AFWIS Joins Operation World in Prayer for the Republic of Maldives - Asia

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

Home > Aug 23: Maldives

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Aug 23: Maldives

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Maldives

Republic of Maldives

Asia

See Prayer Information

Geography

Area: 298 sq km
1,200 coral islands in 20 administrative groups, 600 km southwest of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean. Only 202 islands are inhabited. These have an average size of less than 1 sq km. Average elevation is one metre.
Population: 313,920    Annual Growth: 1.43%
Capital: Malé
Urbanites: 40.5%
HDI Rank: 95 of 182 (UN Human Development Reports 2009)

Peoples

Peoples: 10 (50% unreached) All peoples
Unreached Peoples Prayer Card

Official language: Dhivehi of Sanskrit origin    Languages: 2 All languages

Religion

Largest Religion: Muslim

Religion		Pop %	Ann Gr
Christians	534	0.17	4.0
Evangelicals	235	0.1	4.3
Muslim	310,906	99.04

Challenges for Prayer

Persecution of believers is intense. Any Maldivian practicing Christianity can expect mockery, ostracism, incarceration and even torture. Pray for those who believe – for their protection, their courage in the face of great trials and for opportunities to grow in and spread their faith. On numerous occasions expatriate believers have been expelled, especially for sharing their faith.
Other means of witness – pray for lasting fruit through:
a) Witness to Maldivians in other lands. Many travel outside the Maldives as sailors or students, some to seek medical care or for other reasons. Also, there are Maldivian communities in Sri Lankan, Indian and Malaysian cities.
b) The Scriptures being translated into Dhivehi. Remarkably, a translation of the Gospels was completed and subsequently lost or destroyed in 1811! Only the Gospel of Luke and Acts are currently available. Pray for the progress of translation efforts and for ways people can freely access the Word in their heart language. Pray also for ways to import Scriptures and Christian literature – totally illegal at the moment.
c) Christian video and audio messages and web pages in Dhivehi are available on the Internet – for those clever or persistent enough to find their way past the government’s blockages.
     For an additional 5 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 Maldives.