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

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
readPsalm 51:1

Give thanks to God that He is able to forgive all the sins people might commit, and pray that many who don't yet know this will hear the good news and turn to Him for mercy.

And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.
readLuke 2:17

Pray that the lost will receive the good news of salvation in God's Son, have hearts eager to share it with others, and that all who hear will respond with wonder and faith!

So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
read1 Corinthians 3:7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be unified in making disciples and be used by God to further His kingdom near and far.

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
readEphesians 6:11

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will put on the full armor of God so that they will be able to stand against the schemes of the enemy.

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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