February 24, 2012
By Andrew Schaeffer, Alliance field director for Burkina Faso
The following is an adapted excerpt from Andrew’s account of the weekend he attended the funeral services for Dr. Isaac Keita in Conakry, Guinea.
“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55, NIVUK).
Pastor Job Dao and I were among hundreds of people who attended the Saturday morning service (February 11) for Dr. Keita at the Palais du Peuple in Conakry.
A large Guinean choir accompanied the Keita family and the casket to the front of the room, singing “Je serai chrétien jusqu’à la mort” (“I Will Be a Christian until Death”). Alliance World Fellowship (AWF) President Arie Verduin gave the message, and several others shared brief words of condolences, including Dr. Chris Braun, the Africa regional director for the C&MA.
Comfort
I was moved to tears by Paul Keita’s testimony (the Keitas’ oldest son) and by the song the Keita children sang. Like my wife Esther and me, the Keitas have four sons and one daughter.
I have known Isaac and his wife, Rachel, but had never met their children. How comforting to hear their strong confidence in the Lord Jesus while walking through the valley of the shadow of death.
After the service, we followed the funeral procession through the busy streets of Conakry to the Keita home for the burial in the family courtyard. The small compound was packed to overflowing. After a brief service and the burial, a meal was served (well after 4:00 p.m.).
On Sunday morning, most of the foreign delegates attended a “thanksgiving service” at the Enta Church, the Keitas’ home church in Conakry. Congo-Kinshasa Alliance Church President Dr. Mabiala Kenzo gave a stirring message from Ephesians 1:20–23. Pastor Job led the pastors in a prayer for the Keita family.
Lighter Moments
I especially enjoyed the youth choir and Zacharie Millimouno’s testimony, partly because Zacharie was one of our sons’ playmates at Telekoro Bible Institute in the late 1990s. After the service, the Enta Church congregation served us a delicious meal.
Sunday afternoon the Africa Alliance church presidents met with Arie Verduin. Pastor Job told me that they plan to wait until the May 15–19 AWF quadrennial meetings in Toronto, Canada, to choose an AWF Africa successor for Isaac. That night, most of us were disappointed to see Zambia’s soccer team defeat Côte d’Ivoire on penalty kicks in the Africa Cup finale.
Isaac’s home going is a huge loss for FATEAC and for the Africa AWF. But I left Conakry with great hope: Our God is raising up a new generation of Isaac Keitas!
Learn More
Read about Dr. Isaac Keita and his godly legacy.