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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Masalit of Chad

The Masalit of Chad, numbering approximately 293,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a people whose oral tradition traces origin to Tunisia before migrating through Chad to found a Sultanate in Sudan's Darfur region in 1874, fighting off Mahdist and French incursions before formal absorption into Anglo-Egyptian Sudan in 1922. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Masalit is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Chad
People Cluster: Ouaddai-Fur
Primary Language(s): Masalit (mls)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 293,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011404
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Pray for the Masalit 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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Masalit
Language Family: Maban

100%
%
Masalit Speakers

Media Resources in Masalit:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Masalit:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Masalit bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Masalit 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 Masalit:
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 Masalit of Chad

The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer.
readPsalm 6:9

Pray that lost people will hear the gospel and place their faith in Christ, knowing that He hears their plea and accepts their prayer.

I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.
readPsalm 34:4

Pray for each who becomes a child of God to share the hope of eternity with family and friends.

He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.
readPsalm 62:2

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be in awe of Jesus, remembering that He is their rock, their fortress, and their salvation.

And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
readMark 5:20

Pray that God will bring people who appear beyond hope to faith in Jesus and that they will then go and tell others of the marvelous things He has done.

Massalit Across Countries (ROP3 - 106392) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
MasalitPG012099MasalitSudan491,000Engaged yet UnreachedMasalitSunni Islam
MasalitPG011404MasalitChad293,000Engaged yet UnreachedMasalitSunni 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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