Dear Friends,
These two months are full of
great and wonderful things, full of greatly sad things. So this note
will be necessarily short for now.
I just came back from a
highly intense time teaching two classes of Biblical geography
at the Bible Institute of Benin this past week*. At the end of the
weekend course, the 10 year old daughter of the caretakers of the
building came up to me and said she had some
questions. But she let me have my afternoon nap
first. After the nap, I went downstairs and here she had a
notebook full of notes from my lectures! She had some very
specific questions of a few things she had not quite picked up. I was
just amazed. That was probably the most touching compliment that I
received the entire week - and that from an uncounted but very
attentive participant! There were about 60-70 students in each class.
Thankfully there was no grading to do! At the end of the
first class, the women expressly requested a photo with me. Each class
had about half a dozen women each. And thanks to my Dad who had scanned
all my Israel photos that I had taken in 1997-98!
Teaching with the help
of an interpreter translating into the Gun language.
But while I was there in
Benin I learned of the passing of my daughter in law, Thérèse who
lived in France. The body is to be brought to Burkina on Thursday, and
the funeral will be on Saturday, Nov.19. Pray especially for the
children Haniel (19) and Anita (14) and their father, Francis,
Daniel's son, as well as their extended families.
On the same day that I
received news about Thérèse, I also learned that my Dad suffered a
small stroke. At the latest news, I hear he is already making a
comeback being very diligent with his exercises!
I also shared with you a few
weeks ago the passing of Esther Traoré, the daughter of Musa, the
Sicite translator. Well, she passed away on a Sunday, and 4 days later
her mother gave birth to a little girl! They have named her
Gloria. How can one be so terribly sad and then
then happy so soon afterwards? Mother and daughter are both
in good health.
Next week I will be checking
the translation of selections of Exodus with the Siamou translation
team from Orodara. Thankfully they will be coming to work with me at my
office at home in Ouaga! And the two weeks after, I will be
attending a translation consultant workshop also here in Ouaga, at the
SIL centre. It will be nice not to have to travel anywhere for a little
while! I praise God for the opportunity to be a part of
both events, as they are activities that deal with Bible translation, a
ministry that gives me special joy to serve in.
In the next news
update, I hope to share a little more about the rich time that I
had at the Ten Commandments workshop that I held in Orodara
for our Mennonite translators, as well as about the several Sicite
towns that I visited when I was there in October. And maybe Daniel can
contribute a bit too!
Thank you for your prayers and
support. I do need to make a correction. At this point of time, U.S.
contributions are NOT tax-deductible after all, contrary to what I had
said earlier. I was told that they hope to get something in place by
the end of the year that will allow U.S. donors to receive tax -
deductible receipts. You can still give online, though. As of October,
I have been receiving approximately 1/10th of my targeted monthly
support level. Fortunately so far, most work expenses have been covered
by those who sollicited my help. Support goes up a bit each month, and
for that I am thankful!
Blessings,
Anne and Daniel Kompaoré
Commission to Every Nation
Canada, Associate International Partner with Mennonite Mission Network
USA
* Thanks to Mennonite Church Canada
for providing the travel expenses for this visit, and to the Bible
Institute of Benin for treating me like a queen while I was there and
giving me a gift when I left!