Pray for the Gorane peoples in the Sahara Desert

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The Gorane peoples (also called “Tubu” or Daza) live in an area of about 1.3 million sq km of desert and savannah in four African countries (Niger, Chad, Libya and Sudan). Most of the approximately 500,000 Gorane live in Chad. Since the Gorane are nomads and live in a large, inaccessible area, there is little reliable information about them. However, recent droughts has caused many Gorane to move to towns, where they earn their living mostly through trading.

Social classes of the Gorane

There are social differences among the Gorane. Historically, the Teda are considered to be the highest social class, followed by the Daza. The Azza are the traditionally lowest class of craftsmen, with whom in the past a Teda or Daza could not have sat down to drink tea. In the towns and among the more educated Gorane, however, this custom is changing more and more. The Kamadjas, the class of slaves, is despised by all: ethnically this group doesn’t belong to the Gorane, but they share their language and culture.

The Gorane who live in rural areas only have superficial knowledge about Islam. Since many don’t speak Arabic, they don’t understand the meaning of the daily obligatory prayers. Even the religious teachers (the marabouts) who teach Islam often don’t speak Arabic. Urban areas, however, have seen a fast-growing religious extremism in recent years, enforcing the strict observation of the five pillars of Islam. More and more Gorane go abroad (for instance, to Saudi Arabia) to study the Qur’an.

Yearning for forgiveness by the Gorane

Billi, a young Teda, went to Egypt in the early 1990s to deepen his knowledge of Islam. During his studies, he learned that the Qur’an was preceded by the revelations of the Torah, the Psalms and the Gospels, and that Muslims should also read those scriptures. When he asked why this was not done, Billi did not receive a satisfactory answer. As a child, he was taught that the hand that touches the book of the Christians would burn in hell. But, after a long search and despite all the “warnings”, Billi held a Bible in his hand. He concluded that the Truth must be found in the Bible. He was baptised in September 2001. Since then, he has been a faithful member of a small Gorane house church.

Many Gorane feel a great yearning for God’s blessing and forgiveness. Christian witness only reached them in the mid-1990s. Currently, there are a handful of Christians dispersed over the whole Gorane region; there is also a small, fragile house church which meets regularly. Some Christian tapes and two films are available. The translation of the Bible has not yet begun, but a linguist is in the process of learning the Gorane language.

Prayer for Syria:

* Praise the Lord for the small house church. Pray for growth in numbers and spiritually, and for Gorane elders to develop and mature. Until now, the leadership is in the hands of a missionary.

* Pray for fearless proclamation of the gospel, widespread distribution and presentation of tapes and films, and supernatural revelations of Jesus, so that the Gorane can hear the gospel.

* Pray specifically for the salvation of many Gorane women.