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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Gurma of Benin

The Gurma of Benin, numbering approximately 144,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Benin; a dialect subgroup of Gourmanchéma (gux). They are an Diaspora people in the Gur people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Gourmanchéma and their primary religion is Animism.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Benin
People Cluster: Gur
Primary Language(s): Gourmanchéma (gux)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 144,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG012326
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Pray for the Gurma of Benin

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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

60%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Gourmanchéma
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Gourmanchéma Speakers

Media Resources in Gourmanchéma:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Gourmanchéma:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Gourmanchéma bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Expanding Unreached People Group, (LPI: 2), 0.5% or Greater but Less than 2% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Gurma:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Gurma 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 Gurma:
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

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Gurma are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Gurma:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Gurma of Benin

All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.
readRomans 3:12

Pray that those who are enslaved to sin will admit their need for a Savior, acknowledging that no one is righteous.

You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
readJames 4:4

Pray that the lost will be convicted of their friendship with the world, which is hostility toward God, and that they will turn from their sin and embrace the grace and mercy of God through Christ Jesus.

I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.
readMatthew 25:36

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will honor Jesus and find joy as they take care of those in need.

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
readJohn 1:9-10

Pray for those God might send to share the gospel here. Ask that they will grow closer to Jesus and be compelled to share His good news with people who don't know it.

Gurma Across Countries (ROP3 - 103587) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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