AFWIS Joins Operation World in Prayer for the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire - Africa

Published on Operation World (http://www.operationworld.org)

Home > May 03: Cote d’Ivoire

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May 03: Cote d’Ivoire

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Côte d’Ivoire

Republic of Côte d'Ivoire

Africa

See Prayer Information

Geography

Area: 322,463 sq km
On the west African coast between Ghana and Liberia. Rainforest in the south and savannah/highlands in the north.
Population: 21,570,746    Annual Growth: 2.31%
Capital: Yamoussoukro
Urbanites: 50.1%
HDI Rank: 163 of 182 (UN Human Development Reports 2009)

Peoples

Peoples: 106 (32% unreached) All peoples
Unreached Peoples Prayer Card

Official language: French, used by a high proportion of the population. Jula is the most widespread indigenous language, used as a trade language in the north and Abidjan    Languages: 93 All languages

Religion

Largest Religion: Muslim

Religion		Pop %	Ann Gr
Christians	7,256,399	33.64	2.9
Evangelicals	2,256,431	10.5	3.0
Muslim	9,016,572	41.80

Challenges for Prayer

Pray for evangelicals and their ministry in Côte d’Ivoire. Partnerships and teamwork are on the rise, but more progress needs to be made if the growth enjoyed in the 1990s is to be repeated, if the country is to be effectively evangelized and if the Church is to be discipled.
a) Protestant and evangelical networks. The Evangelical Federation of Côte d’Ivoire, despite being nearly 50 years old, has little to show for its efforts. Several new networks have formed as a result, including one specifically for Christians in media. Pray for leadership that knows how to make cooperative ventures work and to bring them to pass.
b) National strategy for evangelization. Côte d’Ivoire has a long way to go before the task is even close to being finished. MANI (Movement for African National Initiatives) and CAPRO are both engaged in research of the nation’s people groups in order to stimulate greater mission and church planting endeavours. Both are committed to reaching the unreached by mobilizing the national Church to send missionaries – a grassroots and indigenous movement. Côte d’Ivoire has also played a major role in church and mission consultations for all of Francophone West Africa.
Knowledge and understanding of the Bible are low, partly a result of rapid church growth, but also from a cultural lack of regular Bible reading. This naturally affects the maturation and discipleship of believers and whole churches. Many churches endorse prosperity teachings, and ministry can at times focus more upon miracles and healings rather than on the One who is their source or on the study of His Word. However, theological education is growing, both full-time (seminaries, colleges and institutes) and part-time (modular and TEE courses). Nearly every denomination has at least one Bible training institute. The quality of these varies greatly; pray for a greater level of partnership in theological education.
     For an additional 12 Challenges for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.

More Information

The Operation World book, CD-ROM, and DVD-ROM provide far more information and fuel for prayer for the people of Côte d’Ivoire.