The Masa of Cameroon

The Masa of Cameroon, numbering approximately 350,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Chadic cattle-herding people whose oral tradition traces migration from Yemen through Egypt and Sudan to the Lake Chad basin, arriving in northern Cameroon before the Tikar and later targeted by Tripoli-based slave traders along the Chad border. They mostly adhere to Animism and Masana is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Cameroon
People Cluster: Chadic
Primary Language(s): Masana (mcn)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 350,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG012678
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Masa of Cameroon

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

55%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Masana
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Masana Speakers

Media Resources in Masana:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Masana:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2003 Bible Society of Cameroon✓

1 entry

Or check out the Masana bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Masa 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 Masa:
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 Masa of Cameroon

And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
readMatthew 24:14

Pray that the message of hope will reach those who are wandering in darkness, offering them a path to eternal life.

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
readMatthew 6:10

Pray that God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven, and that people will seek His kingdom and righteousness above all else, trusting in His provision.

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.

And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”
readLuke 18:29-30

Pray that God will raise up people to go and share the gospel and help them trust His promise that anyone who has left those they treasure for the sake of the kingdom of God will receive many times more in this life and in the life to come.

Masa Across Countries (ROP3 - 106369) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

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