Chad

For centuries, this territory was controlled by different ancient kingdoms, mostly associated with Islam and reliant on the trade that crisscrossed the Sahara region. The French arrived as late as 1920, controlling the country as part of their equatorial territory. Chad was given more autonomy after WWII until its independence in 1960. Within five years, a civil war broke out, lasting until 1979, when the rebels were victorious. After their victory, they fought among themselves for dominance. Meanwhile, a conflict with Libya took place finally necessitating French intervention to resolve both their conflict with Libya and their internal problems. A few years later, another five-year civil war broke out, ending with an agreement in 2010. Their president was killed in battle in 2021, and his son and general was named as the new president.

Chad, over three times the size of California ,ranges from the tropics in the south to desert in the north and is home to over twenty main ethnic groups. While there are over a hundred different languages and dialects spoken, French and Arabic are the official languages. Sara is the most spoken African language, mainly used in the southern part of the country. Over half of the seventeen-and-a-half million citizens are Muslim. The other half claim Catholicism or other religions that profess to be part of Christianity. Unfortunately, this split in religious ideology has also greatly divided the country. Because of the doctrinal perversion that has happened as "Christianity" has mixed with local religions, those who do profess to be Christians know very little more of the Truth than the Muslims do.

While violence continues to erupt both within the Chad and with its neighbors, the country suffers. Chad is considered a least-developed country with most of its inhabitants living off their herds and gardens. Literacy has been attained by barely over twenty percent of the population. The life-expectancy is fifty-eight years, contributing to the extremely young population: nearly seventy-percent of the nation is under the age of twenty-five. Ironically, the meaning of N’Djamena, their capital, is "a place of rest"...may these people find the true rest available in Christ!

Missionaries in Chad:

Missionaries in Africa (listed with BIMI account numbers)