February: East African Muslims
Who They Are
The East African Muslim Peoples have more hardship and natural disasters than any other Muslim bloc. Decades of civil war, famine and political turmoil have reduced East African Muslims to some of the poorest people on earth. Close to four million people have died in East Africa in the last decade due to these calamities.
In Sudan, the government has initiated a vigorous program to Islamicize the entire country. Christian children from the south are abducted and forced to enter Islamic schools where they are made to memorize the Quran and even trained to fight against their own people. Even minority Muslim peoples such as the Nuba have been persecuted in a program of mass ethnic-cleansing. Across the border, Somalia has yet to recover from its civil war, and warring clans still clash with one another. Famine in Ethiopia continues to be a problem among Muslim peoples in the North.
What God Is Doing
Despite the difficulties of working in these areas, God has used these
calamities to open the door to humanitarian assistance and gospel witness.
Somali refugees in Kenya and Ethiopia are now being reached by several
organizations. Persecution in Sudan has resulted in a Church that is no
longer afraid to boldly proclaim the gospel.
How To Pray:
-Ask God to open the door for further missionary outreach in difficult areas
of Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea.
-Pray that those being reached in Somali refugee camps would take the gospel
back to their people in Somalia.
-Pray that Christians in Sudan would be able to forgive their Muslim persecutors
and win many Muslim peoples to Christ.
-Pray for the protection of missionaries working in this dangerous region.
Day | Prayer Focus | Hub Country | Population | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sudanese Arab | Sudan | 30,000,000 | |
2 | Somalian | Somalia | 8,000,000 | |
3 | Swahili Muslims | Tanzania | 6,900,000 | |
4 | Ethiopian Somali | Ethiopia | 5,700,000 | |
5 | Oromo Muslims | Ethiopia | 4,900,000 | |
6 | Nubian | Sudan | 3,000,000 | |
7 | Afar | Ethiopia | 2,500,000 | |
8 | Kenyan Somali | Kenya | 2,500,000 | |
9 | Yao Muslims | Malawi | 2,500,000 | |
10 | Makhuwa Muslims | Mozambique | 2,500,000 | |
11 | Shuwa Arab | Chad | 2,350,000 | |
12 | Beja | Sudan | 2,300,000 | |
13 | Ganda Muslims | Uganda | 2,000,000 | |
14 | Tigre | Eritrea | 1,350,000 | |
15 | Silti | Ethiopia | 1,150,000 | |
16 | Comorian | Comoros | 1,000,000 | |
17 | Fur | Sudan | 1,000,000 | |
18 | Hausa-Fulani | Sudan | 1,000,000 | |
19 | Zaramo | Tanzania | 950,000 | |
20 | Shirazi | Tanzania | 720,000 | |
21 | Masalit | Sudan | 620,000 | |
22 | Mijikenda Digo | Kenya | 520,000 | |
23 | Messiria Baggara | Sudan | 500,000 | |
24 | Zaghawa | Sudan | 460,000 | |
25 | Maba | Chad | 440,000 | |
26 | Mozambique Makonde | Mozambique | 410,000 | |
27 | Tubu | Chad | 410,000 | |
28 | Benshangul Berta | Ethiopia | 320,000 | |
29 | Allaaba | Ethiopia | 300,000 | |
30 | Naba | Chad | 300,000 | |
31 | Berti | Sudan | 270,000 |