"An open-door policy doesn't do much for a closed mind." Bob Nelson
Guinea is considered to be one of the least evangelized countries in sub Saharan Africa. Because of their Marxist policies and pro-Islamic stance, past leaders frequently persecuted the church, but today there is a new sense of freedom and opportunity to minister to this country and its people. In 1967 when all foreign missions were expelled from the country, only 8 personnel from the Christian and Missionary Alliance were allowed to remain in the country and their activities were restricted. As a child, the President, Sekou Touré, had positive contact with the C&MA which influenced the decision to allow the mission to remain. Mission Philafricaine, a medical center for treatment of TB, leprosy and other diseases, was the only other missionary ministry allowed to enter Guinea during this period until the change of government in 1984. With new leadership came opened doors, and the "C&MA was asked to assist the government in screening mission agencies that enter the country. This led to the entry of the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) working among the Fulani, followed by French Assemblies of God working in Conakry, World Evangelistic Crusade (WEC) working among the Susu, and SIM. These mission bodies, along with C&MA and Mission Philafricaine, have formed the Association of Evangelical Churches and Missions in Guinea. This association provides unity among evangelical societies and a common presentation of Protestant missions to the government of Guinea. Its membership has grown to include Campus Crusade for Christ, the Southern Baptist Mission, Pioneer Bible Translations, New Tribes Mission, and the Dutch Reformed Mission. As of 1995, each mission agency deals directly with the government." (sim.org) While the presence of these organizations is encouraging, changing the perception of the general population is where the battle truly lies. For many of the ethnic groups, their identity is tied to being Muslim, and many hold back from making a public commitment to Christ because of fear of rejection and of reprisals. This month as we focus on Guinea, let's pray for not only opened doors, but opened hearts and minds as the Christians living in Guinea take a stand for their faith.
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Guinea
Basic Info: Guinea is located in Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone. For a country that is slightly smaller than Oregon, it has 47 people groups and 38 languages. French is the official language, but there are 6 other majorly used languages. The population is 11,176,026 (July 2013 est.) and 35.4% is urban. The country is generally flat along the coastal plain, and hilly to mountainous in the interior. Some of the country's problems are deforestation, inadequate supplies of potable water, desertification, soil contamination and erosion, overfishing, and overpopulation in the forest region. Also, poor mining practices have led to environmental damage. Conflicts among rebel groups, warlords, and youth gangs in neighboring states have spilled over into Guinea resulting in domestic instability. There are 6,552 refugees from Cote d'Ivoire (2012). Guinea is also a source, transit, and, to a lesser extent, a destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. The majority of trafficking victims are Guinean children. Guinean girls are subjected to domestic servitude and commercial sexual exploitation, while boys are forced to beg, work as street vendors or shoe shiners, or miners. Some Guinean children are forced to mine in Senegal, Mali, and possibly other West African countries. Guinean women and girls are subjected to domestic servitude and sex trafficking in Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire, Benin, Senegal, Greece, and Spain, while Chinese and Vietnamese women are reportedly forced into prostitution in Guinea. While Guinea does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, it is making significant efforts to do so. A new police unit has been created to focus on human trafficking and child labor. The government has initiated five new trafficking investigations but has failed to prosecute or convict any trafficking offenders, which represents a decrease in anti-trafficking law enforcement over the previous year. The government fails to provide victims with protective services and has not supported NGOs that assist victims but continues to refer child victims to NGOs on an ad hoc basis. Guinean law does not prohibit all forms of trafficking, excluding, for example, forced prostitution of adults and debt bondage, which are not criminalized (2013).
Government: Guinea has had a history of authoritarian rule since gaining its independence from France in 1958. Lansana Conte came to power in 1984 when the military seized the government after the death of the first president, Sekou Toure. Guinea did not hold democratic elections until 1993 when Gen. Conte (head of the military government) was elected president of the civilian government. He was reelected in 1998 and again in 2003, though all the polls were marred by irregularities. History repeated itself in December 2008 when following President Conte's death, Capt. Moussa Dadis Camara led a military coup, seizing power and suspending the constitution. His unwillingness to yield to domestic and international pressure to step down led to heightened political tensions that culminated in September 2009 when presidential guards opened fire on an opposition rally killing more than 150 people, and in early December 2009 when Camara was wounded in an assassination attempt and evacuated to Morocco and subsequently to Burkina Faso. A transitional government led by Gen. Sekouba Konate held democratic elections in 2010 and Alpha Conde was elected president in the country's first free and fair elections since independence. Conde in July 2011 survived an attack on his residence allegedly perpetrated by the military. In October 2012, he announced a cabinet reshuffle that removed three members of the military from their positions, making the current administration Guinea's first all-civilian government. The country's civil law is based on the french code.
Economy: Guinea is a poor country (47% of the population below the poverty line) that possesses major mineral, hydropower, and agricultural resources. The country has almost half of the world's bauxite reserves and significant iron ore, gold, and diamond reserves. However, Guinea has been unable to profit from this potential, as rampant corruption, dilapidated infrastructure, and political uncertainty have drained investor confidence. In the time since a 2008 coup following the death of long-term President Lansana Conte, international donors, including the G-8, the IMF, and the World Bank, have significantly curtailed their development programs. Throughout 2009, policies of the ruling military junta severely weakened the economy. The junta leaders spent and printed money at an accelerating rate, driving inflation and debt to perilously high levels. In early 2010, the junta collapsed and was replaced by a transition government, which ceded power in December 2010 to the country's first-ever democratically elected president, Alpha Conde. International assistance and investment are expected to return to Guinea, but the levels will depend upon the ability of the new government to combat corruption, reform its banking system, improve its business environment, and build infrastructure. IMF and World Bank programs will be especially critical as Guinea attempts to gain debt relief. International investors have expressed keen interest in Guinea's vast iron ore reserves, which could further propel the country's growth. The government put forward a new mining code in September 2011 that includes provisions to combat corruption, protect the environment, and review all existing mining contracts. Longer range plans to deploy broadband Internet throughout the country could spur economic growth as well. The capital, Conakry, is reasonably well-served, but coverage elsewhere remains inadequate and large companies tend to rely on their own systems for nationwide links. Currently fixed-line teledensity is less than 1 per 100 persons, but mobile-cellular subscribership is expanding and exceeds 40 per 100 persons. The country also has set up small radiotelephone communication stations. The government maintains marginal control over broadcast media with a single state-run TV station. The state-run radio broadcast station also operates several stations in rural areas. There are a steadily increasing number of privately owned radio stations, nearly all in Conakry, and about a dozen community radio stations. Foreign TV programming is available via satellite and cable subscription services (2011).
Religion: Muslim 85%, Christian 8% Indigenous 7%
Guinea is one of the poorest countries in West Africa, with most of its people living on less than $1 a day. Thankfully, the country has been relatively stable for the past 20 years. After years of Marxist and then military control, more Muslims were open to Christianity and religious freedom. However, religious freedom is eroding in some regions, especially in major towns outside of the forest regions. Christians are a small minority of the population and are concentrated primarily in the capital of Conakry and in the southeast forests. Thousands of refugees, Islamic ex-fighters from neighboring countries, also remain in Guinea’s forest regions. Christian converts living in these border areas are ostracized by their Muslim family members and friends. Some have had spouses and children taken away from them and have been forcibly seized and beaten when they refused to recant their Christian faith. Churches have been burned, and Christians have been told they will be taken into the forest and forced to endure animalistic ritual ceremonies. Christians also face discrimination in the job market. However, there are more than 20 evangelical missions in the country and they are intensifying their evangelism to the unreached. Out of more than 40 people groups, only a handful still have no church planting effort, and almost all of them number less than 10,000. The increase in work among Muslim peoples is particularly encouraging.
Info compiled from CIAWorldFactBook "Guinea"; www.persecution.com "Guinea"; Operation World
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