The Mina of Benin

The Mina of Benin, numbering approximately 229,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Gen-Mina people whose ancestors fled Ghana's Denkyira and Akwamu wars from Elmina and Accra to merge along the Togo-Benin coast between Agbodrafo and Grand-Popo, taking the name Mina from the Portuguese word for mine, referencing their homeland's gold. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Gen is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Benin
People Cluster: Guinean
Primary Language(s): Gen (gej)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 229,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG012341
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Mina 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

70%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Gen
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Gen Speakers

Media Resources in Gen:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Gen:

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

1 entry

Or check out the Gen bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Mina 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 Mina:
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 Mina of Benin

"For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." Those who heard it said, "Then who can be saved?" But he said "What is impossible with man is possible with God."
readLuke 18:25-27

Pray that the lost who think they have everything they need will recognize their spiritual poverty apart from Jesus and turn to Him in faith.

...I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
readPsalm 13:5

Ask God to bring many to trust in His unfailing love and cause their hearts to rejoice in His salvation.

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

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will meditate daily on the Word of God so that, through it, they might have wisdom for the big and small decisions they face every day.

And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”
readLuke 18:29-30

Pray that God will raise up people to go and share the gospel and help them trust His promise that anyone who has left those they treasure for the sake of the kingdom of God will receive many times more in this life and in the life to come.

Mina, Ge Across Countries (ROP3 - 114980) 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.

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