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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Temne of Sierra Leone

The Temne of Sierra Leone, numbering approximately 2,160,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as an ethnolinguistic community of Sierra Leone They are an Indigenous people, with Temne as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Atlantic people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Timne is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Sierra Leone
People Cluster: Atlantic
Primary Language(s): Timne (tem)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 2,160,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG014297
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Pray for the Temne 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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

77%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Timne
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Themne Speakers

Media Resources in Timne:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Timne:

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

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Timne bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Temne 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 Temne:
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 Temne of Sierra Leone

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
readPsalm 51:1

Give thanks to God that He is able to forgive all the sins people might commit, and pray that many who don't yet know this will hear the good news and turn to Him for mercy.

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!
readPsalm 67:3

Pray that God will be working in people's hearts, give them opportunities to receive the gospel, and bring many to faith in Himself.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
readEphesians 6:10-11

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will grow strong in His power, putting on the full armor of God, which will enable them to stand against the devil’s lies.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
readJohn 3:16

Pray that God will send and sustain believers to cross cultures and share the gospel with the lost. Ask that He will give them His heart for the lost and that many will believe in Him and not perish but have eternal life.

Temne Across Countries (ROP3 - 109939) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▲Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
TemnePG014297TemneSierra Leone2,160,000Engaged yet UnreachedTimneSunni 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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