April - 14

Country : COTE D'IVOIRE Population 15,315,000 Peoples Over 100 ethnic groups; double that if immigrant minority communities are included. Africans indigenous to Côte d'Ivoire 74.4%. Akan 30.1%. 20 groups: Baoulé 1,920,000; the dominant people today. Lagoon peoples (14) 900,000; Agni 548,000; Nzema 60,000. Gur 11.7%. 37 groups: Senoufo (32 dialects) 805,000; Koulango 197,000; Lobi 140,000; Tagouana 124,000; Téén (Lorhon) 6,000. Krou 10.5%. 16 groups: Bété 479,000; Guéré 286,000; Dida (2) 176,000; Wobe 141,000; Krou (6) 44,000; Niaboua 36,000; Godie 24,000; Kouya 9,000. Mande 10.7%. 9 groups: Malinké 705,000; Dioula 357,000; Maou 152,000; Soninké 100,000; Bisa 83,000; Koyaka 72,000; Wassulunké 15,000. South Mande 7.7%. 9 groups: Yakouba 491,000; Gouro 299,000; Toura 35,000; Gagou 33,000; Yaouré 25,000; Wan 18,000; Mona 15,000. Foreign Africans 28.6%. Burkinabé 1,676,000; Malian 763,000; Guinean 242,000; other 345,000. In 1993 there were also 200,000 Liberian refugees on the western border. Other 0.7%. French 19,400; Mauritanian 16,700; Lebanese 9,700. Literacy 42.4%. Official language: French, used by a high proportion of the population. Trade Language: Jula in the north and Abidjan. All languages 75. Languages with Scriptures 4Bi 15NT 16por. Cities Capitals: Yamoussoukro (political) 150,000, Abidjan (commercial) 3,000,000. Urbanization 47%. Economy One of the world's largest producers of cocoa, coffee and palm oil. The post-independence economic boom stimulated both a massive immigration of job-seekers from surrounding lands and a high level of corruption. The collapse of world prices for cocoa and coffee, poor management of the public sector, and spending on prestige projects have more recently put the country under stress. Public debt/person $1,110 (the highest in Africa). Income/person $790 (4% of USA). Politics Independent from France in 1960. One-party presidential government under Houphouet-Boigny. Two decades of stability followed by economic recession have given way to increasing unrest and political paralysis. The bloated and corrupt bureaucracy, continuing recession, the unfulfilled expectations of the educated youth, and a high number of foreigners could spell more trouble in the future. In 1990 other parties were legalized. Religion Religious freedom. The government is sympathetic to missions. Traditional religions/other 30.3%. Traditional religions are generally stronger in the centre and west, many tribes still predominantly animist. Muslim 38.7%. Strong in the northwest and in Abidjan. Africans Sunni, Lebanese Shi'a. Christian 31%. Nom 15.2%. Affil 20.8%. Growth 4.1%. Protestant 5.3%. Growth 9.5%. Roman Catholic 20.8%. Affil 9%. Growth 3.7%. Orthodox 0.1%. Affil 0.1%. Growth 8%. Foreign Marginal 0.1%. Affil 0.08%. Growth 11.3%. Indigenous Marginal 4.7%. Affil 6.2%. Growth 0.8%. 1. Praise God for the growth of the Church over the past 25 years. Yet the explosive growth of the population at 3.8% over this period has meant little overall increase as a percentage of the population. During this period most of the peoples in the country have been contacted by missions. Pray that growth in the '90s may be the best yet. 2. The preaching of Prophet Harris from Liberia in 1914-15 brought over 120,000 coastal people out of fetishism and darkness. The initiative was lost as missionary help arrived "too little and too late". Many syncretic indigenous churches multiplied and grew out of that movement. The Methodists arrived in 1924 and were once the largest Protestant community, but liberal theology and nominalism are widespread in the churches among the diverse coastal peoples. Pray for a new wave of revival and church-planting within every Christianized people in the forest area. 3. The Catholic Church has made a deep impact through an extensive educational system. Many Ivorians are nominally Catholic as a result. Catholics are a large minority in the south and among the upper and middle classes. The lack is a personal relationship with the Saviour. 4. Evangelical agencies had a late and slow start compared to other West African lands. CMA entered the land in 1930 and concentrated on the Baoulé in the centre of the country. Mission Biblique began work in 1927 among the Yakouba and Guéré in the southwest, later joined by UFM, and WEC began in 1934 in between the above among the Gouro and Gagou. Many other missions have entered in more recent years, and growing churches have resulted. Notable among the later arrivals are the AoG, with many churches in Abidjan and throughout the country. 5. The spiritual life of believers needs prayer. There is tribalism in denominations. Syncretic practices, divisions, leadership power struggles, breakdowns between missions and daughter churches, and often a lack of commitment to full-time service or evangelistic zeal exist in many congregations. Pray for revival for the fragmented Church. 6. Leadership for the churches is the big bottleneck. Many denominations have one trained pastor for every 10-20 congregations. Congregational giving has been poor despite relative prosperity, but the recession has decreased giving to even lower levels. Nearly every denomination lacks sufficient pastors, and lay leadership is often ill-trained for pastoral and teaching roles. Many of the larger denominations have French or vernacular Bible schools or TEE programmes. Pray for the calling and training of more leaders of high calibre. and the operation of the newly opened graduate school in Abidjan. 7. Cooperation between Churches is essential if unmet challenges are to be tackled. Pray for these cooperative endeavours. a) The Evangelical Federation was founded in 1960 and has become a cooperative fellowship for promoting Bible training, nationwide evangelistic efforts and pastors' retreats, as well as setting up the Evangelical Publishing Centre, but real fellowship between churches and agencies is lacking. b) The Lausanne Committee of Côte d'Ivoire has launched an unreached people research and prayer programme. An AD2000 Movement in the country has started. Pray that the vision may gain enthusiastic support from pastors and churches. c) Missionary training. Calvary Ministries has established a missions training institute in Abidjan for preparing Ivorian missionaries for service throughout the Francophone region -- the first such for Francophone West Africa. The great challenge is to prepare missionaries for Muslim outreach. 8. The missionary force has grown rapidly. Now over 20% belong to African missionary agencies or denominations from surrounding countries. Major missions include: WBT/SIL (117), CBFMS (93), NTM (66), CMA (59), WEC (59), SBC (37), SIM (33), Free Will Baptists (32), Mission Biblique (19) AoG (15) and UFM (6). Many of these missionaries serve in missionary children's schools (CBFMS, NTM and WEC), or international ministries based in the country, so the need for new long-term missionaries is great -- for pioneer evangelism, church planting and a wide range of supportive ministries. Major missionary-sending countries: USA (461), Burkina Faso (120), UK (71). 9. Peoples that are both unreached and unoccupied by missions or churches -- the Muslim Soninké, Bambara, Wassulunké, Fula-Maasina and the largely traditional Bisa -- all peoples with their majorities in Burkina Faso, Mali or Ghana. There are also the Wolof from Senegal, Lebanese Muslims, Tuareg refugees from Niger, Mauritanians and a growing number of Chinese business people. 10. Peoples that are still a pioneer mission field with no major breakthrough in church planting: a) The strongly Muslim peoples of the northwest: Malinké, Fula and Jula-speaking peoples, where only a handful have been won through the ministry of SIM, WEC and CBFMS. b) Marginally occupied peoples. For example: in the Free Will Baptist area in the northeast (Birifor, Téén); in the WEC area in the centre (Mona, Wan, Yaouré, Kouya, Maou); MB-UFM area in the southwest (Toura, Dida, Bété). c) The multiplicity of small language groups in the south. This is so great that present evangelistic, church planting and Bible translation ministries may not cover the need. Pray that this may be adequately researched and every group thoroughly evangelized. NTM has targeted the Bakwé, Neyo and Krou in the southeast. 11. Islam has grown rapidly during this century -- from 5% in 1900 to 38% today. Tribal groups in the north and pockets of people in tribes all over the country are becoming Muslim. Urban concentrations of Muslims are high, and so are conversion rates among new immigrants to the cities. Over half of Abidjan's population is Muslim. Pray that Christians may be zealous to win non-Muslims while they can, and also show more concern for the Muslims themselves. Missionary involvement is slowly increasing, but only 33 missionaries are committed to the 3.5 million Muslims. 12. Abidjan's exploding population, which doubles every four years, is the strategic key for evangelization of both Côte d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso. Every people of these two lands has a significant community in the city, but most are neglected. There are 53 church-planting missionaries in the city representing 13 churches/missions, but this is not adequate. Over two million Muslims are scarcely touched with the gospel, and only 10 missionaries are seeking to reach them (SIM, CMA, MTW). There are only about 100 churches in the city -- the more significant being those of the AoG, SBC, MB, and CMA. 13. The large influx of foreigners presents unusual opportunities for evangelizing those who are separated from the strong ties of their tribal cultures. Nearly 30% of the population is foreign. AIDS has become a major problem in the country, with 14-16% of Abidjan's population already infected with the HIV virus -- few Christians have faced up to this challenge. The whole of West Africa is being rapidly affected because of the migrant population, and little has been done to evangelize the Burkinabé, Malians, Guineans and colonies of Mauritanians in many towns. Pray that churches and missions may send more workers to seize present opportunities before these people become Muslim. The most responsive have been the Mossis from Burkina Faso. 14. Young people are responsive, and wherever churches have been willing and able to minister specifically to them, there has been fruit. The liberty for teaching Scripture in public schools is exciting but under-used through lack of qualified personnel. SU is making a vital contribution in school evangelism and discipleship. The IFES Francophone Africa HQ is in Abidjan, and there is a good GBU group (IFES) in the university. IFES aims to set up a nation-wide student movement, and Navigators are commencing a student ministry. CCC is well established with five full-time Ivorian staff couples. 15. Literature. Pray for the bookstores and depots of various missions, including the Bible Society, Maison de la Bible, CLC (Abidjan), MB (Man and Daloa), UFM (Gagnoa) and CBFMS (Korhogo). Pray also for the inter-mission/church Evangelical Publication Centre in Abidjan, which coordinates much of the production of evangelical literature for all Francophone Africa -- publishing books, cassettes and an evangelistic magazine for children. Pray for solutions to problems in these ministries: lack of qualified staff (especially French-speaking), financial pressures and lack of good distribution outlets and marketing strategies. 16. Bible translation is one of the most pressing and demanding ministries for Christian workers. A considerable number of national and expatriate workers are involved in 27 translation and literacy programmes linked with UBS and various church/mission groups. SIL's contribution in a number of projects is especially significant -- many being among the superficially-Christianized people of the south. Possibly 23 other languages will require translators. Pray for newly-translated Scriptures to take root in the hearts of the people. Hosanna Ministries is seeking to record New Testaments in local languages for free distribution in the churches. 17. Christian Media a) The damage to ELWA radio (SIM) in Liberia has been a severe blow to Christian work. Pray for an effective Christian radio and TV strategy -- involving local radio, national radio and TV networks, and also international missionary stations -- to more than replace the loss. The government recently accepted an application for a Christian FM station. b) AEAM has launched a project to produce culturally relevant videos for transmission by national television stations across West Africa. c) The Jesus film is in use in Dioula, Baoulé and Malinké, and GRn audio recordings have been prepared in 49 languages.