Rashaida in Sudan


Population
Main Language
Largest Religion
Christian
Evangelical
Progress
Progress Gauge

Introduction / History

The colorful Rashaida came to Eritrea from Saudi Arabia about 200 years ago. Living in the desert along the coastline of the Red Sea, their homeland extends from Massawa, Eritrea, to Port Sudan, Sudan.


What Are Their Lives Like?

Rashaida are primarily nomadic. The men are excellent traders, using their camels and Toyota pickup trucks to distribute goods imported from Middle Eastern countries—a lucrative endeavor. A portion of their wealth resulted from renting their camels to freedom fighters during Eritrea's 30-year war of independence.
Rashaida women always wear beautiful veils over their faces. This practice begins when they are children so that no man besides their husband will ever see their face. Once when visiting a Rashaida family, I noticed a mother kiss her young daughter - the veil separating her lips from the child's cheek.
The Rashaida live in isolated communities, preferring not to live with people of other tribes. However, occasionally Rashaida can be found living in Tigre villages or Rashaida men will marry Tigre women.
A gentle approach to the Rashaida initiates a warm, hospitable response. A field trip with 20 Tigrinya students afforded me this experience. On the way to a Rashaida village, our bus got stuck in the sand. We dug and pushed, and an hour later the driver had the vehicle back on a solid surface. By this time our water was depleted, and we were exhausted.
A Rashaida trader in his pickup truck approached, stopped and recognized our need. He offered water and a visit to his village. Nine students climbed in the back of his truck and were driven to meet his four wives. The rest of us went to a nearby family's yard and drank tea with them. It was a meaningful display of Rashaida openness to strangers.


What Are Their Beliefs?

Islam is at the core of Rashaida culture. Due to their mobile lifestyle, a family prayer house is central to their worship. Until recently, no known Christians were numbered among them. However, the situation changed as hundreds of Rashaida youth were drafted into the Eritrean army during the 1998-2000 Eritrea/Ethiopia border war. The daily confrontation with danger and sharing a bunker with born-again believers gave many an opportunity to hear the gospel for the first time. In July 2000, there were seven known discipled believers among the Rashaida soldiers.


What Are Their Needs?

There are now a couple of Christ followers among the Rashaida people. They need to be discipled and taught how to extend the reign of Jesus Christ to others.


Prayer Points

Pray for the Holy Spirit to move powerfully among the Rashaida people wherever they live, drawing them to the only savior.
Pray for the Lord to throw open the doors for them to be taught from the Word and discipled in the ways of Jesus Christ.
Pray for Rashaida leaders to have the spiritual hunger it takes to embrace Christ no matter what the cost.


Scripture Prayers for the Rashaida in Sudan.


References

Link Up Africa


Profile Source:   Joshua Project  

People Name General Rashaida
People Name in Country Rashaida
Pronunciation ruh-shah-EE-dah
Alternate Names Rashad
Population this Country 135,000
Population all Countries 189,000
Total Countries 2
Indigenous Yes
Progress Scale 1
Unreached Yes
Frontier People Group Yes
GSEC 1  (per PeopleGroups.org)
Pioneer Workers Needed 3
People ID 14523
ROP3 Code 108307
ROP25 Code 306951
ROP25 Name Rashaida
Country Sudan
Region Africa, East and Southern
Continent Africa
10/40 Window Yes
National Bible Society Website
Persecution Rank 8  (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking)
Location in Country Primarily north   Source:  Ethnologue 2010
Country Sudan
Region Africa, East and Southern
Continent Africa
10/40 Window Yes
National Bible Society Website
Persecution Rank 8  (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking)
Location in Country Primarily north.   Source:  Ethnologue 2010
Primary Religion: Islam
Major Religion Percent
Buddhism
0.00 %
Christianity  (Evangelical 0.00 %)
0.00 %
Ethnic Religions
6.00 %
Hinduism
0.00 %
Islam
94.00 %
Non-Religious
0.00 %
Other / Small
0.00 %
Unknown
0.00 %

Primary Language:  Arabic, Sudanese

Bible Translation Status  (Years)
Bible-Portions Yes  (1927-1964)
Bible-New Testament Yes  (1978-2022)
Bible-Complete No
FCBH NT (www.bible.is) Online
YouVersion NT (www.bible.com) Online
Possible Print Bibles
Amazon
World Bibles
Forum Bible Agencies
National Bible Societies
World Bible Finder
Virtual Storehouse
Resource Type Resource Name Source
Audio Recordings Arabic Bible Online Arabic Bible Outreach Ministry
Audio Recordings Audio Bible teaching Global Recordings Network
Film / Video Indigitube.tv Video / Animation Create International
Film / Video Jesus Film: view in Arabic, Sudanese Spoken Jesus Film Project
Film / Video LUMO film of Gospels Bible Media Group/LUMO
Film / Video Story of Jesus for Children Jesus Film Project
Film / Video World Christian Videos World Christian Videos
General Faith Comes By Hearing - Bible in text or audio or video Faith Comes by Hearing
General Faith Comes By Hearing - Bible in text or audio or video Faith Comes by Hearing
General Gospel resources links Scripture Earth
General YouVersion Bible versions in text and/or audio YouVersion Bibles
Mobile App Android Bible app: Arabic, Sudanese Spoken YouVersion Bibles
Mobile App Download audio Bible app as APK file Faith Comes by Hearing
Mobile App Download audio Bible app from Google Play Store Faith Comes by Hearing
Mobile App iOS Bible app: Arabic, Sudanese Spoken YouVersion Bibles
Text / Printed Matter Tools for faith conversations Campus Crusade for Christ
Photo Source Vít Hassan - Flickr  Creative Commons 
Map Source Bryan Nicholson / cartoMission  
Profile Source Joshua Project 
Data Sources Data is compiled from various sources. Learn more.



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