Mat 28:16-20) depends on a Church made of diverse members, united by a love rooted in Christ.    

Unity in diversity through love, amid global realities

Jesus’ prayer for unity among His disciples (a diverse Church body) and His expectation that we love one another is the impetus behind the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, held from 18 to 25 January, involving Christian communities around the world.

Every year, the event theme is chosen by a different ecumenical group. For 2024, Christians in Burkina Faso selected the theme from the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37): “You shall love the Lord your God ... and your neighbour as yourself”.

Jesus’ command to love in Mat 22:34-40 has been relevant since creation. Even so, that Burkinabe Christians chose this theme centred on love is especially appropriate considering the challenges confronting humankind globally and Burkina Faso specifically.

In early 2023, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), Amina Mohammed, at a meeting of the UN Security Council, stated, “Six out of seven worldwide are plagued by feelings of insecurity, the world is facing the highest number of violent conflicts since the Second World War and 2 billion people — a quarter of humanity — live in places affected by such conflict.”

French citizens are not immune to the insecurity Mohammed referred to. Concerning the riots that spread across France from June 2023, one journalist wrote, “The cycle of violence, from police and rioters, is taking place in a fragmented political landscape that is only going to get tougher to navigate.” 

Related to the rise in violent conflicts globally, Open Doors – a non-denominational ministry supporting persecuted Christians – has reported that since it started publishing the World Watch List (WWL), persecution of Christians reached its highest levels in 2022. The WWL ranks the 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution. According to the 2023 WWL, violence affecting the Church in sub-Saharan Africa specifically has reached new heights. 

The need for Christian unity and neighbourly love in Burkina Faso

The contemporary violent conflict and the religious persecution highlighted by the UN and Open Doors respectively are not foreign to Burkina Faso, a West African country located in the continent’s Sahel region, whose name means, “land of upright/honest/incorruptible people”.

Authors of the Resources for THE WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY report, “The political and social situation in Burkina Faso is unstable and there are many threats to peace and social cohesion.” Central among these threats is the jihadist insurgency linked to al-Qaida and ISIS, beginning in 2015.

Initially taking the form of “intermittent cross-border raids targeting Burkinabe police and military outposts near the country’s northern border with Mali,” the insurgency has since included civilian targets in different parts of the country, killing more than 10 000 civilians, troops and police and displacing at least two million.

International Christian Concern describes the violence in Burkina Faso as “the world’s most neglected crisis today, leaving ‘one in four Burkinabè in need of aid’". Open Doors has ranked Burkina Faso 23rd on its 2023 WWL – the country’s highest ranking ever. 

Three prerequisites for effective peace making

Like the priest, the Levite, and the Samaritan, who on their travels were confronted with the site of a man who had fallen victim to “robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead” (Luke 10:30), Burkinabe Christians are confronted with the violent realities that plague their neighbours – Christians and non-Christians alike.

Burkinabe Christians and Christians elsewhere face the choice of responding to targeted violence (irrespective of religious, ethnic, or political affiliations) like the priest and the Levite, who walked away, or like the Samaritan, who did all he could to help.

Reflecting on the actions of the good Samaritan, how can Christians be actors and sources of healing and peace in the context of Burkina Faso, which is full of insecurity and persecution?

Firstly, Burkinabe Christians must recognise that they can only be effective drivers of peace to the extent that the Church in Burkina Faso is reconciled and at peace within itself. The Church, whether in Burkina or elsewhere, cannot reflect or give what it does not possess. The Church must be and express that which it hopes to see in the rest of society. This is what makes the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity a significant event.

Secondly, therefore, there must be a willingness within the Church, for members to forgive one another’s transgressions and to forgive those outside for transgressions committed against the Church and its members. There cannot be reconciliation where there is no forgiveness.

Jesus said in Mat 6:15, “if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Jesus modelled this kind of forgiveness when, having been nailed to a cross, He said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

Thirdly, all efforts of the Church to seek peace and reconciliation must be founded on prayer. Prayer is a conversation with and petition before the Creator of the universe, the sovereign God, the Master Strategist.  

Paul instructed the Thessalonians to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thes 5: 17), meaning constantly and with perseverance. Theologian Walter Wink said, “History belongs to the intercessors – those who believe and pray the future into being.”

With a focus on Nehemiah’s leadership under circumstances similar to those faced by Christians in present-day Burkina Faso, Christian leadership expert John Maxwell writes, “When Nehemiah heard that the walls of Jerusalem lay in ruins, that its charred gates sat rotting, and that the Jewish survivors lived in distress and reproach, he did what every great leader must do: He fasted and prayed.”

Adopting and adapting the good Samaritan approach

Motivated by love, being examples of forgiveness and reconciliation, and praying constantly will lay the necessary groundwork for the Church to take more practical actions towards encouraging peace in Burkina Faso.

Such actions include but are not necessarily limited to practicing hospitality, offering or facilitating trauma counselling, and educating – all across denominational, religious and ethnic boundaries. Christians must also be prepared to engage the government and lead from within the government.

Hospitality: There are different forms of hospitality that Christians can practice depending on the context and need. Hospitality could start with simply sharing a meal with persons of a different denomination, faith or ethnicity. This can be a powerful way of building social bonds.

Hospitality can also include offering temporary housing to those most vulnerable to extremist violence (beginning with women and children), initiating and hosting interfaith dialogue about pressing matters or providing mediation between current or former belligerents or victims and aggressors.

Trauma counselling: Because of the rate and nature of violence in Burkina Faso’s contemporary history, individual and collective trauma is an inevitable feature among citizens that, like the insurgency, must be dealt with urgently and as a matter of national security.

According to the South African College of Applied Psychology (SACAP), “[t]he aftershocks of trauma go far beyond the victim, negatively impacting families and even communities.” This reality is captured in 1 Cor 12:26: “If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.”

The Church in Burkina Faso must identify those struggling with trauma and provide them with the necessary spiritual and social support. Where the Church lacks members who are qualified and experienced enough to give trauma counselling, it must do everything in its power to source on behalf of those in need the persons who are qualified.  

Educating: Former South African president, Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful tool with which to change the world,” and, teaching is a central component of the Great Commission. The more educated the Church in Burkina Faso is across different sectors, the more effectively it will mediate between persons and communities, offer trauma counselling, and teach.   

Education within and outside of the Church must also include teaching on religious persecution (what it is, where it happens, how to respond, how the persecuted can be helped, and what the persecuted can teach the least persecuted), the meaning and benefits of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), and Church-State relations as part of a wider curriculum focused on good governance.

Engaging and forming part of government: Instruction on each of these subjects will better prepare and enable Burkinabe Christians to navigate the complexity and instability their society faces. Furthermore, instruction of this kind will equip the Church to execute its prophetic witness more effectively before the Burkinabe State and better prepare individual Christians who are called to public office to govern in a manner that increases freedom for all Burkinabe – this is when/if the country’s military junta comes to an end.

Where they involve fellow Christians, Burkinabe Christians must view these forms of service as strengthening the Church. Where they involve non-Christians, the Burkinabe Church must view these forms of service as loving its neighbours and as a means by which to share the good news of salvation.

A final note for French Christians

The command to love and the structure and nature of the Church, described in 1 Cor 12:12-27, places responsibility for responding to Burkina Faso’s security crisis on more than just Burkinabe Christians.

French Christians should reflect on the parable of the good Samaritan and consider how they can be drivers of peace in Burkina Faso, and extend a helping hand to their brothers and sisters in the former French colony.