Macau

1
OMF International (UK)
country profile
Macau
2
geography
MACAU peninsula
TAIPA island
COLOANE island
25.4 square km
3
population

• Population 445,286 (2004 estimate CIA world
  factbook) UK 60,094,648
• Density 17,530 per square km UK 245/square km
• The population growth rate is 0.87 (2004
  estimate CIA world factbook)

4
religion

• Non-religious 60
• Chinese 19.69
• Buddhist 13
• Christian 7.31
• (includes nominal Christian, Protestant and 5
  Roman Catholic)
• -Protestant Evangelical 1.13

5
history
Macau means city of God and was the name of the
temple situated where the first Portuguese
explorers landed 1557 Portuguese trading
colony 1887 Portuguese sovereignty 1900 became
known as a smuggling and gambling centre 1987
Portugal agreed to return Macau to China December
1999 Macau returned to China Surge in visitors
from Mainland China Gambling and tourism are key
industries Now a Special Administrative Region
with a high degree of autonomy granted by China
6
history of Christianity

• 1500s Roman Catholicism introduced by Portuguese
• 1600 Macau 95 Catholic
• 1800s Protestant missions began
• 1990 Roman Catholic population reduced to 9
• 1990 54 Protestant churches
• Today Church growth is slow

7
OMF work in Macau

• A small team is involved in church work,
  preaching, evangelism, drug rehabilitation and
  prison visiting

8
opportunities with OMF

• working with the Church, evangelism bible
  teaching
• prison ministries

9
pray for the government

• The President of China is the Chief of State, but
  Macau has its own government
• Corruption is widespread in Macau
• There is organised crime at every level of
  society
• Around 7 of the workforce are employed in
  gambling, which is a key industry

10
pray for the church

• The Protestant Evangelical Church is small
• There is a high leadership turnover
• More training is needed
• Macau is one of the worlds least-discipled
  communities of Chinese people

11
pray for evangelism

• Pray for evangelism among all levels of society
• Pray for unity co-operation as churches work
  together
• There has been an influx of missionaries from
  Hong Kong and other countries since 1999 pray
  that their work will be effective