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

But he said, "What is impossible with man is possible with God."
readLuke 18:27

Praise God that He is the God of impossible things and that He is able to save even those who seem beyond hope.

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.

I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.
readPsalm 3:5-6

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and experience isolation or other persecution, God will sustain them and give them confidence and rest in Him.

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
readIsaiah 58:7

As believers cross cultures to share the good news of Christ, pray that God will sustain them and grow their faith as He gives them the compassion necessary to minister well to those in need.

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.

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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