COTE D’IVOIRE

IVORY COAST

Presentation

Côte d'Ivoire is a country in West Africa, with an area of 322,462 km², bordered to the south by the Atlantic Ocean, to the north by Burkina Faso and Mali, to the east by Ghana, to the west by Liberia and Guinea. A country with an agricultural vocation, Côte d'Ivoire draws its wealth from the land. It has 23 million inhabitants. Abidjan, the economic capital, has 4.5 million inhabitants. On the religious level, Côte d'Ivoire is divided between Christianity, Islam and animism. Christianity mobilizes about 40 % of the population. The dominant Christian religions are Catholicism, Methodists, Evangelicals: Baptists, Assemblies of God, etc.

SOME NUMBERS

Regions

Places of worship

Number of Faithful

Pastors

Faithful baptized

faithful baptized

The Union of Evangelical Churches Services and Works:
These so-called Protestant Evangelical Churches were born of evangelization work carried out by the Biblical Mission in Côte d'Ivoire since 1927. The Union of Evangelical Churches Services and Works includes 14 regions, with autonomous assemblies, spread over the whole National territory. These 12 regions manage more than 1,000 places of worship, bringing together 70,000 worshippers. 132 pastors teach the faithful and the 24,000 baptized.

The works of the UEESO:
By work is meant any establishment or any other formation created or acquired by the Union, or whose management is entrusted to it and which has at least two of the following four purposes:
To. spread the Word of God,
b. contribute to the spiritual growth of Christians,
vs. materially or financially support the Union or the Churches in their missions,
d. contribute to the social well-being of Christians and populations.

Doctrinal basis:
The UEESO Churches have adopted the confession of faith of the French-speaking Baptist Churches.

The Biblical and Theological Institute of Man

Founded in 1957, the Biblical and Theological Institute of Man is at the service of the Church for the formation of servants and handmaidens of God. It is a work of the UEESO-Cl on which it depends entirely. But it remains open and receives students from outside the UEESO. It is located in Man (Zlanvopleu). The Institute has a capacity of more than 70 students. The courses are spread over 3 years. These students are supervised by Ivorian professors who are members of the UEESO and missionary teachers. Access to the IBTM is open to any committed Christian who has the vocation to serve God full-time. But entry is subject to financial constraints due to the rising cost of living in Côte d'Ivoire. For a single student,
tuition fees are 375,000 F.CFA (600 €) and for married students, these fees are 530,000 F.CFA (800 €). In the current context, these costs are therefore increasingly heavy to bear by the Churches of the Union which already have difficulties in supporting their servants of God.

The nursery

This work, founded in 1947 in Man, welcomes babies whose mother has died. Its purpose is to bear witness to Christian love and to enhance life. She provides care and education to these children for a few years before they return to their families. The nursery is officially recognized by the Ministry responsible for social affairs.

The rural animation service (SAR)

The rural animation service or SAR of the UEESO has been established in Danané since 1983. It wants to bring food self-sufficiency to Christians. We realize there:
- The breeding of poultry of local and mixed breeds,
- The planting of hundreds of grafted or selected fruit trees
- The cultivation of market gardens,
- Awareness and training sessions in the villages on hygiene, maternal and child protection and nutrition.

The Protestant secondary school of Daloa

Founded in 1947, the Protestant Secondary Course (CSP) or Jean Calvin College of Daloa is a work of the UEESO-Cl. It is a private secondary general education institution. The College applies the official program in force in the country. The college has an enrollment of approximately 1000 students.

Primary schools

Primary schools, among the works created by the UEESO-Cl participate in evangelization, education and contribute to the effort of socio-economic, moral and spiritual development of Côte d'Ivoire.

The UEESO health center

The mission of the Baptist General Conference has built, with the help of the Biblical Mission, a community health center in the commune of Abobo (Abidjan) on a plot of 4000 m². This center, opened in 2000, aims to provide local care to disadvantaged populations. This work is done by evangelizing and edifying by doing. The center is made up of an administrative block, a maternity ward, a dispensary and a training room. The person in charge of this work is doctor Pierre BALLE. This work comes to relieve all the surrounding population with a Muslim majority.

The technical service of the Evangelical Churches of Côte d'Ivoire: SERTEECI

This is the first carpentry workshop which began work in 1965. Today this service also does car mechanics. It deals with the formation of young people, but also helps the Churches in the construction of buildings (doors, windows, frames, etc.) and the repair of vehicles. SERTEECI is located at the UEESO station in Daloa.

The Sassandra Bible Training Center

This center aims to train and retrain committed Christians and preachers in the Word of God. The curriculum of subjects and courses is similar to that of Bible schools. It is by period of three months of formation that the courses are exempted for the preachers and two weeks for the civil servants.

UEESO OFFICE Ivory Coast

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The Biblical Mission is above all a mission of sending personnel, but it also brings its assistance to the development actions of our partners and emergency aid.