Chad At A Glance data: Operation World (21st edition), Patrick Johnstone and Jason Mandryk, 2001 Area: 1,284,000 sq. km.; desert in the north, dry grassland in the center; and brush in the south. Population (2000): 7,650,982; 2.67% annual growth; 6 persons per sq. km.; most live in the southwest. Languages: 127 Official Languages: French, Arabic Literacy: 10% Christian: 27.78% Bible Translations: 9 Bibles, 18 NT Missionaries To Chad: 295 in 23 agencies from 23 countries Note: Chad has more totally unreached peoples than any other African country: 120 total, 109 Muslim & 11 Animist   Lutheran Brethren Ministries in Chad First LBWM missionary to Chad: 1918 Languages: 12 Church Statistics: 583 congregations, 349 additional meeting places, 115 pastors, 810 lay pastors, 83,364 average Sunday attendance Schools: 1 Seminary, 9 Regional Bible Schools Missionary Involvement: Church Planting, Evangelization, Church Leadership Training Bible Translations: 4 Bibles (Moundang, Fulani, Musey, Masana), 5 NTs (Tupurri, Musgum, Peve, Gidar, Zime), 1 NT in preparation (Kera) Pray for: five new individuals or couples for Chad. Ministry Note: Chad is a landlocked country just south of and including part of the Sahara Desert with an estimated population of 8 million. Economically and politically, Chad is among the poorest nations in the world and has a history of internal strife. The people of Chad face frequent shortages of food and difficulty in finding water during the dry season, which lasts from November-April. Social concerns include the difficulty of getting an education and finding a job other than subsistence farming. Diseases, especially malaria, are frequent; and for many outside of the cities, treatment is hard to find or beyond their means. Our L.B. Church in Chad is composed of people from 15 different ethnic groups of animistic backgrounds, who function well together in a Synod of over 700 congregations. Our CLB/LBWM plan is to place missionary teams to plant culturally relevant, indigenous and reproducing churches among at least five of these unreached people groups. In the next five to seven years, we are praying the Lord of the harvest to send out people of various skills and gifts to accomplish this task. We are pleased that God has called several families to be a part of this vision for ministry among the people of Chad. We are partnering with our sister Chadian L.B. Church to form multinational teams.