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The Yerwa Kanuri of Chad

The Yerwa Kanuri of Chad, numbering approximately 293,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Kanuri ethnic group indigenous to the Borno and Yobe states of northeastern Nigeria. They mostly adhere to Folk Islam and Central Kanuri is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Chad
People Cluster: Kanuri-Saharan
Primary Language(s): Central Kanuri (knc)
Primary Religion(s): Folk 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: PG011469
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Pray for the Yerwa Kanuri 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: Folk Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

90%
%
Folk Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Central Kanuri
Language Family: Saharan

100%
%
Kanuri, Yerwa Speakers

Media Resources in Central Kanuri:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Central Kanuri:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1997 Bible Society of Nigeria✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Central Kanuri bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Yerwa Kanuri 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 Yerwa Kanuri:
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 Yerwa Kanuri of Chad

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
read1 John 4:10

Pray for those without the hope of Christ to understand the depth of God's love and the sacrifice He made for them.

All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.
readPsalm 22:27-28

Pray that entire families will turn to the Lord in repentance and faith, and that they will worship Him and declare His righteousness to the nations.

It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
readIsaiah 25:9

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will proclaim and rejoice in His salvation.

"Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."
readJohn 7:38

Ask God to raise up believers and sustain them as they cross cultures to share hope with those who need it. Pray that many might come to know Christ and that streams of living water will flow from their hearts so they will never thirst again.

Kanuri, Yerwa Across Countries (ROP3 - 104605) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

5 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▲Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Yerwa KanuriPG012815Yerwa KanuriCameroon192,000Engaged yet UnreachedCentral KanuriFolk Islam
Yerwa KanuriPG013614Yerwa KanuriNiger239,000Unengaged and UnreachedCentral KanuriFolk Islam
Yerwa KanuriPG011469Yerwa KanuriChad293,000Engaged yet UnreachedCentral KanuriFolk Islam
KanuriPG012059KanuriSudan498,000Unengaged and UnreachedCentral KanuriSunni Islam
Yerwa KanuriPG014188Yerwa KanuriNigeria8,765,000Engaged yet UnreachedCentral KanuriFolk 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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