Could you help plant a church for Christian believers amongst the muslim Biafada people?

There are estimated to be 61,000 Biafada living in Guinea-Bissau; they are mostly farmers and fishermen, and their language is also called Ganjoola.

Join a team living in the Quinara area, build relationships with local people, pray, and introduce them to Jesus. A few Biafada believers are working on an oral translation of the key creation-to-gospel stories.

Learn their language and culture, live in their community, and reach and disciple them.

Qualities & Gifts Sought

Speaker of English and Portuguese, willing to learn Portuguese Creole and Biafada languages.

A passion to see churches established with their own vision for mission.

Our ref 44

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About Guinea-Bissau

Guinea-Bissau is a sovereign state in West Africa with an estimated population of 1.8 million people. Guinea-Bissau is bordered by Senegal to the north and Guinea to the south and east, with the Atlantic Ocean to its west. The country is larger in size than Taiwan or Belgium.

Guinea-Bissau was once part of the kingdom of Gabu, as well as part of the Mali Empire. In the 19th century, it was colonized as Portuguese Guinea.

Guinea-Bissau gained independence in 1974. The name of its capital, Bissau, was added to the country's name to prevent confusion with Guinea (formerly French Guinea). Guinea-Bissau has a history of political instability since independence, and no elected president has successfully served a full five-year term.

Only 14% of the population speaks Portuguese, established as both the official and national language. Portuguese exists in Portuguese creole spoken by half the population (44%) and an even larger number speaks it as second tongue, the remainder speak a variety of native African languages.

There are diverse religions in Guinea-Bissau with no one religion having a majority - 40% Muslims, 22% Christians, 15% Animists and 18% unspecified or other.

Despite being a small country Guinea-Bissau has several ethnic groups which are very distinct from each other, with their own cultures and languages: Fula (16%), Balanta (14%), Mandinga (7%), Manjaco (5%), Papel (3%), Felupe (1%), Beafada (0.7%), Bijagó (0.3%) and Nalu (0.1%). 35% speak English.

Guinea-Bissau is warm all year around and there is little temperature fluctuation; it averages 26.3 °C (79.3 °F). Nice!  

Education, health and poverty  

In 2010 the 43% of the population was under 15-years-old. Education is compulsory from the age of 7-13-years but only 67% of children have access to any formal education.  

The country's per-capita GDP, and its Human Development Index are both one of the lowest in the world.  

Rice is a staple in the diet of people living near the coast, and millet is a staple in the interior.  

The World Health Organisation estimates there are fewer than five Doctors per 100,000 people.  

Malaria kills 9% of the population every year. In 2010, 1000 women per 100,000, died in childbirth.  

[Source: Wikipedia. Read more about Guinea-Bissau here].  

Guinea-Bissau has 51 people groups - 60% are unreached with the hope of the gospel.  

The largest religion is Islam at 51%. 12% profess to be Christian and of those 1.7% profess to be evangelical.  

[Source: Joshua Project]

Pray with us for:
-the challenges of poverty and political unrest
-development
-wisdom for church leaders
-christian radio
-unreached peoples
-youth and children
-more mission workers to make disciples and start churches [Source: Operation World, 2010 print edition]  

Please also use Operation World’s online resources.  

You can also pray using the Prayercast video here.    

WEC Guinea-Bissau  

Our vision is'to plant multiplying churches among the Balanta Mane, Biafada, Fula, Mandinka and Nalu/Susu peoples in Guinea-Bissau.

WEC is working in multicultural teams, together with the Evangelical Church of Guinea-Bissau, to bring the good news to those who have not yet had the opportunity to hear.  

It is our desire to encourage and to disciple those who want to serve the Lord Jesus by providing suitable training to help each member to grow spiritually and to minister to others. New believers are taught from the beginning to share the hope of the Gospel with those who have not yet heard, taught how to disciple new believers and to accept the responsibilities of being members of the body of Christ.

We are looking for anyone with a heart to serve the peoples of this needy land. People willing to:
-live a simple lifestyle, to serve others and respect people
-commit to life-long learning
-commit to local language learning and cultural studies 
-be flexible and humble
-be financially self-supporting.  

We have opportunities to join our church planting teams among Balanta Mane, Biafada, Fula, Mandinka, and Nalu/Susu peoples.

Join us – we need you! Read about WEC's ministries across Africa here