March 11, 2018 – Please pray for The Gambia
The Gambia is a country in West Africa that is entirely surrounded by Senegal except for its coastline on the Atlantic Ocean at its western end. It is the smallest country on mainland Africa.
The Gambia is situated on either side of the Gambia River, the nation’s namesake, which flows through the center of The Gambia and empties into the Atlantic Ocean. Banjul is the Gambian capital and the largest cities are Serekunda and Brikama.
The Gambia has a liberal, market-based economy characterized by traditional subsistence agriculture, a historic reliance on groundnuts (peanuts) for export earnings, a re-export trade built up around its ocean port, low import duties, minimal administrative procedures, a fluctuating exchange rate with no exchange controls, and a significant tourism industry.
There are approximately 2.1 million souls living in The Gambia. The median age is 17.1 years of age.
Article 25 of the constitution protects the rights of citizens to practice any religion that they choose. In December 2015, Reuters reported that the Gambia was declared to be an Islamic state by the country’s president, Yahya Jammeh. Islam is practiced by 90% of the country’s population. The majority of the Muslims in the Gambia adhere to Sunni laws and traditions, while large concentrations follow the Ahmadiyya tradition.
Virtually all commercial life in the Gambia comes to a standstill during major Muslim holidays, including Eid al-Adha and Eid ul-Fitr. Most Muslims in the Gambia follow the Maliki school of jurisprudence. Also, a Shiite Muslim community exists in the Gambia, mainly from Lebanese and other Arab immigrants to the region.
The Christian community represents about 9% of the population. Residing in the western and the southern parts of the Gambia, most of the Christian community identifies themselves as Roman Catholic. However, smaller Christian groups are present, such as Anglicans, Methodists, Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and small evangelical denominations.
The remaining 1% of the population adheres to indigenous beliefs, such as the Serer religion. Serer religion encompasses cosmology and a belief in a supreme deity called Roog. Some of its religious festivals include the Xoy, Mbosseh, and Randou Rande. Each year, adherents to Serer religion make the annual pilgrimage to Sine in Senegal for the Xoy divination ceremony. Serer religion also has a rather significant imprint on Senegambian Muslim society in that all Senegambian Muslim festivals such as “Tobaski”, “Gamo”, “Koriteh” and “Weri Kor” are loanwords from the Serer religion as they were ancient Serer festivals.
The above are from en.wikipedia.org. These statements have not been fact-checked and are only used here to help us gain a better understanding of this nation.
I noticed the youth of the nation are very young. The median age of 17.1 years indicates there are many who need Christ to intervene in their life. Many times we can pray the same prayer for many nations.
1. Pray for the youth of this nation. The youth of the world need a solid foundation of spiritual understanding to serve Jesus and prosper in life.
2. Pray for the spiritual and national leaders of The Gambia.
3. Pray for the faithful believers in Jesus to receive power to share the Gospel to the nation of approximately 2.1 million.
