AFWIS Joins Operation World in Prayer for the Republic of Cameroon - Africa

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

Home > Mar 26: Cameroon

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Mar 26: Cameroon

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Cameroon

Republic of Cameroon

Africa

See Prayer Information

Geography

Area: 475,442 sq km
On the continental "hinge" between West and Central Africa Semi-arid in the north, grasslands in the centre, rainforest in the south.
Population: 19,958,351    Annual Growth: 2.29%
Capital: Yaounde
Urbanites: 58.4%
HDI Rank: 153 of 182 (UN Human Development Reports 2009)

Peoples

Peoples: 291 (6% unreached) All peoples
Unreached Peoples Prayer Card

Official language: French; English    Languages: 279 All languages

Religion

Largest Religion: Christian

Religion		Pop %	Ann Gr
Christians	10,737,593	53.80	2.4
Evangelicals	1,804,104	9.0	4.3

Prayercast

Challenges for Prayer

Young people are increasingly restive, frustrated by the unchanging political status quo, the high unemployment and the endemic cheating, bribery and favouritism in the education system. Many turn to crime and prostitution, and violent demonstrations are occurring in a country that has never before dealt with such disruptions. Pray for:
a) Effective Christian discipling in churches and by youth and children’s agencies. Little is available. Lutheran Hour Ministries (LHM) develops Bible study programmes and BCCs for young people. Also, LHM and others run Christian camps and retreats for young people’s discipleship.
b) Student ministry in schools and universities. YFC is a major ministry among young people, especially in the south. GBEEC(IFES) has a group in each university as well as high school groups in about 80 towns. CCCI sees particular fruit with the military and the military academy. AoG, SU, Academy Campus Forum and Campus Jubilee also have active student work. There are 460,000 secondary schools and 1.3 million tertiary students in the country. Christian groups in the north find themselves under increasing pressure from Muslims.
Less-reached peoples. A national survey in this complex nation is an urgent need; training and some research are underway. The Joshua Project lists 15 peoples as unreached. The major challenges:
a) Muslims – a majority in 59 peoples. These peoples comprise 23% of Cameroon’s population and are almost all from the Chadic and Adamawa-Ubangi people clusters. The Gospel Fellowship Association works among almost all of the following groups:
     i The Fulbe have long been the proud rulers of the area. Christians among them have grown from the 10 known in 1991, but they are still few. Several agencies have ministry among them (Pioneers, Baptist, Lutheran Brethren, Gospel Fellowship Association).
     ii The Hausa, Kanuri, Kotoko and Fali. There are few believers among these groups.
     iii The Shuwa Arabs are nomadic, moving between Chad and Cameroon. Only one or two believers are known, and only one agency is known to be trying to plant churches.
b) The many peoples of the Mandara Mountains, 30% Muslim but mostly fetishist. Some church-planting agencies see the beginnings of breakthroughs.
c) The northern plains peoples – Giziga, Dii, Dowayayo and Mefele – among whom several missionaries and churches are at work. They are predominantly animist in their practices, but Islam has made notable inroads in recent years, polarizing these groups internally.
d) The Baka/Pygmies in the southeastern forests have long been neglected, but increasingly they are the focus of Christian ministry by Baka and cross-cultural workers (Anglican Frontier Missions, WorldTeam, SIL, CMFI). Bible translation is a significant need. Spiritual warfare among this highly animist and spiritual people is a key to seeing fruitfulness and growth.
     For an additional 8 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 Cameroon.