Covenant News
Guest from Burkina Faso Awed by Triennial XI Experience
PORTLAND, OR (August 23, 2004) - PORTLAND, OR (August 23) – Fati's adventure to the United States has ended, but the experiences she's had in the United States will not soon be forgotten she said in a recent interview with translator Jill Johnson as Triennial XI ended.
Fatimata "Fati" Bande was one of 26 international representatives
attending Triennial XI from August 12-15 as guests this past weekend (an
article about her spiritual journey was posted August 12 on the Covenant
News website). Their attendance was made possible in large part by funds
raised by conferences of the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC), as well
as private donations in some cases.
Bande carried the flag of Burkina Faso in the Triennial XI opening worship session and met informally with people throughout the weekend while enjoying the preaching of speakers Brenda Salter-McNeil and Judy Howard Peterson and the singing of Sara Groves. She attended a discussion led by Ruth Hill, executive minister of the (newly-named) Women's Ministries of the Evangelical Covenant Church, and also went to seminars led by Salter-McNeil ("Discovering the Gift of the Sabbath") and Covenant pastor Martha Freeman ("Knowing Jesus More"). Johnson stated that Bande appreciated hearing about the struggles of other women who were making their mark in male- dominated societies and respected those who had committed to full-time Christian service.
She also enjoyed new experiences such as viewing a nearby river gorge by her hotel, seeing a dam and watching water falls, among other things. Perhaps most of all, she enjoyed being with those who shared her faith – she is one of a small percentage of Christians in Burkina Faso – even if the faith journeys differed. "I saw the love of God in the hearts of those who invited me," Bande said. "It's an incredible love of God that I've felt...We see the work of God among all nations. We see also how women have given themselves to the work of God in the numerous activities [that they are carrying on]. This wouldn't happen in Burkina Faso – this many people wouldn't have come. But here all these women themselves have paid for their transportation, their food, and their lodging. They've given themselves to God."
Bande was easy to pick out among the 1,300 or so that attended Triennial
XI. Her native dress and her young son were conversation starters
throughout the event. She was awed by the sheer number of Christian
women gathering and the support she received. She believes that support,
along with some words of wisdom from one of the main speakers, are sure
to help her as she returns to her husband and other son this weekend a
more spiritually filled person.
"We often seek after being rich but we are to be filled by God's Spirit and not ideas from this world," she said in recalling one of the sermons. "It is often the things and ideas of this world that we fill ourselves with. Most of us leave little place in it for God but instead are filled with ideas of this world. That is what hinders us from receiving God's grace.
Bande added, "Some come with a lot of fears and worries and other impurities and they want God's blessing but they are already filled-with things that don't have value. How can God work in this person who is already filled? I've seen that it is this that keeps us from receiving God's grace."
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