Guinea

Field Office Information

C&MA Field Entry in 1919

Field Director:

Phil Stombaugh

Mailing Address:

BP 438
Conakry, REP OF GUINEA

Phone:

011-224-13-40-66-44

Email:

cmadirector@fastmail.fm

Website:

National Church

L’Eglise Protestante Evangélique (CMA) de Guinée: 437 organized churches, 154 unorganized groups, 176 ordained ministers, 23,230 baptized members, and 67,224 inclusive members

Team Initiatives

• Plant churches among the Fulbe people group. A team of nine C&MA international workers is working in partnership with other missions to see the church of Jesus Christ established among this people group. Pray that many Fulbe would begin responding to the gospel.
• Plant churches among the Maninka people, the second largest Muslim people group in Guinea. Pray for wisdom in selecting a church-planting team leader and members to join the effort in reaching the Maninka for Christ.
• Plant churches among the Susu people. One couple is working with three other missionary families to reach the one million Susus in Conakry. Pray for God to prompt other couples to assist with this effort.

Why We're Here

2005-03-12 16:28:27.0

It takes a village to help a village. Recently, a team of U.S. dentists and assistants traveled to Guinea, West Africa, for a medical outreach in Labe in conjunction with Hope Clinic, a CAMA Services hospital. Besides the dentists and assistants, translators were needed, as well as nurses to inject anesthesia, people to give medicines, others to sell tapes, people for crowd control, two workers to pull teeth, people to hold hands and offer comforting noises, people to sterilize instruments, technicians to keep air and electricity coming to the dental machines, and a couple of women to cook.

“It was lots of fun,” says Jon Erickson, on staff at Hope Clinic. “I love the food, meeting new people, and relieving pain from those who have suffered for months and years.”

Erickson and a national worker named Moses were assigned to do extractions. “I love to pull teeth—so weird, but that’s me,” confides Erickson. The team was so busy that there was little time to chat. “As soon as I finished pulling someone’s teeth, people were taking the tray for cleaning, others sprayed and cleaned the chair and light, and sometimes before I could get my gloves off, a new person was standing at the chair.”

Nevertheless, Erickson was able to talk to several the patients. “A couple of times I sat down at the end of an extraction and would ask if they knew why we had come. Most were clueless, and some guessed to help the poor.

“I said, ‘Wrong. The Fulani people are the richest group in the country, but God sent us to explain a way to have a close relationship with Him.’ I told them that Jesus took the place of punishment for bad things we had done and came to replace our bad heart with a good heart.

“Pray for these people who were touched by us,” says Erickson. “I cannot even give you any numbers of people we saw. I do know that one day Moses pulled more than 140 teeth!”

Demographics

Population

Population--9,467,866 Infant mortality rate--90.4/1,000 Life expectancy--49.9

Capital City

Conakry (1,767,200) pop.

Geography

Slightly smaller than Oregon, Guinea (94,925 sq. mi.) consists of a coastal plain, mountainous region, savanna interior, and forest area in the highlands.

Languages

French (official), native tongues (Malinké, Susu, Fulani)

Ethnicity/Race

Peuhl--40%; Malinké--30%; Susu--20%; smaller tribes--10%

Economy

Per capita income--$2,100 Inflation--18% Literacy rate--36% (1995 est.)

Government/Political Climate

Republic. Guinea gained independence from France in 1958 and did not hold democratic elections until 1993. Unrest in neighboring countries has created humanitarian emergencies.

Religion

Muslim--85%; Christian--8%; indigenous--7%