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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

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
readRevelation 3:20

Pray that those who have not opened their hearts to Jesus will hear His knock and invite Him in as their Savior and Lord.

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
readJohn 8:12

Pray that many will come to know Jesus, the light of the world, and have the light of life instead of walking in darkness.

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
readHebrews 10:39

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, and faithfully follow God, they will share Christ boldly with those around them.

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
readEphesians 6:11

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will put on the full armor of God so that they will be able to stand 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 IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguage ▼Religion
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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