On a Bus in Burkina Faso, We Became Friends! With attacks on churches on the rise, a Mennonite pastor and a prominent Muslim chose friendship rather than feuding. by Siaka Traoré with Lynda Hollinger-Janzen
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s chair of Mennonite World Conference Deacons Commission, I traveled to Hong Kong to stand in solidarity with our Mennonite brothers and sisters. After worshiping with Agape Mennonite Church on Dec. 1, 2019, we donned gas masks and went to the centre of the city where demonstrators were enveloped in clouds of tear gas. In this volatile environment, I learned that the Chinese word for conflict, Wei Ji, is a composite made up of “danger” and “opportunity.” This new understanding of conflict shed light on an experience I had several months earlier in my home country of Burkina Faso. I frequently take the bus from Ouagadougou, the capital city, to Bobo-Dioulasso, where I live. I boarded the bus and found another man in my assigned seat. “I’m sorry, sir,” I said politely. “You are in my seat.” The man erupted in anger, “I can’t take this kind of problem any longer!” “What problems are you talking about?” I asked in a calm voice.
I love to get to know people. And I’ve had a lot of experience resolving conflicts from personal misunderstandings among Mennonite church members to national crises.
Issa and Siaka
By this time, the bus stewardess had arrived and asked the angry man to sit in the seat that corresponded with the number on his ticket. Unfortunately, there was someone already sitting in that seat. The stewardess finally resolved the confusion by telling the angry man to sit in the empty seat next to me. Thus, we became neighbours for the fivehour ride.
Resolving Conflict
I love to get to know people. And I’ve had a lot of experience resolving conflicts from personal misunderstandings among Mennonite church members to national crises. So, I asked the angry man questions about himself and showed him that I wanted to move beyond the tension that arose over seating. I told him my name was Siaka and that I was a pastor. He said his name was Issa and he was a Muslim. He had been in Ouagadougou to get a passport so he could make a pilgrimage to Mecca. From religion, our conversation
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