Pray for: Cabo Verde — unchurched Catholic culture, gospel resistance and low Biblical literacy, frequent drought. Zika Virus outbreak including 170 pregnant women.
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Cabo Verde

Population: 520,500

Rank: Central Africa: 31, world: 174

Languages: Portuguese, Crioulo
Major People Groups: Caboverdian Creole 72.8%, African 27.2%

Please pray for Cabo Verde. As a result of its founding as a Portuguese colony, the Roman Catholic Church was the state church until its independence in 1975. Around 90% of citizens still identify with the Roman Catholic Church, but even these often have influences with African traditional religion. Catholic Churches are even in the most remote villages, and missionaries have reported priests taking distributed Bibles and Christian literature from school children and burning them in schools' central courtyard. The CDC has a travel warning for Zika Virus. Over 7,000 are suspected of having the virus, including 170 pregnant women. Because of the impact of its lack of natural resources and frequent draughts upon agriculture, Cabo Verdeans have emigrated to many nations, the chief of which is the USA. There are approximately 300,000 US Citizens of Cabo Verdean ancestry, and over 33,000 were born there. Today, the number of Cabo Verdeans living abroad slightly outnumbers the population of the islands themselves.

Cabo Verde (formerly known as Cape Verde in English) is a nation comprised of 10 volcanic islands off the coast of West Africa. The nation achieved its independence from Portugal in 1975 and has had a stable representative democracy since the 1990s. It is one of the most developed and democratic countries in Africa. Lacking natural resources, its developing economy is mostly service-oriented, with a growing focus on tourism and foreign investment. Its population is mostly of mixed European and African heritage, and predominantly Roman Catholic, reflecting the legacy of Portuguese rule. A sizable diaspora community exists across the world, slightly outnumbering inhabitants on the islands.

Government statistics indicate that 77 percent are Roman Catholic, 10 percent Protestant, 2 percent Muslim, and 11 percent do not identify with any religion. The majority of Christians belong to the Catholic Church; the second largest Christian denomination is the Church of the Nazarene. Other groups designated as Christian include Seventh-day Adventists, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), members of the Assemblies of God, Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, and other Pentecostal and evangelical groups. There are small Bahai communities and a small but growing Muslim community with approximately 6,000 members.

Cabo Verde Government

Cabo Verde has a representative democratic republic. Like our own, the government is divided into Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches. The president is head of state, serving five-year terms, and is elected by popular vote. The prime minister is head of government. The prime minister is nominated by the National Assembly and appointed by the president. Cabo Verde's government is regarded as stable, free and fair, with the government respecting the rule of law and freedom of the press. Freedom House granted Cabo Verde an overall score of 90 for freedom, equal to the United States. It is the only African country to receive such a score.

Jorge Carlos Fonseca, President of Cabo Verde since September 2011

Ulisses Correia e Silva, Prime Minister of Cabo Verde since April, 2016

Christian ministries operating

In Cabo Verde
Church of the Nazarene
Assemblies of God
ABWE
BIMI
Wycliffe

Cabo Verde Conditions

In 2007, Cabo Verde was moved from the "least developed" to "medium development" status, only the second time in history for such a move. Average Life Expectancy is 74 years and the infant Mortality Rate is low at 19 per 1000.

For the 500,000 residents, there are six hospitals, 28 healthcare centers and a variety of private clinics. Per capita gross income is relatively high for Central Africa, at $6,220 (2012) but 28.6% live on <$2/day.

More than 7,500 people in Cabo Verde are suspected of having the Zika Virus, including 170 pregnant women. Because tourism-related industry accounts for about 70% of the GDP, this is likely to harm the economy.

Life expectancy at birth for females is 75.24, much higher than the average (60.34) for sub-saharan Africa.

The most significant causes of death in Cabo Verde are related to blood pressure and high BMI. This is more like the USA and other developed nations than the rest of Central Africa.

Cabo Verde is a collection of 10 islands, (9 are inhabited) off the coast of Senegal, in West Africa. Along with the Canary Islands, Madeira and the Azores, it is part of the area called Macaronesia. (Greek for "Islands of the Fortunate")
GMO's Stats on Cabo Verde

In 2018, Global Media Outreach registered 45,964 Gospel Visits, 5,543 indicated decisions, and 2,182 discipleship engagements from Cabo Verde. We have no Online Missionaries from Cabo Verde.

 

I'm 20 and after i've done so many mistakes in life. I decided to know Jesus and to follow his lead. Wanna know how to avoid temptation. — Cabo Verdean Contact Elisabeth
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