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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Barma of Chad

The Barma of Chad, numbering approximately 147,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are founders of the Sultanate of Bagirmi in Chad, established around 1522 south of Kanem with its capital at Massenya, ruled by kings titled Mbang who won independence from Bornu in the 1700s before falling to Wadai in 1805 and Rabih az-Zubayr in 1893. They mostly adhere to Folk Islam and Bagirmi is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Chad
People Cluster: Sara-Bagirmi
Primary Language(s): Bagirmi (bmi)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Islam
Population: 147,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011315
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Pray for the Barma of Chad

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Folk Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Folk Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Bagirmi
Language Family: Central Sudanic

100%
%
Bagirmi Speakers

Media Resources in Bagirmi:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Bagirmi:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Bagirmi bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Barma 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 Barma:
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 Barma of Chad

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
readJohn 14:6

Pray that those who don't know Jesus will recognize Him as the only way to the Father and follow Him in faith.

Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near.
readIsaiah 55:6

Pray that the lost will seek the Lord while He may be found and call upon Him while He is near, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.
read2 Thessalonians 3:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will persevere according to God's command, walk in faith, and be strong so that they can resist the evil one’s deception.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
readEphesians 6:10

Ask God to strengthen believers with His mighty power so that as they cross cultures to share the gospel, they will stand firm against the schemes of the enemy.

Barma Across Countries (ROP3 - 101074) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▲Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
BarmaPG011315BarmaChad147,000Engaged yet UnreachedBagirmiFolk 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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