Alcohol consumption remains an old debate in societies around the world. In Central Africa, this debate is immersed in traditions and cultures.

Since 2010, alcohol consumption has exploded on the African continent. According to a ranking by the World Health Organization, some countries in Central Africa are among the top 10 alcohol-consuming countries on the continent.

Alcohol consumption has become a major challenge for the Central African governments. Some consume alcohol for social reasons. For this group, drinking alcohol is a way to better appreciate public festivals. Others drink alcohol to conform to others. And yet others drink alcohol for coping reasons. For this group, drinking alcohol allows them to forget negative feelings, namely, their poverty.

For the animists from which I was raised, drinking alcohol is, first and foremost, traditional. It is part of the worship of ancestral spirits. In all major sacrificial ceremonies, alcohol is considered as water offered to the spirits. Alcohol accompanies each ceremony organized by an animist family. Without the mighty hand of Jesus Christ, it is impossible for an animist to abandon alcohol.

What are the risks often ignored by animists drinking alcohol?

On the health level, drinking alcohol increases the risk of high blood pressure. This disease is widespread in the countryside where these people live.
On the social level, alcohol increases the risk of mistreatment of women by their husbands and often ends in divorce.

Economically, alcohol increases the risk of poverty.

As a missionary, bringing the gospel to these animist people attached to their traditional values remains our priority. We will organize workshops on the cessation of drinking alcohol, and I will use my own example of how the Lord saved me from this addiction and explain to them the myth hidden behind the use of alcohol in the animist tradition. Prayers, fasting and teaching the word of God will be our weapons.

Thank you for continuing to support the Animist Project of Central Africa. Please share about this project with others as we need many people praying for us.

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