The Kpelle of Liberia

The Kpelle of Liberia, numbering approximately 1,110,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Mande people of central Liberia and neighboring Guinea whose political and social life has traditionally been shaped by Poro and Sande initiation societies. They mostly adhere to Animism and Liberia Kpelle is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Liberia
People Cluster: Mande
Primary Language(s): Liberia Kpelle (xpe)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 1,110,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG013507
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Kpelle of Liberia

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

37%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Liberia Kpelle
Language Family: Mande

100%
%
Kpelle, Liberia Speakers

Media Resources in Liberia Kpelle:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Liberia Kpelle:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1967 Bible Society in Liberia✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Liberia Kpelle bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Kpelle 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 Kpelle:
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 Kpelle of Liberia

He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him
readLuke 10:34

Pray that the lost among them will experience the kind of compassion Jesus taught His followers to show others, and that they will trust in Him because He is the one who brings healing to the broken and lost.

So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
readRomans 9:16

Pray that the merciful God who is at work in people's hearts will advance His gospel among them.

But my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.
readHebrews 10:38

Pray that as people trust in Christ, they will live by faith and not shrink back from their hope in Christ.

For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
read2 Corinthians 1:8-9

Pray that as people hear and believe the gospel, they will be faithful as they walk through trials and will have an opportunity to be a witness to others in this people group of the goodness of God.

Kpelle, Liberia Across Countries (ROP3 - 116077) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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

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