Cameroon
Summary
French Cameroon became independent in 1960 as the Republic of Cameroon. The following year the southern portion of neighboring British Cameroon voted to merge with the new country to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon. In 1972, a new constitution replaced the federation with a unitary state, the United Republic of Cameroon. The country has generally enjoyed stability, which has enabled the development of agriculture, roads, and railways, as well as a petroleum industry. Despite slow movement toward democratic reform, political power remains firmly in the hands of President Paul BIYA. [1]
Statistics
From the The Joshua Project [2]
In the News
Prayer Guide
The growing missions vision and networking are bearing fruit:
- Greater evangelical cooperation to reach the unconverted. Specific initiatives:
- Christian Missionary Fellowship International (CMFI) is a Cameroonian mission with remarkable ministries in prayer, missions and publishing, all having a global impact.
- Cameroon for Christ, launched in 1996, involves many denominations and churches in research and evangelism of the 2,400 villages of the north.
- Mission BINAM is a network targeting the idol worshippers of West Cameroon – especially the Bamiléké. It remains very active in evangelism and works with Inserv and GMI to train researchers for church and mission needs in Cameroon.
- The growing involvement of Cameroonians in cross-cultural missions. Dozens of indigenous denominations and churches send missionaries to the north and to neighbouring lands. CMFI has sent and supports dozens of missionaries in 60 countries. CCCI and the Full Gospel Mission send Cameroonians abroad as missionaries, and the Baptist Seminary has a training track for Cameroonian students in Bible translation.
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:
- 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.
- 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.
[3]