The Vili of Congo

The Vili of Congo, numbering approximately 15,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Vili (Bavili) people of the southwestern Congo coast whose forebears founded the Kingdom of Loango, centered in the Kouilou-Niari basin. They mostly adhere to Animism and Vili is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Congo
People Cluster: Bantu, Kongo
Primary Language(s): Vili (vif)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 15,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG013021
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Vili of Congo

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: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

48%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Vili
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Vili Speakers

Media Resources in Vili:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Vili:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Bible Society of Congo Edition✓✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Vili bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Vili 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 Vili:
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 Vili of Congo

Claiming to be wise, they became fools.
readRomans 1:22

Ask God to pour out His mercy and bring those who are walking in their own wisdom to faith in Jesus.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
readPsalm 119:105

Pray that they will receive the Word of God as a lamp to their feet and commit their ways to Him.

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.
readDeuteronomy 7:9

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will know God's faithful love and keep His commandments, experiencing His steadfast care.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
readJohn 1:5

Pray that when discouraging days come, those who cross cultures for the sake of the gospel will be comforted as they remember that the light of Christ is stronger than the darkness that surrounds them.

Bavili Across Countries (ROP3 - 110565) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

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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