Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
Be sure to use the data import function in your favorite app for working with data.
If you'd like to help improve these translations, Contact Us.

PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Sara Mbai of Nigeria

The Sara Mbai of Nigeria, numbering approximately 16,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are described as a Sara-Bagirmi-speaking Nilo-Saharan ethnic group indigenous to southern Chad and Central African Republic They are an Diaspora people, with Sara (Chad) as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Sara-Bagirmi people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. They mostly adhere to Neo-Pentecostalism and Mbay is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Nigeria
People Cluster: Sara-Bagirmi
Primary Language(s): Mbay (myb)
Primary Religion(s): Neo-Pentecostalism
Population: 16,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG014097
View on Joshua Project

Print Profile
Submit Updates

Pray for the Sara Mbai of Nigeria

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!
Download Prayer Guide

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Neo-Pentecostalism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

65%
%
Neo-Pentecostalism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Mbay
Language Family: Central Sudanic

100%
%
Mbay Speakers

Media Resources in Mbay:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Mbay:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2004 Bible Society of Chad✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Mbay bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Sara Mbai 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 Sara Mbai:
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 Sara Mbai of Nigeria

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

Pray that those who are lost and unaware of God's blessings will come to know Him as the one true God, put their trust in Him, and join in praising Him among the nations.

No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
readLuke 13:3

Pray that the lost will repent and believe the gospel, for without it, they will perish.

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
readDeuteronomy 6:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, and might, as they strive to live lives that honor and glorify Him.

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.

Sara Mbai Across Countries (ROP3 - 108710) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

4 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Sara MbaiPG011449Sara MbaiChad270,000No Longer UnreachedMbayEthnoreligion
Sara MbaiPG014097Sara MbaiNigeria16,500No Longer UnreachedMbayNeo-Pentecostalism
Sara MbaiPG012930Sara MbaiCentral African Republic16,000No Longer UnreachedMbayNeo-Pentecostalism
Sara MbaiPG012776Sara MbaiCameroon6,700No Longer UnreachedMbayNeo-Pentecostalism

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.

Scroll to Top