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
View on Joshua Project

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

"And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
readJohn 8:32

Pray for those who live enslaved to sin to hear and receive the truth of the gospel and be set free.

Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
readGenesis 2:7

Pray that Christians will be able to share the hope of Christ with suffering people and that He will breathe new life into their souls.

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
read1 Peter 2:24

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember every day that Jesus' death on the cross brings real healing and restoration to their souls and joyfully share this good news with others.

And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
readRomans 10:15

Pray that God will call many believers who will obediently go and share the gospel with those who desperately need it.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

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