Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
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The Pila of Benin

The Pila of Benin, numbering approximately 524,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an Indigenous Gur-speaking people centered around Djougou in northwestern Benin; their Yom language is also known as Pila, Pilapila, or Kpilakpila and is shared with the broader Yowa community. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Yom is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Benin
People Cluster: Gur
Primary Language(s): Yom (pil)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 524,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG012346
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Pray for the Pila 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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

60%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Yom
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Yom Speakers

Media Resources in Yom:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Yom:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2017 SIM✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Yom 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): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% 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 Pila:
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

Pray specifically for the Pila of Benin

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.

Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.
readMatthew 13:8-9

Pray that they will have open hearts and minds to the Word of God, and that it will take root in their lives and bear fruit for His glory.

Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!
readPsalm 105:3

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will glory in His holy name and that their hearts will rejoice.

Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.”
readPsalm 96:10

Pray for God to put in the hearts of believers to go to the lost and testify about the Lord who reigns.

Pila Across Countries (ROP3 - 108029) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDName ▼CountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
PilaPG012346PilaBenin524,000Unengaged and UnreachedYomSunni 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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