World Day of Prayer 2010:
from Cameroon
The Republic of Cameroon is located in the centre of Africa above the equator at the extreme end of the Gulf of Guinea. It is open to the Atlantic Ocean with a coastline of 402 kilometres. It is bordered by Nigeria in the west, by Lake Chad in the north and Chad in the northeast, by the Central African Republic in the east, and by Brazzaville, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea in the south.
 The total surface area is 475,440 square kilometres, which is comparable in size to Papua New Guinea or slightly larger than California in the United States. The administrative and political capital is Yaoundé while the economic capital is Douala. There are approximately 240 local languages corresponding to the 240 ethnic groups. The official languages are French and English with a dominance of the French language. The national currency is the Franc CFA, which is the common currency among 14 countries of Central and West Africa who cooperate financially.
Culture
Cameroon is described as “Africa in miniature” and therefore has enormous touristic potentials. Cameroon is inhabited by many species of plants and animals unique to the continent. One can travel through the green equatorial South to the warm and bright savannah and the stepp es in the North, and pass through the highlands of the West and the beaches with fine green and yellow sands in the Littoral and Southwest provinces. Cameroon offers a striking variety of landscapes. Mount Cameroon is one of the highest peeks in Africa; Lobé Falls is unique in Africa. Cameroon is blessed with astonishing cultural wealth, with more than 240 ethnic groups, each with its specific culture. Cameroon is well known for its styles of music, particularly makossa and bikutsi.
World Day of Prayer 2010 Resources
A number of resources are available as free downloads -- including the Bible studies, recipes, a graphic, poster and music CD.
If you have any questions about this year's service, or would like additional materials, please contact the WICC office.
Pray for Cameroon
The motto of the World Day of Prayer is "Informed Prayer, Prayerful Action". One way to keep the people of Cameroon in your prayers as you prepare for the upcoming World Day of Prayer on March 5th is to use the Google Alerts system. Visit Google Alerts and fill in the simple search terms.
To get you started, here are links to some current news stories:
January 29, 2009: Dissent violently repressed in Cameroon --  During a10 year spell of gross human rights violantions, Cameroonian security forces have habitually used excessive and unnecessary force - and the perpetrators have almost always gone unpunished. Read more>
September 16, 2009: Orphanages handing children over to trafficking -- What is meant to be a place of refuge for may children, is being used to abuse children. Mrs. Atangana was not financially capable of caring for her child, so she turned to an orphanage for help. From time to time, she visited her daughter. On one such would-be visit, the child was nowhere to be found. Read more>
October 16, 2009:
Beatings, Isolation and fear -- When then 11 year old Evelyn Chumbow was lured from her native Came roon, and taken to suburban Maryland, there was the promise of a top-rated education and a future vastly different from life in Cameroon. Instead Evelyn found herself trapped in slavery. She worked long hours, was denied the education she was promised and was never paid. Read more>
November 30, 2009: HIV high in Cameroon -- A recent vountary poll conducted in Yaounde, found that up to 75% of HIV/AIDS infected persons are women between the ages of 19 and 24. Nestor Ankiba, Executive Director of Cameroon's Association of Social Marketing says ..."methods of prevention of HIV/AIDS has not yet reached girls this age. Read more>
About the 2010 WDP graphic
The cover art was created by an unknown Cameroonian artist. It is a “woodcut” created by cutting a cross section of wood from a tree and using it as a canvas. The scene depicts Cameroonian women working the land. This year’s theme, taken from Psalm 150:6; “Let everything that has breath praise God,” urges us to praise God constantly, whatever we may be engaged in, --even working the fields.
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