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GEOGRAPHY

Area 622,436 sq.km. A landlocked state in Africa's geographical centre. Variation from tropical forest in the southwest to semi-desert in the northeast.

Capital Bangui 687,104. Urbanites 39%.

PEOPLES

Over 100 ethnic groups.

Adamawa-Ubangi 79.2%. About 60 ethnic groupings; largest: Gbaya 857,000; Banda 846,000; Mandja 531,000; Sango 350,000; Ngbaka 275,000; Mbum 228,000; Kare 93,000; Zande 72,000; Nzakara 58,000.

Sudanic 8%. Over 14 ethnic groups on northern border. Sara 235,000; Kaba 72,000; Dagba 44,000; Runga 23,000.

West Atlantic 6.5%. Mbororo Fulbe 170,000; Bagirmi Fulbe 45,000 (partly nomadic and increasing).

Bantu 3.2%. 11 groups in the SW. Mbati 65,000; Kaka 10,000.

Semitic 1.8%. Nomadic Shuwa Arabs 65,000.

Pygmy 0.8%. Five groups: Yaka 20,000; Gundi 12,000, mainly SW forests.

Other 0.5%. Mainly French. Many refugees in 1999 from the two Congos, Chad and Sudan.

Literacy 33%. Official languages French and Sango (trade language used by 90% of the population). All languages 69. Languages with Scriptures 4Bi 1NT 5por 8w.i.p.

ECONOMY

Underdeveloped. Abundant natural resources, but poor communications and distance from the sea hinder development. Main income is from diamonds. Warfare in surrounding countries has further damaged the economy with the severing of trade links and influx of refugees. Over 80% of the working population are subsistence farmers. Health facilities are limited and average life-expectancy is only 49 years. HDI 0.378; 165^th/174. Public debt 76% of GNP. Income/person $310 (1.1% of USA).

POLITICS

Formerly part of French Equatorial Africa. Independent in 1960. Periods of democracy interspersed with military regimes and Bokassa's bizarre 'Empire', 1976-79. A series of military rebellions in 1996-97 were suppressed by French troops. Frequent French interventions politically and militarily since independence have been deeply resented. Deepening economic malaise, civil wars in the Congos and Sudan and inter-ethnic tensions are ongoing, unresolved issues.

RELIGION

Freedom of religion.

Missionaries from Central African Republic
P,I,A 49 in 6 agencies, most in CAR.

Missionaries to Central African Republic
P,I,A 192 in 29 agencies from 18 countries: USA 110, Switzerland 16, Sweden 12, Germany 12.

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Answers to Prayer

1 A well-known national evangelical leader was used of God in 1998 to broker a significant reconciliation meeting after a generation of instability, coups and violence.

2 Many local churches and some denominations experienced considerable growth in the 1990s.

Challenges for Prayer

1 Widespread evangelism since the 1960s has yielded a massive response. The CAR has Africa's highest percentage of Evangelicals, but lack of effective discipleship of both the new and second- and third-generation Christians has created multiple problems:

a) Evangelical nominalism and a syncretistic world-view is fairly common, and there is little depth of commitment or mature grasp and application of truths of Scripture.

b) Divisions in the Church have hindered cooperative efforts. Pray against the root causes:

i) Ethnic based denominations enhance tribalism and create barriers.

ii) Widespread breakdown between church leaders and missionaries have caused deep heartache, multiplied splits and isolated ministries from one another. Pray for repentance, healing of past wounds and a deeper appreciation and level of trust among God's servants, both national and expatriate.

iii) Spiritual pride, greed, misuse of funds, lack of trust, selfishness, paternalistic attitudes and rigid doctrinal views have all played their part.

2 The unity of the Church is a fundamental need. There is some working together within the main Baptist, Pentecostal and 'Evangelical' blocs, but this needs to be widened and deepened. Pray for:

a) The AEC (Alliance Evangélique Centrafricaine) and others that they might work effectively for a unified, God-glorifying witness in the country.

b) Cooperative research of the harvest force and harvest field in the CAR. The AD2000 Movement, AMI/CMF and others have made a beginning in this. Pray for its completion and application of its results to mobilize the Church for discipling, church planting and pioneer missions. There is, at present, little concern in local churches for wider outreach.

3 Training and ministry modelling for leadership is a great need for the Church in the CAR . The distances between towns, widespread poverty and functional illiteracy limit training possibilities. Pray for:

a) The dozen or more Bible schools – all are limited by lack of staff, students, funds and resources.

b) The Bangui Evangelical Graduate School of Theology (BEST) opened in 1977 as a result of the initiative of AEA (Association of Evangelicals of Africa). This was the first evangelical, theological degree-level school for French-speaking Africa. Pray for this institution and its spiritual impact throughout Africa. Pray for the provision of the right permanent staff and resources. There were 75 students in the Master's programme in 2000 and a further 36 women in the special women's programme. The lack of funds is a major brake on development. The Grace Evangelical Brethren also have a seminary at Bata.

c) TEE is important in this large, underpopulated land, but much work must be done to develop and maintain this programme all over the country.

d) Missions vision needs to increase, though some are gaining a vision for the Pygmies and Fulbe in the west. AMI/CMF runs a small Bible school with emphasis on cross-cultural missions. Pray that this may raise the profile of, and involvement in, missions. Pray that the people filling the churches might be impacted by the Lord's desire to see all peoples evangelized. Pray that those facilitating missions vision might see support and enthusiasm increase.

4 Young people and children. Few churches have the vision, structures and workers to disciple the up-coming generation. One exception is the Evangelical Baptist Church with 25,000 youth actively involved in a well-organized structure. Pray for:

a) The impact of CEF and SU on children's ministry. CEF commenced Bible clubs in schools in 1994. Churches are permitted to organize Bible teaching in school buildings after school hours.

b) Secondary students. The UJC(IFES) is active in 33 of the 47 institutions in the country and over 1,000 students are involved in the groups. Political unrest has hitherto frequently disrupted studies for the 3,000 university students. There is widespread lack of hope for the future with limited job opportunities.

5 Bible translation. Only 4 indigenous languages (the trade language, Sango, also Gbaya, Mbai and Zande) have the whole Bible. Pray for effective use of the newly revised Sango NT to be released soon and for the revision of the OT currently in progress. In 6 other languages Bible translation is now being undertaken (The Bible Society, SIL, BMM), but in five more there is a definite translation need. A further 49 still need to be surveyed. In 1994, the Central African Association for Bible Translation and Literacy (ACATBA) was formed. Pray for a determined effort to provide the Word of God for every language which needs it.

6 The less reached. Though most of the country has been at least superficially evangelized there are specific areas and peoples still to be reached.

a) The northern lobe is difficult to access and largely Muslim. In an area 600 by 300km there are only eight congregations. Pray specifically for the Runga (90% Muslim, 23,000) – Apostolic Church, AMI/CMF; the Kara (60% Muslim, 5,000) – SIL, AMI/CMF; and the Luto (60% Muslim, 17,000) – BMM, AMI/CMF.

b) The Muslims have increased through immigration (Mbororo Fulbe, Arabs, Sudanese, Chadians) and increasingly by conversions. Muslims now control much of the trading and transporting network. Relatively little outreach is specifically directed to them, and few Christians feel able or equipped for this. Pray specifically for:

i) The influential urban Muslims (Arab, Hausa).

ii) The nomadic Shuwa Arabs and Mbororo Fulbe.

iii) The increasing Muslim minorities among Christianized peoples. Sudanese influence, Libyan and Saudi money as well as grants to study abroad in Saudi Arabia are bringing many to Islam.

c) The forest areas. There is great need for adequate research but there are pockets of unreached among:

i) The Pygmy – some reckon they may number 200,000. They speak 5 languages (Grace Brethren).

ii) Bofi and Bokoto, sub-groups of the Gbaya.

iii) The Langbassi, a sub-group of the Banda.

d) Sara peoples along the Chad border have lower percentages of Christians.

7 Mission agencies have played an important role in education and health as well as in planting churches, translating the Scriptures, etc., though personnel are now much reduced in numbers. The largest are Baptist Mid-Missions (41), Grace Brethren (21), InterAct (12), Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (8). The great challenge is for effective partnership as equals between the national churches and missions. Pray for good relationships and cooperation for outreach and support ministries.

8 Christian media and help ministries:

a) Christian radio – pray for the removal of all obstacles to setting up an effective evangelical radio station in Bangui.

b) EHC launched a nation-wide distribution of literature – some for illiterates – in every home in 1995 . Pray for the successful completion of the task.

c) The JESUS film has been widely shown in French, Sango, Gbaya and Zande, and is in production in other languages. Pray that good follow-up may lead to more and stronger churches.

d) MAF has two planes for serving the churches and missions in this large country.

e) GRN has recordings available in 17 languages, but this number could be increased.

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