The Toli of Benin

The Toli of Benin, numbering approximately 353,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as a coastal subclan of the Gun people speaking the Toli dialect of Gbe, concentrated around Porto-Novo, the Beninese capital the Gun originally founded and named Hogbonu They are an Indigenous people, with Toli-Gbe as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Guinean people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion. They primarily speak Gun.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Toli

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Benin
People Cluster: Guinean
Primary Language(s): Gun (guw)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 353,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG012355
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Toli of Benin

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

95%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Gun
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Gun Speakers

Media Resources in Gun:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Gun:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1987 Bible Society of Benin✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Gun bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Toli are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Toli:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Toli of Benin

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
readJohn 3:18

Pray for those who are living under the burden of their sin to believe in Jesus, the only Son of God, and receive freedom.

The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.
readMatthew 4:16

Pray that those who dwell in darkness and live in the land of the shadow of death may be drawn out of darkness into His marvelous light.

The LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
readNumbers 6:25

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember that He has given them His favor and His presence.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
read1 John 1:5

Pray that God will raise up believers who can share the gospel with people who don't know the good news of Jesus, that God is light and in him, there is no darkness at all.

Toli-Gbe Across Countries (ROP3 - 110138) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

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