Anne Garber Kompaoré, who served with Mennonite Mission Network and its predecessor agencies for three decades, was a recipient of AMBS’s Alumni Ministry and Service Recognition. This article has been adapted from the original posted on the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary website, Nov. 11, 2020.
ELKHART, Indiana (Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary/Mennonite Mission Network) — Anne Garber Kompaoré of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, is one of the two 2020 recipients of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary’s (AMBS) Alumni Ministry and Service Recognition.
The annual award, conferred by the Elkhart, Indiana, seminary, honors alumni with outstanding records of faithful ministry and service. Garber Kompaoré earned a Master of Arts: Theological Studies, with a concentration in Biblical Studies in 2004.
Alumni Director Janeen Bertsche Johnson noted that Garber Kompaoré is being recognized for her service as a Bible translation consultant, linguist, mission worker and teacher. Garber Kompaoré credits AMBS for building her theological understanding in ways that have enriched her work and spiritual life.
Born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Garber Kompaoré was exposed to multiple languages at an early age — in particular, languages of First Nations peoples — which she believes helped lead to her fascination with languages and other cultures. Serving as a volunteer teacher in Zaïre (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) in 1975-76 with Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission (AIMM) led her to study linguistics, with a focus on African languages. AIMM is a partner agency of Mennonite Mission Network.
Garber Kompaoré earned a Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics from the University of Ottawa in Canada in 1978; a Master of Arts in Linguistics, with a specialization in African linguistics, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1980; a Ph.D. in Linguistics, with a specialization in tonology and phonology, also from UIUC, in 1987; as well as, a Master of Arts in Theological Studies from AMBS in 2004.
She first attended AMBS in 1981-82, as a requirement before going to Burkina Faso (then known as Upper Volta) to serve with AIMM — via Mennonite Church Canada and the Commission on Overseas Mission, a predecessor agency of Mennonite Mission Network. From 1982 to 2011, she served in multiple capacities in Burkina Faso: doing linguistic analysis; developing writing systems for languages; planting churches; and doing a variety of Bible translation work. She first ministered among the Sicite people and, later, in the broader Burkina Christian community and with Bible translation organizations.
"In addition to offering courses in Old Testament and New Testament, AMBS was a place where I was able to ground my theology as an Anabaptist, with courses on Anabaptist history and justice and peace," she said. "It is the place where I was initiated to missiology, evangelism, anthropology, Islam and Eastern Christianity, which helped me broaden my view of the world."
To develop her knowledge of Biblical Hebrew, Garber Kompaoré returned to AMBS in 2000-01. During the following years, she completed much of her work at a distance, in Burkina Faso, and studied on campus again in 2004, earning her M.A.T.S. that year. Her Master’s thesis is titled "Discourse Analysis of Directive Texts: The Case of Biblical Law."
"My AMBS degree was the degree I needed to round out my qualifications as a Bible translation consultant," she noted, adding that the knowledge she gained at AMBS has given her opportunities, "to teach in biblical institutions and interact with fellow Christians, especially on the topic of what to do with enemies. Since Burkina has been grappling with terrorism since 2016, this topic is very relevant, at both the family/community level and national level."
Since 2011, she has worked as a freelancer for Commission to Every Nation, serving as a Bible translation consultant, biblical studies instructor, resource developer, and translation trainer for several African countries, as well as India. The resources she has developed have been used by others throughout the Bible translation world. After stints in Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, and Nigeria, she has continued to teach in biblical institutions in Burkina Faso.
Garber Kompaoré continues to connect with her Canadian home congregation, Listowel (Ontario) Mennonite Church, which licensed her in 2001 — under the auspices of Mennonite Church Eastern Canada — as a minister in Bible teaching and translation. She attends and has preached regularly at Eglise de la Mission Apostolique Teedpaosgo-Bethel, the church her husband, Daniel Kompaoré, planted in Ouagadougou.
