The Gouin of Burkina Faso

The Gouin of Burkina Faso, numbering approximately 161,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Gur people of southwestern Burkina Faso, also known as Ciramba or Gwen, whose communities extend across the border into Côte d'Ivoire. They mostly adhere to Animism and Cerma is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Burkina Faso
People Cluster: Gur
Primary Language(s): Cerma (cme)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 161,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG012400
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Pray for the Gouin of Burkina Faso

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: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

81%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Cerma
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Cerma Speakers

Media Resources in Cerma:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Cerma:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2011 Wycliffe Bible Translators Inc.✓✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Cerma bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Gouin 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 Gouin:
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 Gouin of Burkina Faso

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
readJohn 3:18

Pray for those who are living under the burden of their sin to believe in Jesus, the only Son of God, and receive freedom.

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.

We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks, for your name is near. We recount your wondrous deeds.
readPsalm 75:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will give thanks to the Lord for His wondrous works and declare His goodness to all people.

I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessing.
read1 Corinthians 9:23

Ask God to give believers a deep desire to share the gospel with those who don't know the truth about God's redemption plan, and to provide them with opportunities to do so cross-culturally.

Gouin Across Countries (ROP3 - 103461) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

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