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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Gbessi of Benin

The Gbessi of Benin, numbering approximately 144,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Benin, Atlantic Province, Kpomasse, Alada, and Tori-Bossito Subprefectures, individual and mixed villages; Mono Province, Bopa Subprefecture along Lake Aheme. They are an Indigenous people, in the Other Sub-Saharan African people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion - Animism. They primarily speak Gbe, Gbesi.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Benin
People Cluster: Other Sub-Saharan African
Primary Language(s): Gbe, Gbesi (gbs)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion - Animism
Population: 144,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG022416
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Pray for the Gbessi of Benin

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion - Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

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Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Gbe, Gbesi
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

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Media Resources in Gbe, Gbesi:

Films:

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Bible Resources in Gbe, Gbesi:

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Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Gbe, Gbesi bible resources at Bible.com

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Next steps for the Gbessi

The Gbessi are Unengaged and Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Next steps for the Gbessi

The Gbessi are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Next steps for the Gbessi

The Gbessi 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.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Gbessi of Benin

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.

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.
readPsalm 67:4

Pray that God will use ways from in-person witnesses to digital gospel resources to bring the joy of His salvation to everyone so that they can be glad in Him and sing for joy.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
readPsalm 51:10

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will quickly repent when they sin and walk with clean hearts and right spirits as they grow in their relationship with the Lord.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
readJohn 1:12

Pray that believers will have the opportunity to clearly share the good news with the lost here, so that all people can be invited to trust in Jesus and become children of God.

Gbessi (ROP3 - 114581) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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