Pray for Equatorial Guinea

The flag for the Republic of Equatorial Guinea reads, “UNIDAD, PAZ, JUSTICIA,” Spanish for unity, peace, and justice. This motto reflects the people’s dream for their nation, but their government has forgotten it far too often. National leaders enforce strict laws through the hands of controlling security forces. The nation has one of the world’s highest GDPs per capita, but more than half of the population lives in poverty. Equatorial Guinea looks nothing like the nation it was meant to be, and its people long for the day they are freed from hopelessness to flourish under righteous leaders.

After the nation gained independence from Spain in 1968, the dictator Macías Nguema took control. Equatorial Guinea was turned into a nationwide labor camp, and he earned a reputation as one of Africa’s worst human rights abusers. Today, the nation functions as a republic, but the ruling party has all the power. State security closely watches the press, and numerous public leaders have been imprisoned. An oil boom in the early 2000s provided Equatorial Guinea with great wealth, but that wealth was directed into the pockets of national leaders. For the average citizen, life is difficult. Many families must provide for themselves by growing their own food, a challenging task since only five percent of the land is farmable.

Equatorial Guinea has one of the highest percentages of Catholics in Africa; however, widespread nominalism and use of pagan practices, like animism, dilute those numbers. Most people understand only a shallow form of Christianity. The government strongly supports the Catholic Church, but other forms of Christianity — including evangelical Christianity — face major government restrictions. Nevertheless, God has worked through the small evangelical population, and people are accepting the Gospel. Foreign missionaries faithfully support local believers through their small but encouraging presence. The Bible is being translated into the nation’s main language, Fang.