People group profile · PG012345
The Nateni of Benin
The Nateni of Benin, numbering about 134,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Gurma people of northwestern Benin straddling the Togo border, known also as Natemba, whose complex origins are traced by some scholars to Wassangari conquerors descended from the Mamprusi dynasty of northern Ghana.
They are an indigenous people in the Gur people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. Their primary religion is Animism, and they primarily speak Nateni.
Fast facts
- Country
- Benin
- Population
- 134,000
- Affinity group
- Sub-Saharan African Peoples
- People cluster
- Gur
- Primary language
- Nateni (ntm)
- Primary religion
- Animism
- Strategic Progress Index ?
- Engaged yet Unreached
- Evangelical
- Less than 2%
- GSEC ?
- Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
- Lostness priority ?
- Pioneer Unreached People Group
- Region
- Western Africa, Africa
Where they live
Gospel status
The Nateni are Engaged yet Unreached, which means fewer than 2% are evangelical Christians, but there are sustained efforts to establish self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. In GSEC terms, this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years.
- Congregations exist Yes
- Church planting in the last two years No Churches Planted
Next steps for the Nateni
- 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
Primary religion
Animism · Ethnoreligion
90% adherents
Primary language
Nateni · Atlantic-Congo family
100% speak Nateni
Gospel resources in Nateni
- Bible available, published 2020
- JESUS Film not available
- Radio programs not available
- Gospel recordings available
- Audio resources available
- Bible stories not available
Bibles
- Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc · video, audio, text
Find more at the JESUS Film Project, Bible.com and Faith Comes by Hearing.
Pray for the Nateni
- John 17:3. Pray that many will come to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.
- Psalm 27:1. Pray that new believers will be strengthened in the face of persecution, with the Lord as their stronghold.
- Romans 12:4–5. Pray that believers from many cultures will work together as one body so that the church is built up.
- Revelation 7:9. Pray for the day when people from this group stand before the throne with every nation, tribe, people and language.
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