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Statistics
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Prayer Profile: Although all Bateke have common ancestry, natural barriers such as rivers have limited interaction between different groups and resulted in dialect differences that make communication between them practically impossible. The Bateke Plateau is mostly grasslands and savanna with small patches of forest scattered across it. When traveling across the plateau one is impressed with the long distances between the villages. The average Bateke village has about 200 people and is often situated near one of the few fresh water sources on the plateau. Lack of clean water is one of the major problems facing the people, and a contributing factor in poor hygiene and the spread of disease such as dysentery. Also because of the lack of fresh water, population density is about four persons per square mile, too small to be considered for most foreign aid and development projects. The result is that this people group lives in one of the least developed areas of The Democratic Republic of Congo. Government or private schools are practically nonexistent because villages do not have enough children to meet the government requirements for classroom size. The Bateke are for the most part subsistence farmers. Poor roads and a broken-down transportation system, as well as a host of other obstacles, make it difficult for the people to ship their produce to the city for sale there. When they do make a little profit, they are careful to invest it in the city rather than use it to develop their home or property in the village. Moving ahead of one's peers is considered to be the foundation for jealousies and many other evils. The Bateke have a system for keeping everyone in the group on the same socioeconomic level. If someone begins to accumulate wealth, the witch doctor will often accuse that person of being a witch, of leaving his body at night in order to fly to other homes in the village to steal their money. He will be punished, pay large fines, and sometimes be banished from the village. Marriages among the Bateke are still arranged by the parents. It is their custom for the young man to live with the bride-to-be for a period of three to four months to see if she can conceive. If after this trial period she has not, he will break off the engagement and begin looking for another candidate. The Bateke adhere to a primal belief system in which one is conscious of the daily interaction with those living in the spirit world. They depend very heavily on the ancestral spirits for guidance and success in their lives. The Bateke are still not very open to religious change at the heart level. They do have a somewhat favorable attitude towards Christianity on a superficial level, because of the development and prosperity they hope it will bring to their villages. |
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