Praying for Niger If you ask me anything

Praying for Niger If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. - John 14: 14

Geography Land area: 1, 186, 408 sq km Sahara desert in centre and north. Only the southwest and a narrow strip along the Nigerian border in the south are savannah grasslands. Population: 19, 245, 344 Capital: Niamey Official language: French. Language of wider communication is Hausa

Under military rule for thirty-one years, violent coups and bloody political infighting have finally unfolded into a fledgling democracy One of the poorest countries in the world, the agricultural economy is frequently destroyed by drought. Slavery is still practiced in isolated areas of the country. Nigerian children are trafficked for labor in gold mines, sexual exploitation, and begging. A land dispute between Libya remains unresolved and often triggers acts of violence.

Religion Largest Religion: Muslim Religion Christians Evangelicals Muslims Pop % Ann Gr 52, 442 0. 33 2. 1 21, 541 0. 1 3. 7 15, 436, 986 97. 14

Less than one percent of the population claims the Christian faith. Ninety-seven percent of the nation is Muslim, with 76% of the people listed as unreached ethnic groups. Christianity is slowly growing through humanitarian efforts such as well-digging, agricultural development, and education. The number of Evangelicals triples every year, though that is not keeping up with population growth.

Media-oriented ministries include • Bible translation and distribution • Christian literature. Poverty and illiteracy are severe limitations. • Radio is a recent development in Christian ministry. • The audio-media ministry is inadequately funded and exploited. • The JESUS film is now available in 11 languages.

THE ECONOMY One of the richest sources of uranium in the world, Niger has instead focused on developing agriculture and raising livestock. Future economic growth is hoped to be found in the mining of gold, coal, and recently discovered oil. Unemployment: 0. 27% Poverty rate: 44. 1% - Niger is one of the world's poorest nations.

CHALLENGES TO PRAYER Aid and development projects for one of the world’s poorest countries should ideally uplift and then empower the people. The many prostitutes in the capital are the focus of a significant outreach by CAPRO. Medical ministry is very effective in this deprived nation. The SIM-founded Danja hospital has the national referral centre for leprosy as well as an ophthalmic centre.

Prayer points • Pray for focused efforts to evangelize those under the age of 15, half of the overall population. • Pray for speed and accuracy for the workers translating the Scriptures for many barely reached people groups. • Pray for a visible Christian presence in society and peace among struggling believers who feel isolated. • Pray that local churches would rise up to help educate their children and develop literacy programs.

TLM Niger Prayer: • Pray for the security situation in the country • Pray for the church in Niger that the Lord will strengthen us and gives the leaders wisdom and grace to serve faithfully. • Wisdom for TLM Niger team as we try to reinforce our partnership with government toward Leprosy Control Program activities for leprosy awareness and supervision of health centers in the Regions. • Success in all the on-going community development activities and cooperation with partners as we discuss technical and strategic issues for the leprosy work in Niger. • For grace to cope with the cultural pressures, weather, electricity / internet challenges etc.