Côte d’Ivoire at the Crossroads
By Mike Boling and Bruce Pinke,
Worldwide Evangelization for Christ (WEC Int’l.)
missionaries to Côte d’Ivoire (COAT DEEV-war)

Beginning with a military coup in December 1999, and climaxing with ethnic and religious violence last October, Côte d’Ivoire, one of the most stable nations in West Africa, fell into total chaos. What were the factors that caused this pillar of stability to totter and fall in recent months? One might ask instead why this patchwork quilt of over 100 ethnic groups has remained stable for so long!

Except for recent violence, a generally tolerant attitude toward ethnic and religious differences has prevailed in Côte d’Ivoire. The government television and radio stations transmit Christian and Muslim programs. Missionary visas are easy to obtain and open-air evangelism is allowed in most villages and cities. Many different Christian denominations, as well as sects, are working freely in the country. In the Muslim north, most villages are willing to allow Christians to enter and give a gospel presentation. Paradoxically, however, a Christian converted from Islam will be beaten and thrown out of his home. He will receive no further financial support from his family, his primary security net.

Islam and Christianity in Côte d’Ivoire
Invaders and migrants in Côte d’Ivoire’s north began to propagate Islam as early as the 12th century. However, Islam has only penetrated certain of the northern ethnic groups two generations ago. The openness of the religious climate will directly depend on the country’s political future. Some factions are openly calling for Islamic or “sharia” law to be instituted nationwide.

Tribal groups in the north and pockets of people in tribes throughout the country are becoming Muslims. There are high concentrations of Muslims in urban areas. It is very common for new immigrants to the nation’s major cities to convert to Islam. It is not surprising that Islam has grown rapidly in Côte d’Ivoire during this century from about five percent of the nation’s population in 1990 to nearly 40 percent today.

A Liberian, Prophet Harris, evangelized extensively in the south during the early 1900s establishing many syncretistic indigenous “Christian” churches. It was not until the 1930s that most Western missionary organizations entered Côte d’Ivoire. The majority of mission organizations worked among animistic groups in the south.

There are many evangelical churches in the Muslim north. Unfortunately, these churches are almost exclusively composed of southern Christians who have moved or have been relocated to the north because of their jobs. Most of these churches have little interest in evangelizing their Muslim neighbors who are native to the region. On the other hand, mission organizations are working together more than ever to reach out to Muslim people groups.

What is Keeping the Muslim Peoples Away from Christ?
The Muslims are always watching the Christians to see if they really live like Jesus. In at least one area, Muslims often say good things about Christians. Muslims see that the Christians are kind, generous, and not arrogant.

However, the biggest block that keeps Muslims from following Jesus is the fact that their religion is so deeply tied to their family and village. They are sure that to leave Islam will cause great calamity to fall on the family and the village. This is tied to the fact that they practice ancestor worship, which means that they believe that their ancestors can do them good or ill. Beneath this surface, underlying the veneer of daily Islamic practice are the harsh realities of the ordinary West African Muslim’s everyday life: seeking to keep the spirit world in balance, to protect himself and family against sorcery, and to satisfy the demands of the ancestors. In sum, both of these intermingled religious systems keep the people away from Christ.

Pray for these Challenges to the Gospel in the 21st Century

• Peace and stability: The greatest prayer need for Côte d’Ivoire is for political stability and peace. If conflict flares up because of religious and ethnic differences, missionaries and churches will no longer be able to operate freely throughout the country.

• Bible translation efforts: Less than half of the ethnic groups in Côte d’Ivoire have any portion of Scripture translated into their language. Recent linguistic research in the northwest revealed six new needs for Bible translation. There is a New Testament translation in the trade language, French, but only city dwellers have a good understanding of this tongue. Pray for God to raise up teams of qualified translators for each of these six local languages.

• Christian radio: Frequence Vie, a Christian radio station, is producing several radio programs to reach out to Muslims. Pray that Muslim hearts will be open to the gospel message. (See day 30.)

• Urban church planting: Opportunities abound for church planters in Abidjan, the major port city of three and a half million people. In this city there are neighborhoods representing every people group in Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso. However, with the influx of many foreigners, Islam continues to make strong headway into southern cities like Abidjan. Pray for God to raise up Holy Spirit–filled Christians to go as Christ’s ambassadors to each of the unreached people groups in Abidjan.

• Training and mobilizing for Muslim evangelism: Very few missionaries are working among the Muslim groups in Côte d’Ivoire’s north. The existing Christians must be further trained and mobilized to reach out to Muslims. Often they are more interested in planting churches in the animist south where it is easier to gain converts. There are also many rural areas where small animistic ethnic groups have been neglected. Pray for God to thrust out more missionaries to the Muslim peoples through organizations like WEC Int’l., New Tribes Mission, and Christian & Missionary Alliance.

• The stronghold of animism: Many of the peoples of Côte d’Ivoire fear that by following Christ they will bring a curse on their families and villages. Pray that the Holy Spirit will give them boldness and perfect love that casts out fear.

• Christian conduct: Muslims carefully watch Christians to see if they live righteous lives. Pray for Christians in Côte d’Ivoire to be filled with the power and the fruit of the Holy Spirit.