The Goulai of Chad

The Goulai of Chad, numbering approximately 534,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as one of twelve Sara subgroups of southern Chad, whose oral tradition traces ancestry to the Sao people displaced from the Nile's banks by Arab slave traders around the 16th century, organized into chiefdoms by the 19th century They are an Indigenous people, with Goulai 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 Gulay is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Chad
People Cluster: Sara-Bagirmi
Primary Language(s): Gulay (gvl)
Primary Religion(s): Neo-Pentecostalism
Population: 534,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011354
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Goulai of Chad

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: Neo-Pentecostalism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

88%
%
Neo-Pentecostalism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Gulay
Language Family: Central Sudanic

100%
%
Gulay Speakers

Media Resources in Gulay:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Gulay:

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

1 entry

Or check out the Gulay bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Goulai 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 Goulai:
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 Goulai of Chad

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
readPsalm 19:1

Pray that those who are lost will look to the heavens and see the glory of God displayed, leading them to seek Him and know Him as their Creator and Savior.

As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.
readMatthew 13:23

Pray that their hearts will have good soil that receives the Word, understands it, and bears fruit for God's kingdom.

Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack!
readPsalm 34:9

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be grounded in the Word, always trusting in the Lord's provision for their needs.

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.

Goulai Across Countries (ROP3 - 103462) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

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