People group profile · PG012431
The Northwest Samo of Burkina Faso
The Northwest Samo of Burkina Faso, numbering about 315,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Mandinka sub-ethnic people who arrived in northwestern Burkina Faso's arid Kossi and Sourou provinces around the fifteenth century, mostly bilingual in the regional trade language Jula, sustaining themselves through millet and sorghum cultivation.
They are an indigenous people in the Mande people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. Their primary religion is Animism, and they primarily speak Matya Samo.
Fast facts
- Country
- Burkina Faso
- Population
- 315,000
- Affinity group
- Sub-Saharan African Peoples
- People cluster
- Mande
- Primary language
- Matya Samo (stj)
- Primary religion
- Animism
- Strategic Progress Index
- No Longer Unreached
- Evangelical
- 2% or Greater but Less than 5%
- GSEC
- 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
- Lostness priority
- Marginally Reached People Group
- Region
- Western Africa, Africa
Where they live
Gospel status
The Northwest Samo are No Longer Unreached, which means 2% or more are evangelical Christians. In GSEC terms, this people group is greater than or equal to 2% evangelical.
- Congregations exist Yes
- Church planting in the last two years No Churches Planted
Next steps for the Northwest Samo
- Pray for the churches among this group to grow in faithfulness and maturity
- Equip believers to reach the unreached peoples around them
- Send out laborers from this people to the nations
Primary religion
Animism · Ethnoreligion
54% adherents
Primary language
Matya Samo · Mande family
35% speak Matya Samo
Gospel resources in Matya Samo
- Bible available, published 2023
- JESUS Film not available
- Radio programs not available
- Gospel recordings available
- Audio resources available
- Bible stories not available
Find more at the JESUS Film Project, Bible.com and Faith Comes by Hearing.
Pray for the Northwest Samo
- Revelation 7:9. Pray for the day when people from this group stand before the throne with every nation, tribe, people and language.
- 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.
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