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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
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The Mafa of Nigeria

The Mafa of Nigeria, numbering approximately 10,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Mandara Mountains people also known natively as Mofa, formed from the merger of the Mafahay and Bulahay tribes, farming red sorghum and millet on stone-terraced hillside plots topped with distinctive conical Sare roofs. They mostly adhere to Animism and Mafa is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Nigeria
People Cluster: Chadic
Primary Language(s): Mafa (maf)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 10,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG013990
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Pray for the Mafa of Nigeria

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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

88%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Mafa
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Mafa Speakers

Media Resources in Mafa:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Mafa:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1989 Bible Society of Cameroon✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Mafa bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Mafa 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 Mafa:
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 Mafa of Nigeria

And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior."
readLuke 1:46-47

Pray that those who are lost will recognize their need for a Savior and joyfully embrace the mercy that God offers.

The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them.
readPsalm 104:8

Pray that they will see the hand of God in the beauty and order of the natural world, and that they will worship Him as the Creator and Sustainer of all things.

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.

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe."
readJohn 6:35-36

Praise God for the things such as bread that He has provided as natural conversation bridges to the gospel. Pray that believers will use any bridges He provides to share the gospel with those who do not yet know the good news.

Mafa Across Countries (ROP3 - 106001) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress Index ▲LanguageReligion
MafaPG012682MafaCameroon387,000No Longer UnreachedMafaSunni Islam
MafaPG013990MafaNigeria10,000No Longer UnreachedMafaAnimism

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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