You never now where the word yes will take you.Yacouba Sanon could never have dreamed that his yes, first offered to God more than a quarter of a century ago at a church youth gathering in his home country of Burkina Faso, would have carried him halfway around the globe to Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in the summer of 2007.

“I attended a church youth convention in my district, and the speaker asked if there was anyone who would be willing to answer God’s call to ministry,” Sanon said. “I stood up. I had complete assurance that this was the voice of God. I said, ‘Yes. Here I am, send me.’”

But Sanon’s affirmative answer generated lots of new questions in the teen’s life: What kind of ministry did God have for him? How was he to prepare for it? Exactly when was he supposed to act on this calling? Overwhelmed, Sanon spoke with a trusted elder in his home church, Eglise de l’Alliance Chrétienne de Bobo-Dioulasso. The elder suggested that Sanon finish his secondary school education.

“‘Then we’ll see,’ he told me,” Sanon recalled. Though it was a challenge not to immediately plunge into ministry, Sanon submitted himself to the elder’s thoughtful advice and headed off to university in Burkina Faso’s capital city, Ouagadougou, to study biology and science.

“The voice of God kept coming to me again, reminding me,” Sanon explained. As he studied, he discovered the daily nature of saying yes to God, which instilled a greater obedience and faithfulness in him. After graduation, he went to work for a Christian Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). The NGO helped families send their children to evangelical schools in Burkina Faso and assisted those families with practical needs, like food and clothing.

“I loved working for the NGO, serving people who were in difficult conditions,” Sanon said. He served as a liaison between families, the schools, and the organization, learning the art of compassionate, careful communication on the job.

“The entire time I was working for the NGO, I knew in the depth of my heart that this was meant to be a transition in my life.” In 1993, when he heard that a brand-new seminary was scheduled to open in the neighboring country of Côte d’Ivoire, he was certain that this time of transition had come to an end.

“When I was a young teen, it was study that first helped me make my faith my own,” said Sanon. Though his parents were Christians, Sanon had grown up with questions about his own relationship with God. God encountered him powerfully as he pored over Scripture, searching for assurance of his salvation. He devoured one Christian book after another, hungry to learn all he could about Christ.

More than a decade after this, Yacouba Sanon was certain that God was inviting him to a new season of intense study at the brand-new Evangelical Seminary of the Christian and Missionary Alliance (Faculté de Théologie Evangélique de l'Alliance Chrétienne, commonly dubbed FATEAC). Once again, he said yes to God.

“In Burkina Faso, many people trust in God,” Sanon said. “But there are many preachers attacking the people with another gospel full of false promises of prosperity. I went to FATEAC so that I could help my people deal with the lack of resources, the poverty and suffering. I wanted to learn to faithfully preach the simple Word of God, learning how to speak to every kind of person.”

Dr. Tite Tiénou, now Dean of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, was instrumental in helping to launch FATEAC in 1993. Sanon enrolled at the school in 1994, marrying wife Marie-Laure the following year. The couple plunged into ministry preparation together. Sanon graduated with a Master of Divinity degree from FATEAC in 1999, and his denomination, the Christian & Missionary Alliance, sent him back to his home district to pastor a small church in Ougadougou, Burkina Faso.

Another yes in Sanon’s life: “We joyously served the congregation of forty for eighteen months. The church, Eglise de l’Alliance Chrétienne de Yamtenga, secteur 30, was a daughter church of my home church. Because the people spoke a different dialect than my own, I had to have a translator when I preached. But we loved ministering there. It was a good experience!” Thirty-four years old at the time, Sanon thought he might return to seminary for more study at some point in his life but was content to shepherd his small flock.

Marie-Laure added, “When we first arrived at the church, it was a little bit of a challenge getting to know so many new people at once. We had to depend on God and quickly grew to love the congregation.”

It was then that not one but two questions were asked of him that would change the course of Yacouba Sanon’s life: Would he return to his boyhood church to become the congregation’s senior pastor? And would he become president of his entire Christian and Missionary Alliance church district?

Dr. Tiénou said, “Yacouba rose quickly through the ranks and in his district. Other people saw godly character and leadership in him.”

“This church is where my wife and I grew up,” Sanon said. “I was on the youth committee; I was president of the choir.” Marie-Laure was an active member of this local body throughout her youth as well. “Now I was coming to be the pastor. One of our country’s former presidents attended church there, as well as students, business people—and then many people who came to church each week facing economic needs and challenges. I could hear people’s questions: ‘This boy is going to lead us?’”

Yacouba and Marie-Laure knew that ministry in this context would be impossible if they relied on their own understanding. Deeply humbled, the couple cried out to God, again brought to a place of complete surrender, convinced that the ministry could succeed only if they sought daily to say yes to God.

“We fasted, meditated on God’s Word and prayed,” Marie-Laure said. “We were being called to pastor our fathers and mothers, our aunties and uncles, our sisters and brothers, and we knew they were all wondering how we could lead them. We asked God to take away our fears and to let his glory shine.”

“The church leadership and the congregation needed to see that we were mature people in whom they could rely and trust,” Yacouba added.

During the seven years that Sanon was pastor, the church grew from 350 to 500 members and planted three new, growing churches. “We invested ourselves in them,” Marie-Laure said. “God turned their hearts toward us. They truly became our family.” In addition, he oversaw a church district composed of a total of seven churches (including his own) and a secondary school.

Yacouba became acutely aware as he ministered both in his own church and throughout his denominational district that there was an urgent need for high-quality academic training of future pastors and leaders. “I had been teaching Old Testament courses at FATEAC twice a year but became convinced that there was a need for people with a deep commitment to train pastors and church leaders at a high level,” he said.

“Yacouba is successful in preaching and passionate about teaching. This defines his ministry,” said Dr. Tiénou.

Affirmed in this burden by other leaders, Sanon’s conviction grew that he was meant to be the answer to his own prayer for theological training for his people. He knew he’d need a doctoral-level seminary education so he’d be better prepared to equip future church leaders attending FATEAC from across Africa.

The seeds of this desire were sown in his life during his own seminary days, according to Marie-Laure. “It has been on my husband’s heart for a long time to continue his education so that he could train others.”

“I became a pastor, thanks to teachers who gave themselves to me,” Yacouba said. “I knew that God was asking me to do the same.”

Sanon evaluated the programs at several seminaries before deciding on Trinity. He knew that he would get a world-class education here. Dr. Tiénou’s presence at Trinity was an added encouragement to consider the school.

The Sanon family arrived in Deerfield during the summer of 2007. Sanon is working toward his PhD in Theological Studies, with an emphasis in Old Testament.

“I don’t think he will ever leave aside his passion for preaching and for teaching. This commitment to communication will inform his scholarship now and what he will give to students in the future,” said Dr. Tiénou. “He is here as a seminary faculty member-in-training.”

Besides the academic training, the Sanon family is learning together how to navigate life in the U.S. as Yacouba completes his studies.

“The new culture is an adjustment, but we are enjoying it, especially my eleven-year-old son. He is enrolled at a local school,” Sanon said. Yacouba is busy with his studies, and Marie-Laure is a part of the Trinity Wives Fellowship. The couple is also connecting with others through a small group at the church they now attend.

“We are all here to learn,” Marie-Laure noted.

“I find that some of the issues that affect churches in the U.S., such as postmodernism, are not big issues in Burkina Faso. But God’s call to his followers to preach the gospel and to make disciples, planting new churches, doesn’t change no matter what our culture is.”

Yacouba Sanon hears this call today at Trinity just as clearly as he did as a young man at a church youth conference in Burkina Faso, Africa. And his answer remains the same: “Yes, Lord.”