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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Mende of Sierra Leone

The Mende of Sierra Leone, numbering approximately 2,895,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are described as a Mande ethnolinguistic group indigenous to eastern Sierra Leone and limited border areas of Liberia They are an Indigenous people, with Mende as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Mande people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. Their primary religion is Sunni Islam. They primarily speak Mende (Sierra Leone).

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

Fast Facts*:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Sierra Leone
People Cluster: Mande
Primary Language(s): Mende (Sierra Leone) (men)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 2,895,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG014291
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Pray for the Mende of Sierra Leone

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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

50%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Mende (Sierra Leone)
Language Family: Mande

100%
%
Mende (Sierra Leone) Speakers

Media Resources in Mende (Sierra Leone):

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Mende (Sierra Leone):

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2002 Bible Society in Sierra Leone✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Mende (Sierra Leone) bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Mende are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Mende:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Mende of Sierra Leone

The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD! May your hearts live forever!
readPsalm 22:26

Pray that the lost will feel a deep hunger for God, be drawn to Him in their affliction, and find lasting satisfaction and salvation in Him alone.

Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.
readPsalm 96:2

Pray that gospel resources will reach this generation so that they will receive the good news and sing to the LORD, bless His name, and tell of His salvation each day.

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
read2 Corinthians 5:18

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will serve as God's ambassadors, sharing the message of reconciliation with others.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
readRevelation 7:9-10

Pray that the promise in Revelation 7:9-10 will encourage believers from among them or from nearby people groups to share the gospel with people who have never learned it.

Mende Across Countries (ROP3 - 111215) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

3 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountry ▼PopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
MandePG047283MandeUnited States32,500Unengaged and UnreachedMende (Sierra Leone)Ethnoreligion
MendePG014291MendeSierra Leone2,895,000No Longer UnreachedMende (Sierra Leone)Sunni Islam
MendePG013519MendeLiberia48,000Engaged yet UnreachedMende (Sierra Leone)Folk Islam

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

*Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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